Album Review: Fist of God - MSTRKRFT

The new MSTRKRFT album is a bit of an odd one and it isn't particularly easy to explain why.

Around the time that Justice unleashed their début album Cross MSTRKRFT were also releasing their début The Looks. One artist went on to becoming a bit of a cross-over phenomenon whilst the other played it much cooler. At the end of the day however The Looks still got plenty of attention from the bloggers and, now that the Justice backlash has officially begun (check Krissi Murison's review of Peter, Bjorn & John over at the Guardian), MSTRKRFT's first album still gets praise heaped on it.

Fist of God is another crack at mainstream success and MSTRKRFT are going all out - check the guest spots from rappers N.O.R.E. and Ghostface Killah - and, seemingly as a result many have been turned off, giving this album a hard time.

It's understandable insofar as Fist of God is very different - it's a much louder album, drawing on the rock band leanings of Justice and Jesse F Keeler's former heavy metal project Death From Above 1979. The use of vocals is also a departure - the first album may have had a few vocal snippets but it was far from lead by them, Fist of God on the other hand has more vocal tracks than instrumentals and they are very hip-hop and R'n'B influenced.

The result does admittedly have a pop music feel but there are still some nice moments - the old skool rave transition into 'Breakaway' from 'Word Up' and the rough intro of opener 'It Ain't Love'. What really stumps BlackPlastic though is the people that hold The Looks up as a masterpiece only to shit on this.

Both MSTRKRFT albums are enjoyable but neither could honestly be considered great (certainly not on a par with either Justice's début nor DFA 1979's sole album). The Looks lacked polish and ideas whilst Fist of God has both in spades in places but then lacks variety (and 'Word Up' featuring Ghostface Killah is quite quite horrible).

So Fist of God is worth checking out, yes. As good as The Looks? Probably. Brilliant? Sadly not.

BP x

Available on Amazon.co.uk on CD

Album Review: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - Phoenix

In which Phoenix get a promotion from 'band BlackPlastic quite digs' to 'one of the most heart-warming band BlackPlastic knows', Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix feels like being 19 and on the verge of something great. It has the same yearning and neediness of fellow French band the Teenagers, just sans the selfishness and the irony. The result is an album that sounds like every night is prom-night and the best day of your life might (just might) be around the corner.

Where previous Phoenix albums maybe lacked a little cohesiveness Wolfgang... confidently delivers, with one sexy, polished, funky feeling running the full course of the album. It never strays as far as (the admittedly great, if slightly bonkers) 'Funky Squaredance' did on United and the result is a classic case of focus trumping variety - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix isn't trying to be a jack of all trades, it's busy enough being the best technicolor-disco-punk-funk album in years.

Which is not to say there is no variety - we've already discussed how great '1901' is but it's worth pointing out that 'Love Like a Sunset' is, in contrast, a beautifully slow-burning Balearic trip, a feeling that builds until it takes over. 'Lasso' is another contrast - blunt like the love you can't keep secret: effervescent and unstable and infectious and totally irresistible.

Phoenix have undoubtebly made the best album of their career so far. It's so damn enthusiastic it would be churlish to ignore it.

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is out on 25 May 2009.

BP x

Album Review: FabricLive 45 - Various mixed by A-Trak

After making his name winning the world DMC mixing chanpionships and then as Kanye West's tour DJ A-Trak has gradually taken a sideways step towards a much more dance orientated sound. FabricLive 45 reflects that, taking the eclecticism of Hip-Hop (and Turntabilism more specifically) an applying it to what is largely a house set.

The results are pretty solid, if not necessarily innovative. Except for a handful of through backs most of the tunes themselves are pretty current and generally good, with the notable exception of the auto-tuned 'I'm The Ish' by DJ Class which makes Kanye's last album look like Sign o' The Times it's so shit (appropriate given the lyrics) - not even good in an ironic sense.

Predictably Zombie Nation, Alex Gopher and Metronomy, whose 'Heartbreaker' gets a spooky remix courtesy of Diskjokke (when did that name ever sound like a good idea?), all deliver the goods. With a mix between the squealling electro Zombie Nation have become known for together with more straight up house (the lush Aeroplane mix of Friendly Fires' 'Paris') the result is a suitably varied set.

The main criticism of FabricLive 45 would have to be that such variation ends up in a set that could simply do with a little more direction. It represents a good snapshot of 'now' but is unlikely to keep you coming back in years to come. What's more, given that this is a set from a World DMC Champion the mixing is functional over mind-blowing: this isn't to say it's bad, just that it isn't a noticeable as one might expect.

Overall a solid mix, just don't expect a revolution.

BP x

Album Review: It's Blitz! - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Some bands just seem to get it right - they don't fail to hit the mark on their first album despite an over-hyped début EP, they don't choke on album number two and they always manage to develop just enough to keep things interesting but not so much so as to lose what made them great.

Rush released following a leak online and some pesky pirates doing their thing (how does this stuff still catch labels off-guard?) the Yeah Yeah Yeahs return with their third album, out now on MP3 and at the beginning of April on CD.

Back with David Sitek on production duties, It's Blitz! manages to push the envelope in the right way. There is without doubt a development of the sound - things are, on the whole, a little softer and a touch more electronic - but it is the contrast that shines. The strings and delicate piano of 'Runaway' into the snappy funk of 'Dragon Queen'. The reveal of 'Dull Life' where Karen O. removes the mask and lets the anger shine and the beautifully tender 'Skeletons' with it's subtle wandering electronic melodies. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have never struggled to deliver truly astounding ballads (just revisit 'Maps') and there are several here.

It's Blitz is a short album yet it packs in all the ideas and ambition you would expect for a band that have left three years since their last full release. From the opening 'Zero', one of the best album openers in years, the quality doesn't let up. Yeah Yeah Yeahs have done it again.

BP x

Album Review: Fabric 45 - Omar S

Double Fabric props this week with a look at the next two Fabric albums. First up: Fabric 45 mixed by Omar S.

Less a mix album, more a continuous career retrospective: Fabric 45 takes its cue from Ricardo Villalobos' and Pure Science's sets, featuring no tracks from other artists. An outsider in his own scene (and hometown of Detroit) Omar S has long refused to compromise on quality or delivery and it is from this quest for perfection that the approach for Fabric 45 was derived: in the Omar's opinion these are simply the best tracks in the past few years. A bold statement.

It is always a dangerous path for a mix - it paid dividends in Villalobos' case as the variety in his own work shone through but it is difficult to imagine many artists who would benefit from some variety in this type of setting.

Omar S' disc is an interesting one. Initially dry, if excellently paced, what starts out as a fairly straight forward techno mix soon starts throwing in the curve balls. Whilst the general quality of the techno is great it probably wouldn't be able to sustain BlackPlastic's interest all on its own.

The changes are subtle - So 'U' adds a vocal and jacking, funky acid line, 'Oasis 13 1/2' veers close to house with a simple piano refrain and a skippy garage beat and 'The Maker' is soulful with a deep house female vocal. Best of all, Fabric 45 ends on proper full on house track 'Set Me Out' - it sounds like vintage Masters At Work (yes, before they lost the magic) with soulful male vocals and female BVs backed with a lovely minimal (small 'm') house beat... It really is that good and the fact the tunes are created on all analogue equipment really comes through.

The homegrown variety in this mix lifts it from being just quite good to great, turning it into much more than just another techno mix.

Available at Amazon.co.uk

BP x