it's about time I reviewed another good cd, isn't it? it's all nasty and rainy out today, so I might not be as alarmingly hysterical as usual, but aleast you're not ugly (maybe).
this time I'm listening to the temple ep, by hook. although we've never met, hook lives just a few miles away from me in Washington, D.C. like me, he is big f'ing computer dork. here's a fun story:
hook: spent 2 years playing video games, lost girlfriends.
mike: spent 2 years playing video games, lost a free ferrari
well, I guess maybe "didn't win a ferrari" would be more truthful. But I was so god damn close! 17th out of over 2000 people competing in quake for the car. oh well, it sure was a hell of a lot more fun than going to class. and now I'm a proficient killing machine in real life, according to the courts.
oh, back to the album! nice stuff! unlike misterbuster (that one piano class doesn't count), hook seems to have had some sort of musical training. you can hear it in the way the music is so smooth. you can tell that he actually sat down and composed things, possibly even on a real live instrument. but it doesn't stop there, this guy can actually sing! I've heard a lot (lot lot lot) of bad vocals on mp3.com. I was begining to lose faith in singing all together. the vocals on the temple ep might not hit mariah carey's pitch, but they sound like they should sound: sad and gritty, reminiscent of depeche mode, distorted and mangled even. lyrically, hook is damn good. it baffles me, but makes me want to try some lyrics someday...
anyway, enough of me rambling on. i'll do my usual song breakdown below so that you can get a feel for the album. if you click the link for the album below you can listen to some of the songs while you read.
you can pick it up for $9.74 USD here.
individual track reviews:
Track 1 : What's inside of us
This track starts out soothing, but takes some confusing emotional turns. the vocals have a disturbing sort of sadness, as if hook is remembering something he used to love. I hope that isn't perceived as me trying to analyze the song, I'm not, just describing the feeling it gave me. Very nice work on this track as well.
Track 2 : Take Me Away
This is my favorite track on the album. Constantly stuck in my head. I can't count the number of times I've listened to it. I love the slow relaxed beat with the choppy vocals behind it. I could listen to those vocals forever just trying to figure out what they're saying, and how hook did it so I could rip him off. :)
Track 3 : Temple
This is the track that first got me interested in hook. I had been searching mp3.com for literally any artist I could find that was good. There were some artists that were "ok", but "Temple" was the first song I found that I would actually pay for. There are so many things that are good about this song. The vocals, timing and lyrics are all excellent. The music blends together perfectly. The beat is cool but not overbearing. Great song!
Track 4 : Dark Disco
Very cool beats in this one. It almost makes a white boy wanna dance. I especially like the whip-like sounds in the beat. The sudden switch to a darker sound at the end is very cool, and I think I prefer it to the happier parts of the song. My only complaint is that things got a bit repetitive in the middle, but the song is mainly very cool.
Track 6 : In Dreams
The tune that opens this song is just f'ing head nodding excellent in a "baddest motherfucking the world" sort of way. Don't get that image stuck in your head for long though, things quickly turn nice (aww..). luckilly (not that the nice part was bad), that cool tune is back soon. Personally, I think this would be better off as two songs. I kept expecting the "badass" part to turn into something heavy and droning. That badass part is so good that it makes up for wimpy parts. :)
Tracks 5 & 7 : Flowerswept and Liquid Heart
Here is my dillemma. I have a promo cd with 10 tracks. The Temple EP has 7 tracks. My tracks aren't labeled. I've managed to find samples of every other track on the internet, but these two are evading me for some reason. So I'll give you an overview of the remaining songs on my promo cd. That way you can get a feel for the rest of the album, and what may be in the future for hook:
1-A cool little DnB remix of Temple. Nicely done, but not on the Temple EP. Kind of cool in an edgy way.
2-More dnb, this could be Liquid Heart, but I'm not sure. It sounds very dancable. After a little while there are some great synths that feel very 70's hip. I like it.
3-This one, that I think could possible be "Flowerswept", is very chilled out. Long and sweeping, with slow sad lyrics that sound like (no shit!) Depeche Mode! That's a good thing, depeche mode is f'ing cool.
4-This is a big suprise! Suddenly all crazy and beepy! Most of the songs on the album are a little bit more tame than this, but it's nice to hear something that gets your attention. I think this might be an older track of hook's.
5-Possibly an older track as well. Very soft and mello. It reminds me "A Warm Place" by Nine Inch Nails.
so, as you can see, I like the ep.
it's a pretty good buy at only $9.74.
::mike
mike_mfs@misterbuster.com
http://www.misterbuster.com
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