ALBUM- Plan B: The Defamation Of Strickland Banks
Artist: Plan B
Album: The Defamation Of Strickland Banks
Label: 679/Atlantic
Release: 1/25/2011
Ben Drew, known primarily as Plan B is a man of many talents. A successful hip hop artist, singer-song writer, actor and film director. He is now ready to break out in the states with his US release of The Defamation of Strickland Banks.
Defamation is a step away from Drew’s hip hop oriented 2006 debut album Who Needs Actions When You Got Words. With his follow up four years in the making, Drew continues to solidify himself as an excellent lyricist and story teller.
Defamation is a concept album that tells the first-hand story of fictional sharp dressed soul singer Strickland Banks portrayed by Plan B. The album’s openers “Love Goes Down” and “Writing on Walls” are soulful love tunes about his girlfriend who is later referred to in the story. The album takes a quick shift into “Stay Too Long” which is a hard hitting funk rock song that would please any long time Chili Peppers fan. Within the first three tracks Drew intends to show all critics and fans that he is not an artist to be simply labeled by one genre. Drew continues his genre shifting album with the jazz-hop “She said” which introduces the role of a woman who is obsessed with Strickland and his music. “She said” represents the key turning point for Strickland and his story as he denies his stalker’s advances. Broken, she accuses him of rape for which he is then incarcerated. “Welcome to Hell” is the beginning of his time in prison where much of the rest of the album is told from. “Hard Times” and “The Recluse” show Strickland both scared and isolated in prison for crimes he did not commit. The story continues with Strickland getting a shank or shiv on the prisoner black market after being abused and beaten by other inmates (“Traded My Cigarettes”). Strickland is later accosted by another prisoner whom he kills in self-defense with the assistance of another inmate (“Praying”), with his accomplice taking the blame for the murder. Strickland withdraws into himself in guilt for letting the other inmate take the fall (“Darkest Place”). Strickland moves from guilt to anger and then finally acceptance of prison life (“Free”, “I Know A Song”). The tale ends with new evidence and Strickland back in courts leaving the listener unsure of what happens to the defamed singer (“What You Gonna Do”).
When broken down track by track, apart from the story, Defamation is a solid album that spans many music genres from soul to hip hop to funk. Fans of Drew’s first album will find Defamation a stretch from the artist’s original work while still pleasing loyal fans with a solid record. A new term, Soul-Hop, will need to be coined to properly delve into the genre spanning record that Drew has created. With hip hop beats and soulful melodies, Drew paints a story that keeps the listener drawn in from start to finish. The tracks “Writing’s On The Wall”, “She Said”, “The Recluse” and “What You Gonna Do” are the highlights of the album that sum up Plan B’s musical talents as a whole. Fans of Professor Green, Chase & Status, Example and Devlin will find themselves at home with Defamation. While each track is good enough to stand alone, the album is intended as a concept; so in order to truly appreciate the story, the album should be listened to from start to finish.
The Defamation of Strickland Banks debuted at #1 in the UK and Plan B is ready to do the same with its US release.
7/10
Trevor Platt [DJ trainwreck]
ALBUM- Beach House: Teen Dream
Artist: Beach House
Album: Teen Dream
Label: Sub-Pop
Release: 1/26/2010
The atmospheric bliss that is Beach House is a sound that is simultaneously innovative and vintage; it evokes images of pearls and sand, of washed out photographs, of white linens in a wicker laundry basket. Front woman Victoria Legrand has been compared to such singers as Nico and Hope Sandoval countless times, yet she brings something fresh to the table.
Beginning with their self-titled debut in 2006, the product of this tagged “dream pop duo” is a shadowy daydream. Fans of the sound were delighted with Beach House’s 2008 follow up album, Devotion, which gave the band a place on the Indie map. It was apparent the band had improved while somehow managing to keep their effervescence. The signature and memorable sound marked Teen Dream (January 26, 2010) as their most anticipated album yet.
My initial attraction went to Norway, floating in on the same outlasting organ note that ended the track before it. The intensity of Legrand’s breathy intro melts into a series of low verses, only to be brought back during her varying runs of the word “Norway”.
The next track, Walk In The Park, is a brilliant matching of repetitive organ chords with Alex Scally’s guitar singing a duet of sorts with Legrand as she sings “In a matter of time/It would slip from my mind”, venturing into some higher, but still melancholic, notes. As seems to be the trend, the song builds up to a particular intensity for the last sparkling minute.
But the true, and so far overlooked, star of this album is Real Love. Setting aside her organ for this track and playing the piano, Victoria Legrand’s croon leaks more soul than I have yet to hear from her on any song of any album. The unprecedented change almost pulls you out of the dream world Beach House puts you in, while at the same time luring you back into the haze of this reverb-filled ballad. Add some tambourine for their token last minute of intensity and we have something so pure that we don’t want it to end.
Good thing there is one more track. It ends fading out to “I’ll take care of you” and nobody can deny that Beach House has once again proven themselves to be getting nothing but better. As a whole, Teen Dream presents a more upbeat Beach House than the solemn drones of their first two albums. It will be interesting to see the route they take with their distinctive sound and a growing fan base.
Marchese Taylor [DJ Evergreen]
Show: The Forbidden Forest, Wednesdays 4-6
