N.E.R.D. Shows the Swagger
But is <i>Seeing Sounds</i> too adventurous for heavy rotation?
N.E.R.D
Seeing Sounds
Released on Jun 10, 2008
Commercial Hip-Hop's recent trends in awkward shades of hedonism, violence and supposed demonstration of "skill" have seemed to lack three main elements of their forefathers: swagger, musicianship and poise. N.E.R.D., and their new album Seeing Sounds, jumps this line several times. But how does it come out in the end?
Unless you've managed to avoid top 40 hip-hop for the past 12+ years, you've most likely heard of the production anomaly The Neptunes (Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams). They've cranked out semi-adventurous blip-hop and palatable beats for some of the biggest names in rap's newly found commercial era. N.E.R.D. (No One Ever Really Dies) is The Neptunes' adventures into exploring the blurred lines between hip-hop, alt-rock, glitchy backbeats and various shades of crunk; Seeing Sounds is the end result of this blurring, filled with genre jumps galore, and an overall interesting view of how commercial rap would perhaps take upon indie rock, wrestle it to the ground and strap a platinum chain around its neck.
Seeing Sounds is a 12-track bumpy, booty shaking and sometimes introspective ride into N.E.R.D.'s experimentations, on-again-off-again careful musicianship (usually purposefully), and apparent exploration of influences. Songs such as "Windows" show that the group can channel the slower half of style from bands such as Arctic Monkeys or Bloc Party. "Anti-Matter", as the album's true high point, moves in the subtle shades of "club banger," the delivery of Saul Williams with a crunk chaser, and a bit of greasy electro as its backbone. "Everyone Nose" nearly makes dope whimsy of rap club culture, including the many personal/social issues of cocaine, while sounding a bit too musically busy and confused to truly lock it down.
N.E.R.D.'s lead singer Pharrell Williams only moves into his well recognized falsetto range in sparse moments, holding it semi-solidly for the instrumentally Smashing Pumpkins-esque "Happy", if for nothing else but to appease the listeners looking for familiar Pharrell amongst adventurous N.E.R.D..
Unfortunately, while N.E.R.D.'s genre jumping brings the listener on a thrill ride, it also leaves the listener unable to settle down. Adventurism in Seeing Sounds is apparent, but when the listener cannot settle because of the changes in pace, it makes the album feel more like a mix tape, as opposed to a cohesive work. Massive changes in the kinds of energy in each track may leave the listener between scales of hyped and grooving, with little to no cue or musical pad between the two. By all means, it is great that Seeing Sounds pushes the envelope, but the paper cuts afterwards make it a bit tough to stomach the album as something you would keep in your stereo. Dope, but in limited doses.
Overall, N.E.R.D.'s Seeing Sounds is adventurous, and has the right amount of The Neptunes style. But, while being palatable, when starts Seeing Sounds, the hangover afterwards might mean that it's a thrill ride to be taken sparingly.
High Point
"Anti-Matter"
Low Point
"Everyone Nose"
Posted by Ed Moses on Jun 23, 2008 @ 12:10 am