geshSMOC’s taste of the week (8.8.08)
Alltruisms
Clusterbombs
label: Gravel
For satisfied customers of: Eminem, El-P, and 7L & Esoteric.
The man says “never sell the sizzle instead of the steak…” but what’s wrong with a lil’ sizzle?
Off the cuff, let’s be straight with one another: rap and hip-hop music generally aren’t my bag. People say bet’cha can’t have just one, and I prove ’em wrong day in, day out. My beef with the comparable genres is simple: nine times out of ten, there just aren’t any special ingredients slow-cooked in to savor, and all I end up with out of the pot is monotonous crock. As if you couldn’t tell from how the taste sautees in culinary metaphor, I dig tunes that pack a scrumptious punch of attitude and irresistible flavor whipped up by artists of any genre that know they’ve conjured up something so ripe, they know you’ll be comin’ back for more.
That said, Clusterbombs by the Skokie-native Alltruisms is sadly not that ripe nosh of rhythm and rhyme you’ll crave long after your first bite. As a whole, the album feels like runnin’ through the frozen food aisle of the genre, grabbing whatever looks decent by the package, schleppin’ it back, and bustin’ your gut to make the best damn half-baked tuna noodle casserole you think your mom used to make. Harsh words, maybe, but considering the depth rap and hip-hop acts out there like Y-Love and the Beastie Boys push to accomplish through mixing everything from liquid languages to oddball beats and instrumentation backin’ up attitude you can hear in that emcee’s voice, an up-and-comer like Alltruisms could surely pack more steak to his start-up sizzle.
Mull (or moyel?) over the self-proclaimed “illest cut since my bris” with “Blindfolded” featuring Verbal Kent with Alltruismse here with the Shempseed Player!
NOTE: The Shemspeed Player will always serve the freshest course of the taste, so if you’re catching up with leftovers, skip ahead a few tracks to find your just desserts.
Bottom Line: Clusterbombs is not the explosion of fiery rhyme and molten mixes the title promises, but there is potential for fireworks to kindle in the tracks featuring collaborations, most notably with Verbal Kent. Still, when your prime rib backing your tracks needs help from the side, your meat’s a little on the lean side.
Choice Cuts for Radio: 3, 7, 9.
>>>STILL HUNGRY???<<<
Lick your plate clean before scarfing down geshSMOC’s special coverage of the Newport Jazz Festival this weekend – ONLY on SHEMSPEED.COM!
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This segment is dedicated to my bro, who just started livin’ the Chai life a few hours ago. Happy B-day!
