808's and Heartbreaks

So, about a month ago Kanye debuted the first single, Love Lockdown, off of his upcoming album, 808's and Heartbreaks and set a release date for December 16.

After hearing Love Lockdown I thought this album would be garbage. The track sounded unfinished and from a technical and production point of view, the song definitely had its holes. It sounded like an unmastered rough cut. Apparently other people (including himself?) thought the same thing, and he redid the song.

This second version had new drums, slight changes here and there in the beat, and he re-sang the whole thing. This new version came out cleaner, crisp and much more complete sounding. People were able to shift their focus from 'this sounds unfinished and bad' to recognizing that Kanye yet again was able to switch up his style and bring something new and unique to the table.

When Love Lockdown first came out, and I heard autotune would be heavily featured on the album, i was disappointed. Kanye is definitely out there having fun right now, which is nice when hes a feature on a track, but I don't I want a full album of that style. Although he will appeal to a wider audience by going the more mainstream sounding route like he did intentionally with Graduation, I would still prefer something more lyrical and creative like his first two albums. I think hes also much more limited on song content if hes not serious and/or using autotune frequently. This has already been proven by the release of Graduation. There were no Two Words', Spaceship's, 'Get Em High's, Gone's or Diamonds from Seirra Leone's on that album. Nonetheless, I'm still confident that he will come out strong with a fairly solid album. After that little rant, you might ask why do I feel that way? He did most of his recording while in Hawaii..which is where Jockin' Jay-Z was spawned, proving that he was in a zone while there. I don't expect this album to be as thought out as College Dropout or Late Registration, but I expect a style that's straightforward and in for your face. Love Lockdown isn't the most aggressive song ever, but it's raw and straight forward like Jockin Jay-Z. I'm also still confident that he has enough gas left in his tank to continue to bring originality to the game at the very least. About a week or two ago, he announced he's pushing up his album to sometime in November, and I look forward to yet another album I can basically listen to front to back.

Rockin the Bells and Seeing Invincible Sounds of Summer

So..What have I been up to..?

1. ROCKIN' THE BELLS



I Worked 14 of 16 days, then on Friday September 5th I worked 8:00AM-1:00PM in Eugene and then hopped on a 3:25PM-5:25PM bus up to Portland. Was able to see a few friends, and relax for a bit, before going to sleep and waking up at 6:00AM on Saturday, and leaving for Rock the Bells 2008 in Quincy (AKA the middle of no where), Washington at 7:00AM. We went straight there and arrived in Quincy around 1:00PM. We were greeted with a giant line, 85 degrees and sunny weather, an almost indescribable venue, and some great music.



There were some classic artists like A Tribe Called Quest and Mos Def, along with some new faces like The Cool Kids as well. We headed out around 10:00PM and drove our ~2 1/2 hour drive to Seattle to check into our room at the Hilton around 12:45AM, Saturday night. After a ~45 minute attempt to find food, we finally landed at a small casino a few blocks up the street from the hotel. We sat down and ordered at about 1:50AM. Both of us got bottled water, and for some reason at 2:00AM they had to take out drinks away..even though neither of us had even opened them yet. We were allowed to drink non alcoholic beverages again around 2:10AM..I'm not sure what kind of rule that was, unless they remove all open drinks from the floor to make sure no one drinks alcohol after 2:00AM. Whatever.





On Sunday we went shopping and ate at the Taphouse Grill, a really nice upscale yet relaxed looking lounge/bar with a great atmosphere and food, but slow service. I got a random combo of food consisting of a halibut burger, Parker Sushi roll, and watermelon lemonade. The slice of watermelon tasted amazing after soaking in the lemonade for a bit. Then we headed back to Portland around 4:30PM. We arrived back at home around 7:15PM, and then at 8:00PM I headed to downtown Portland to sit on a train from 9:10PM-11:45PM, then go to work from 8:00AM-5:00PM on Monday.




2. SEEING INVINCIBLE SOUNDS OF SUMMER



Then last Friday I went to N.E.R.D & Common's Seeing Invincible Sounds of Summer concert at the Cuthbert Amphitheater down here in Eugene. I wasn't too sure how much fun I'd have before the concert because I hadn't listened to any Common music in awhile..especially his old stuff. I was more familiar with N.E.R.D's material, but like Common, their older material was hazy.

I held these doubts (especially after sound ussues with the openers..) all the way up until N.E.R.D. set foot on the stage, grabbed them and immediately smashed them while coming out to Anti Matter. Running through the majority of their new Seeing Sounds tracks like Spaz and You Know What, while mixing in old hits such as Rockstar and Lapdance. Their set was filled with nonstop energy, yelling, jumping, and Pharrell's weird dances. (Videos available here.) If this show had been over after N.E.R.D's set, I would have been completely satisfied.

Enter Center Stage: Common.



Common's set was more relaxed, but still full of energy and fun. It was a more 'controlled' energy, and less Spazzing if you want to. He ran through his catalog well, covering tracks from every album. One ~13 minute medley was my particular favorite. He covered everything from Universal Mind Control to Timbaland - Way I Are, to Busta - Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See to Drivin Me Wild. After a mix of old, new, and brand new joints, he finally closed the show with a freestyle, mentioning everything from MLK Blvd to Taylors Bar & Grill to UO to the weed in Oregon.

Was it worth $32 before fees? Yes, definitely.
Would I pay to go see the exact same show one more time? Yes.
Should you try to go if they come around to your city? Yes.
Should I go to sleep now? Yes.

Mind Controlling, Blueprints, Self Destructing and 808's and hopefully some Detoxification

It's about to get real hot this winter..
November: Kanye West: 808's & Hearbreaks
November 11: Common: Universal Mind Control (Invincible Summer)
December 2: Jay-Z: Blueprint 3
December 9: 50 Cent: Before I Self Destruct
December: Dr. Dre: Detox (Hopeful, but doubtful)