June 2016 – Page 2 – 7th Level Music

Live: Bebel Gilberto – June 18, 2016 – Ann Arbor, MI

I’ve wanted to see the lovely Bebel Gilberto for many years. I’ve always missed her past Chicago dates due to work, but I finally got to see her in a great venue at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival – a nice summer arts and music festival that takes place over two weeks on the University of Michigan campus.

The show was at the Power Center theatre on campus, and the onstage set-up was simple.

“That’s an impressive [drum] kit,” I told my wife. It was a full kit combined with hand percussion instruments. There was an acoustic guitar, a laptop computer, and a microphone for Ms. Gilberto. That was all she and her two-piece band needed.

Ms. Gilberto owned the stage as soon as she walked onto it. She was full of pep and had the crowd in her hands within moments.

She sang a good number of songs from her latest album, Tudo, including the title track, “Nudo Nao,” a cover of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon,” and some of her classics like “So Nice,” “Bring Back the Love,” and “Aganju” (a personal favorite).

Ms. Gilberto and her band killing it on “Aganju.”

She closed with two cuts from Tanto Tiempo – the always stunning “Samba Da Bencao” and “Close Your Eyes.” She had every Brazilian woman in the audience (and a few kids) dancing in the aisles by then.

Ms. Gilberto getting her groove on during “Close Your Eyes.”

This show has gone to the top of my list on my favorite live performances of 2016 so far because it’s the first show to bring me to tears. Ms. Gilberto’s drummer left the stage for a few numbers and I gasped when her guitarist played some familiar chords on the second percussion-free song. They were the opening chords to Radiohead‘s “Creep.”

My eyes misted as soon as she sang the first line. A few people in the crowd cheered as they recognized the song, jaws dropped as she dropped the f-bomb in the chorus, and my wife and I were wiping tears from our eyes by the end. It was gorgeous. Bebel Gilberto’s voice is nothing short of hypnotizing, and hearing her sing this song about longing and heartbreak was an unexpected surprise.

Ms. Gilberto singing “Creep” while my wife and I cried.

The crowd cheered when they’d finished the song. She said, “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” I said loud enough for the whole auditorium to hear me.

She laughed and then said, “We’re thinking about recording that. Some people don’t like it, but we like it.”

Please do, Ms. Gilberto, and please come back to the Midwest soon.

Keep your mind open.

[Thanks to Vickie Starr for getting me a press pass to this show. She rules.]

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The Coathangers – Nosebleed Weekend

I love how The Coathangers’ (Julia Kugel – guitar and vocals, Meredith Franco – bass and vocals, Stephanie Luke – drums and vocals) newest record, Nosebleed Weekend, starts its first song, “Perfume,” with a drum riff that sounds like something that belongs in an Acid Girls techno floor stomper but then switches to a solid rock beat, swaggering guitars, swinging 60’s bass, and lovely harmonized vocals.

The vocals on “Dumb Baby” shout to the back wall while the music gives you a happy beating while they sing about how their sapiosexual brains can’t handle their lovers’ stupidity (“I’ll still love you, darlin’, but you’re so dumb…”).

If “Squeeki Tiki” doesn’t make you love this album, I don’t know what will. They play a squeaky toy on it…and they play it well. Who needs an expensive synthesizer when you can get the sound you want with a squeaky toy you picked up at the county fair? The song’s about a memento the singer wants to ditch because it reminds her of her ex-lover (“You can have it. I don’t want that shit. It’s just a bad memory of what I did.”).

“Excuse Me?” has some neat spaghetti western-like guitar in the slow parts it that I love and blaring, angry guitar in the fast parts that’s just as good. “Make It Right” is old school “break up punk” – a love song hidden (not subtly, if you pay attention) in a punk rock jam.

The title track is a dangerous one in which the singer pretty much tells her lover that he can fool around as much he wants as long as he knows he’s in for a knuckle sandwich when he comes back home after all that philandering. “Watch Your Back” shows off the band’s love of Buzzcocks, because it’s great pop-punk with some wicked high-hat work and crazy surf guitar to boot. “Burn Me” keeps that pop/surf-punk groove going (which shouldn’t be a surprise since this album was recorded in southern California instead of their usual hometown Atlanta digs).

“I Don’t Think So” still has a bit of a surf edge and is such a pretty break-up song that you can’t feel too sad for the singer, even with sad lyrics like “I’m tired of staring at the phone like it’s a person.” You know she’s going to get through it. “Down Down” is good power rock, and “Hiya” is more fun pop-punk as the singer sees an old flame again after a long time (“All I wanna do is hear you say, ‘Hiya.’”).

I love how the power chords and angry vocals of “Had Enough” are backed with fun and light backing vocals during the verses. It also has this quirky, neat, brief guitar solo in it that makes you think the song is going in a different direction before it yanks you back to the rock licks. “Copycat,” the closer, is sexy, a bit creepy, and even, I dare say, a bit shoegaze with its instrumentation and slightly reverbed vocals.

Every song has sharp and witty lyrics about loves lost and found, sex good and bad, and longings and kiss-offs. The Coathangers can blend surf, pop-punk, and fuzz-rock like few others can and Nosebleed Weekend is one of the best 2016 records about relationships I’ve heard so far.

Keep your mind open.

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Wrecka Stow: Waterlood Records – Austin, TX

I knew I was going to spend a lot of money as soon as I stepped into Austin, Texas’ Waterloo Records (600 North Lamar). This massive store is legendary in the area and it takes up two large storefronts.

I walked in and saw a large selection of new albums and store-exclusive DVD’s and Blu-Ray discs. I grabbed a Blu-Ray of Razorback, but ended up putting it back on the shelf because I hadn’t even explored a sixth of the store yet.

The CD selection is this place is massive, and they have seemingly every genre you can imagine.

They also sell T-shirts, odd toys, and art, and they had plenty of stuff from Record Store Day still available. Don’t worry, vinyl lovers, they sell plenty of vinyl.

The north half of the store is nothing but records. The above photo is just a tiny part of their selection. They even sell record players.

Not to be outdone is their DVD / Blu-Ray alcove. The number of cult and B-films alone was stunning. I could drop hundreds of dollars in this alcove alone.

I walked out of there with CD’s from Eric B. & Rakim, Bayonne, and Oingo Boingo, and the Rough Guide to a World of Psychedelia.

Waterloo Records is a must-visit spot if you’re a music and / or film lover and visiting Austin. Bring a fat wallet.

Keep your mind open.

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Clutch announce 2016 US fall tour with Zakk Sabbath and Kyng

June 15th, 2016 – Clutch continues their Psychic Warfare World Tour 2016. Headline tour dates for September-October are in. The group will be heading back on the road this Fall headlining another leg of their US tour. Supporting the tour will be Zakk Sabbath and Los Angeles based metal band Kyng. Including 2 festival appearances, the trek will begin in Buffalo, NY at the The Town Ballroom on September 28th and conclude in Worcester, MA at The Palladium on October 30th.

Clutch lead vocalist Neil Fallon commented “We are pleased to announce that this Fall Clutch will be hitting the road again in the U.S.. This time with Zakk Sabbath and Kyng. Clutch toured with Black Label Society a few years back and it was a blast – and no doubt, this one will be a blast as well. We hope to see you all there!”

Psychic Warfare is the latest and eleventh studio effort from Clutch. The disc debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard 200, No. 2 on the Billboard Independent, No. 1 on the Billboard Hard Rock and Billboard Rock charts. On Record Store Day this past April 16th Clutch released a limited edition numbered etched vinyl 12 inch that included two previously unreleased tracks from the Psychic Warfare sessions: “Mad Sidewinder” and “Outland Special Clearance“. Psychic Warfare was produced by longtime producer Machine (Lamb Of God, Every Time I Die).

Zakk Sabbath, bring their take on Black Sabbath songs on the road for the first time ever. The band features guitarist/vocalist Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne), bassist Rob “Blasko” Nicholson (Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie) and drummer Joey Castillo (Danzig, Queens Of The Stone Age). Kyng, the Los Angeles based metal trio, will be supporting their 3rd release and follow up to 2014’s Burn The Serum.

Pre-sale tickets will be on sale today (June 15th) at 12PM local time with public on sale beginning Friday, June 17 at 10AM local time. Pre-sale tickets are available here: Tickets.artistarena.com/clutch

For all other information, visit the Clutch website (www.pro-rock.com).

Clutch, Zakk Sabbath, Kyng 2016 Tour Dates

09/28 – Buffalo, NY @ The Town Ballroom

09/30 – Lakewood, NJ @ First Energy Park – Rock Carnival *

10/01 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE

10/02 – Louisville, KY @ Champions Park – Louder Than Life *

10/04 – Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues

10/05 – Atlanta, GA @ The Buckhead Theatre

10/07 – Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre Street Stage

10/08 – Columbus, OH @ Express Live

10/10 – Little Rock, AR @ Metroplex

10/11 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom

10/12 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater

10/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo

10/15 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl

10/16 – San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom

10/18 – Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater

10/20 – Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater

10/21 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue

10/22 – Sioux City, IA @ Anthem at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

10/24 – Columbia, MO @ The Blue Note ** NO Zakk Sabbath

10/25 – Chicago, IL @ House of Blues

10/27 – Madison, WI @ Orpheum Theater

10/28 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore

10/29 – Clifton Park, NY @Upstate Concert Hall

10/30 – Worcester, MA @ The Palladium

* festival appearance

CLUTCH:

Neil Fallon – Vocals/Guitar

Tim Sult – Guitar

Dan Maines – Bass

Jean-Paul Gaster – Drums/Percussion

For more information, check out the band’s website:

www.pro-rock.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/clutchband

Instagram: www.instagram.com/clutchofficial

Twitter: www.twitter.com/clutchofficial

Official: www.pro-rock.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/officialclutch

Rewind Review: TV on the Radio – World Cafe Live (2011)

This five-track EP from TV on the Radio was recorded for the National Public Radio program World Café in Santa Monica, California not long after the release of their excellent album Seeds. It’s a great slice of live, raw power from the prog / funk rockers.

“Caffeinated Consciousness” is big rocker that’s as smooth as silk covering a gravel road. “Will Do” is always welcome. It’s one of TVOTR’s biggest hits and easily one of their greatest love songs. This performance is groovy, hip, and a little dangerous. “Red Dress” never ceases to be a stunner, and this live version is sharp as a tack.

“Province” is sweet, with fine guitar work throughout it, and the vocal interplay is even better. The closer, “Repetition,” is a little trippy as it moves from a repetitive beat with shoegaze guitars over it to a brash beat with rapid-fire vocals.

TVOTR has been high on my must-see list for years, but the dates never work out when they get close. This EP can’t substitute for a live show, of course, but it certainly is a nice appetizer to the gourmet meal a full concert would be.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Gary Wilson – You Think You Really Know Me (2002 reissue)

I got to Gary Wilson late, so shame on me. I, like many Gen X’ers, first heard his name dropped by Beck but I had no idea who he was. He was Beck’s cool next-door neighbor for all I knew. Having Gary Wilson as your neighbor probably would be the coolest thing on Earth, because the guy’s an avant-garde music legend who has influenced more musicians than we can probably ever know, and he started this musical tidal wave with his debut album You Think You Really Know Me.

The album starts with “Another Time I Could Have Loved You,” which is a quick instrumental mix of electric piano and distorted guitar. It’s like Steely Dan and the Blade Runner soundtrack got in a car crash. Just when you think the album’s going to be all weird noise rock like Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music, along comes “You Keep on Looking” with its peppy synthesizers, fat synth-bass, and Gary Wilson’s love-lounge vocals.

“6.4 = Make Out” is one of his classics. It’s a slow jam about a familiar theme – Gary craving for (and yet at his wit’s end with) a mysterious woman. “I don’t kiss on my first date,” he tells us, but you don’t really believe him as the song dissolves into what sounds like distorted thunderclaps before that slick groove returns.

“When You Walk into My Dreams” is so damn funky that it should’ve been one of the greatest hits of 1977. The groove on it rivals Boz Scaggs’ “Lowdown,” the guitar solo is tight, and the lyrics are even more fun than the ones in Scaggs’ hit.

“Loneliness” is haunting, weird, and unsettling. It reminds me of Ennio Morricone’s lesser-known slasher film score work. It’s full of running water sounds, dissonant organ, and scratchy, slowed vocals.

“Cindy” is one of many women often featured in Wilson’s lyrics (Karen, Linda, Debbie, and Cathy being some of the others). “Pick me up around 9:20, but you better call first,” Cindy tells him, and he sings and dreams about making out with her for most of the night. “You Were Too Good to Be True” is a break-up song, sure, but it’s such a ferocious lounge-jazz jam that it’ll help you get over that lost relationship pretty quick.

“Groovy Girls Make Love at the Beach” is about Wilson wishing he could take Debbie down to the beach for an epic make-out session, but she’s “out of reach,” as is Cathy. He’s alone on another Friday night, but the song’s too fun to make you think striking out with two ladies crushes him. He’ll get back on the horse next Friday.

“I Wanna Lose Control” is Wilson playfully giving his lady some pillow talk about all the cool things they’re going to do on date night (swimming, hanging out with friends, etc.), but he does warn her he wants to go bonkers for fifteen minutes first. The title track is a precursor of vaporwave with great psychedelic touches and a beat structure that doesn’t seem to make sense at first.

“Chromium Bitch” is another of Wilson’s greatest hits. It has get-your-freak-on synths as Wilson sings about making kinky, sweet love to his girl. “I wanna make you my chromium bitch. My bitch. My bitch! Hey, I’ll be kissing you tonight.” He’s not a complete Dom, however. “And when you wanna go to the dance, I’ll be there, too. I’ll be smiling. I’ll be smiling, ‘cause I love you.”

The album ends with Gary Wilson finally getting to make out with Karen, Linda, Debbie, or Cathy on “And Then I Kissed Your Lips.” The whole album is like a diary of Wilson’s swinging weekend with hopeful plans (“6.4 = Make Out”), plans that went wrong (“Loneliness”), ones that look promising (“Cindy”), and ones that pan out to his delight (“Chromium Bitch”).

Again, shame on me for taking so long to find this masterpiece. Shame on you if you still haven’t heard it. Mr. Wilson has a new album due out this summer. I’m glad he’s still at it, and I hope he’s taking time to hang out with groovy girls at the beach. He deserves it.

Keep your mind open.

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Dunsmuir to release debut album July 22, 2016.

June 13th, 2016 – Dunsmuir, the new project featuring CLUTCH singer Neil Fallon, former Black Sabbath drummer Vinny Appice, Fu Manchu bassist Brad Davis, and The Company Band guitarist Dave Bone are set to release their self-titled debut album July 22nd via Hall Of Records. Presales will begin July 8th and will be released digitally exclusively on iTunes. The LP will have a limited pressing of 1,000 copies and will include a signed lithograph poster of the album cover. The LP will be available exclusively at: http://www.indiemerch.com/Dunsmuir/. The first single at radio will be “Our Only Master”.

Dunsmuir has released three 7” vinyl singles to date. The fourth and final 7” is slated for release June 15th with a very limited run of only 500 pieces and WILL NOT be re-pressed. It will be available exclusively at http://www.indiemerch.com/Dunsmuir/.

When asked about the album, Appice explains “This album is pure simple heavy ROCK that ROCKS!”

“This record is an intense collaboration of four minds all set on “destroy”. says Bone. “It’s been a few years in the making and now ready to erupt. Raw and in your face, we hope you like it hot!”

“Dunsmuir has given us the opportunity to explore some of our favorite heavy metal influences” adds Davis. “We strove to create something I hope will inspire a lot of head banging all over the world.”

Fallon adds “We turned out some serious metal on this record and it shreds. The concept behind the lyrics is comprised of 10 tales from the survivors of a shipwreck. What had been intended as a scientific expedition, quickly deteriorates into a struggle to survive both the natural and supernatural world.”

Dunsmuir Track Listing

Hung On the Rocks
Our Only Master
The Bats (Are Hungry Tonight)
What Manner of Bliss?
Deceiver
…And Madness
Orb of Empire
Church of the Tooth
The Gate
Crawling Chaos!

DUNSMUIR:

Neil Fallon – Vocals/Guitar

Dave Bone – Guitar

Brad Davis – Bass

Vinny Appice – Drums

For more information, check out the band’s website:

www.dunsmuirband.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/DunsmuirBand

Instagram: www.instagram.com/dunsmuirband

Twitter: www.twitter.com/DunsmuirBand

YouTube: www.youtube.com/Dunsmuir

Imarhan – self-titled

I was lucky enough to see Algerian rockers Imarhan at the beginning of their first U.S. tour when they played at Levitation Austin, Texas last April. I’d heard a couple of their tracks on BBC 6 Music (the greatest radio station on Earth) and made sure to get my wife and I tickets to see them. They didn’t disappoint, and neither does their self-titled debut album.

“Tarha Tadagh” gets the album off to a lovely start with subdued vocals, handclaps, and peaceful acoustic guitars. “Tahabort” is the first single, and it sizzles with that crisp and bouncy guitar sound that only Tuareg players seem to be able to play as the hand percussion gets the floor jumping. “Ibas Ichikkou” is like a meditative chant you’d hear in a desert tent full of incense smoke and strings of bells hanging on the tent ropes. “Idarchan Net” is in the same vein and has more lovely acoustic guitar work throughout it.

If I ever get to Alergia and have a cup of tea in a little café within sight of the desert, I fully expect “Assossamagh” to be playing there while tough old men smoke cigarettes, kids play soccer in the street, and a mutt sits nearby waiting for me to drop a piece of bread. It’s a lovely song.

The title track, and the band’s name, translates as “The ones I care about.” The song has great backing vocals by the band as they put down a fierce beat and scorching guitar. It got the crowd cheering and dancing when we saw them in Austin.

“Addounia Azdjazzaqat” and “Id Islegh” get back to the mellow grooves (I especially like the raindrop-like percussion on “Id Islegh”). “Aroj N-inizdjam” grows in volume and funk as it winds along like a happy balloon drifting through the streets of Tamanrasset while a child chases after it. “Alwak” brings a blue vibe that is unexpected and mesmerizing. It’s something Lightning Hopkins would’ve played and sang if he’d been born in the Sahara instead of Texas.

Imarhan have stated in interviews that they wish to shake up the perception of Tuareg music in western audiences. They don’t wear traditional robes and scarves. They don’t dress much different than the Strokes. They play music rooted in traditional Tuareg sounds, but they also embrace blues, jazz, rock, and even funk. Get in on the ground floor with these guys now, because they’re going to be a big act on the world stage.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Clutch, Corrosion of Conformity, and Valkyrie – June 10, 2016 – Ft. Wayne, Indiana

Sadly, I could find none of these lying around to snag while I was there.

I will see Clutch at any opportunity, so I wouldn’t pass up the chance to see them a little over an hour’s drive from my house and in my old punk rock stomping grounds of Fort Wayne, Indiana. We got to the Pierre’s entertainment complex in time to hear the last two songs of Valkyrie’s set. They reminded me a bit of Sleep – heavy stoner riffs and Black Sabbath-like vocals.

Legendary metal rockers Corrosion of Conformity were up next. My wife asked, “This is going to be a blast of metal, isn’t it? With a name like Corrosion of Conformity, I imagine it’s going to be pretty loud.”

She was right, of course. They dropped more metal in the place than a crane at a scrapyard. “Who’s Got the Fire?”, “Broken Man,” “Albatross,” “Seven Days,” “My Grain,” and “The Door” were all big hits with the crowd. It was no surprise that the band played “Vote with a Bullet” in an election year show, and even less of a surprise that the crowd went nuts for it.

A tall man in a trucker cap and sleeves shirt stood next to me with his right arm raised to throw devil horns for almost the entire COC set. He was the type of guy who’d worked all week at a truck parts factory in the summer heat knowing it would all be worth it because he was going to see Corrosion of Conformity that weekend. It was a metal set for a metal crowd, and that guy next to me was Midwest metal all the way. I’m sure he was pleased as punch when COC announced they’d have a new album in 2017.

Clutch, as is customary whenever I’ve seen them, opened with two fast rockers. “X-Ray Visions” and “Firebids,” both off Psychic Warfare. They had the crowd in their hands within the first verse of “X-Ray Visions.” I heard my first Jean-Paul Gaster drum solo that led into a powerful rendition of “Immortal.” “A Shogun Named Marcus” was an unexpected surprise from their first record before they jumped forward more than two decades to blast out “Sucker for the Witch” and then slow down for “Son of Virginia” off the new record.

“Pulaski Skyway” was another bit hit with the crowd thanks to its “Andy Warhol / CBGB’s” chant and jab at Donald Trump (“Chump Towers”). “Behold the Colossus” is a fine example of Clutch’s epic Dungeons and Dragons rock, and it was a fine combination that night with “Cypress Grove” and its lyrics about a cult of mysterious women. Where else but a Clutch show will you see hundreds of metalhead dudes pumping their fists and singing / chanting about women in wide brim hats? Plus, Tim Sult’s guitar solo on “Cypress Grove” was outstanding.

“Your Love Is Like Incarceration” led into another surprise (for me, at least) – “Strange Cousins from the West.” I hadn’t heard that live since I first saw Clutch in 2009 at a street fair in Chicago when they were promoting that record.

A great part of the set was when Neil Fallon acknowledged Corrosion of Conformity’s influence on the band and brought out COC front man Pepper Keenan to jam with them on “Spacegrass.” The crowd went nuts to the point of chanting “C-O-C” like they did at the end of COC’s set.

Clutch with Pepper Keenan of Corrosion of Conformity

“Noble Savage” was a strong way to end their main set, with the crowd chanting “Unapologetic lifer for rock and roll.” Their encore included “The House that Peterbuilt,” “Electric Worry” (a favorite of my wife), and “One Eye Dollar.”

“We started this tour in Florida,” Neil Fallon said at one point during the show. “Then we went to Mississippi, then to Arizona, and this is by far the hottest show of the tour. No contest.”

The crowd cheered for this, and the band showed no signs of fatigue. Neil Fallon even made sure to ask us if we had a second wind at one point and that getting tired was “unacceptable.” It had been in the low 90’s with tropical rainforest-like humidity in Fort Wayne all day, and the inside of Pierre’s (with its minimal air conditioning) was like a sweat lodge – perfect for a show meant to melt your face, perfect for Midwest metal lovers like the guy with the Clutch logo tattoo across his throat I saw at a convenience store after the show, and a perfect end to the work week.

Keep your mind open.

[Thanks to Doug Weber for getting me a press pass to this show and for being an all-around cool cat.]

Rewind Review: Eric B. & Rakim – Don’t Sweat the Technique (1992)

Released in the prime time of hip-hop, Don’t Sweat the Technique is a classic featuring one of the best hip-hop duos of all time – Eric B. and Rakim.

“What’s on Your Mind” is a slow jam with a club beat as Rakim puts down rhymes so good that ladies want to snuggle with him on the couch and guys want to take lessons from him. Plus, only he can get away with a rhyme like “I seen you in the subway on the way from Brooklyn / Hello, good lookin’, is this seat tooken?”

“Teach the Children” is a plea to leaders to fix the environment, the drug abuse epidemic, and economic inequality. Eric B.’s groove on it hits as hard as Rakim’s message. “Pass the Hand Grenade” has Rakim challenging other MC’s to take the mic from him before he blows it to smithereens.

“Casualties of War,” one of their biggest hits, is a salute to troops serving in Iraq in the early 1990’s and how many weren’t sure about their mission, what awaited them when they returned home, or if their sacrifices were worth it. “Rest Assured” has drums so crisp they belong in a Pringles can. “The Punisher” could very well be about the Marvel Comics character with its chorus of “Kill ‘em again,” but it’s actually about Rakim slaying inferior MC’s with his hand grenade microphone. After all, he’s one of a select few who could put down such smooth rhymes on a track like “Relax with Pep” while Eric B. spins an acid-lounge groove behind him.

“Keep the Beat” is an even sexier slow jam than “What’s on Your Mind,” especially with the nice touch of female backing vocals on the chorus. The horn and flute loops in “Know the Ledge” are sweet, but Eric B.’s scratching is even better. “Kick Along” closes the record with the fastest beats and rhyming from the influential duo. “Try to keep up,” Rakim says at one point. It’s nearly impossible as the two of them race along faster than a lit dynamite fuse.

The title track is a lesson on rhymes, beats, and cuts. It’s no surprise that it and this album are hip-hop classics. Eric B. and Rakim are highly regarded, but often forgotten in the discussion of hip-hop greats among the general public who only have a cursory knowledge of rap. School is in session when you hear them, so pay attention.

Keep your mind open.

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