Album Review!

link for Ted

Hello friends. My current state of funemployment lends itself to a plethora of free time. I find myself bored much of the time. Leads exist, but nothing solidified yet. Keep your fingers crossed.

That said, I haven't been able to find a topic to blog about lately. Nothing really has happened in my life of late. But, with the recent dearth of blogging (until the last few days), it became apparent that I had to blog about SOMETHING, or else this blog would be truly dead. So, the natural choice for blog content when there's no content to be had is... an album review!

My first though in the shower this morning was to review Kanye West's latest effort, "My Dark Twisted Fantasy". But, what's the fun in that? A lot of people are talking about it, everyone has an opinion, and I haven't listened enough to really say anything useful. But then, I realized that there's another album that I haven't really spoken to any of you about of which Kanye's new album truly reminds me (and I don't know why). The album we'll discuss today is a seminal effort within hip-hop, considered to be one of the best albums of all-time, a double platinum debut effort by the one-time candidate for the Haitian presidency... the album we'll discuss today is Wyclef Jean's 1997 record "The Carnival".

Let me preface this review by telling you that this album is my favorite, without question. I can be in the midst of a heavy musical boredom, on a multi-day road trip, and pop in The Carnival and suddenly feel renewed. I can sit at home and be sending out job applications while wondering what music I should be listening to, pop in The Carnival, and be set. This album is versatile - just as it could accompany job applications, you could play it at the right party and people would a) think it was the perfect music, and b) be surprised that they'd never heard half the songs before. It's a concept album - it follows a storyline and should actually be listened to in one go.

The Carnival starts with perhaps one of the best album intros of all the time, setting the story for the story to be told over the proceeding tracks. The story is simple: The Carnival is a trial pitting Wyclef Jean vs. The People to determine whether or not Wyclef is "a playa and a definite bad influence". Let me just say, what a baller for making that the theme for your DEBUT album. Anyway, the intro just rocks. It makes you wanna listen and it gets you so psyched to hear the rest of the tracks.

The intro builds, builds, and builds some more, and then breaks into some calm, chill notes for the intro of the first song "Apocalypse". This pattern is prevalent throughout the album - a contrast between strong, loud, intense sounds, cutting to calm, chill, light guitar, and then breaking into sweet flows of melodic rhyme.

Wyclef is a master of sampling, and uses this to his advantage. Tracks throughout the album take advantage of past tunes, everything from the Latin classic "Guantanamera" to the Beegee's "Stayin' Alive", and Willie Nelson's "To All The Girls I've Loved Before". This mix of classic hip-hop lyrics from Wyclef and the rest of the Refugee All-Stars is, for me, amazing.

Sprinkled throughout the album are Interludes that continue the trial concept of the album and pull the music together. In some albums that are meant to be listened to as one, the songs don't actually connect at all (obviously) and artists just say that because they're stuck-up and arrogant. This album is not one of those. The songs actually work, and serve as evidence within Wyclef's trial. Furthermore, the Interludes are hilarious and at times make fun of the Caribbean French accent. Good stuff.

Sticking to his Haitian roots, Wyclef even throws in a few songs in Haitian French. While I don't understand what he sings, they're great tracks that make you want to move. They certainly contribute to the album as a whole.

Bottom line, I think everyone needs to listen to this album. I know that all you Stadium dwellers will be able to appreciate it, and furthermore enjoy it. I still don't know how I've neglected to mention it until just now. It's truly a stable in anyone's listening "quiver", and definitely can serve as one of those trusty fallbacks that will solve any music-enjoyment ennui.