This Old ChesnuTT

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    This Old ChesnuTT
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    I remembered this album, then found it deeply buried in my record collection.

     



     

    It wasn’t a hip hop record but it was informed by hip hop. Its lo-fi and it rambles. It channels a little bit of Hendrix, some Lenny Kravitz, definitely some Prince, a little Donnie Hathaway and Curtis & maybe some Ben Harper. But there’s quite a bit of white pop in there too – maybe some lo-fi Beach Boys, The Beta Band, occasionally flickers of Jeff Buckley. “She’s Still Here” is even a little gospel joint done on a scrungey indie Casio not a church organ. It’s as if Beck had channeled black music and not grunge. “The Headphone Masterpiece” is like some sort of stoners late night mix tape by one guy – “Can’t Get No Betta” opens with a clearing of throats which seems to epitomise the ethics of the whole record.

    It’s loose and songs start and stop – sometimes he just explores a little beat and then drops it, but leaves the vibe there. Sometimes the songs play out for 1 minute, and sometimes for 6. The odd ones sort of a leftfield hit (“The Seed” & “Cant Get No Betta” but maybe not in the version on this record. Occasionally it is uptempo (“The World Is Coming to My Party” rides a roughhouse electro riff but it’s not really a jammm). It’s sometimes funny (“Bitch I’m Broke”) and sometimes its pretty deep (“The Seed” holds the thought that “if Mary dropped a baby girl tonight, I would name her Rock n’ Roll” ). It might be misogynist (there are quite a lot of dick references and a fair bit of cheating) but it might just be he’s playing with us and with hip hop conventions. Who would know but he seems too cool to be a dick and he’s happy to fuck with us – “Brother with An Ego” laughs at all that stuff in 0.14 seconds. “Serve This Royalty” seems to be a bit of soul think piece on what was up with hip hop then with references to chains and Adidas, but then again it might not be. Some of it is in tune and some of it isn’t. Like he couldn’t be bothered to fix the takes. Cool enough is good enough. It was a sprawling double CD full of ideas, and then nothing. Some of it I don’t like, some of it still sounds fresh today (stand up to rap on “Batman v. Blackman” - a beat waiting to be used). It all sounds really good through headphones (of course).

    I recommend it pretty highly as one to dig out of the back of your cupboard or seek it out if you’re not already familiar with it.

    And the good news is I came across this when I was searching Cody ChesnuTT on the internet.



     



     

    Turns out it’s the first taste off his new album which is due out on October 30, I for one am looking forward to seeing if he’s got any more after all these years.



     

    -Tony H



     

    BTW. Whilst thinking about this one I also realised it came from a pretty free black music time. And that this



     



     

    Was a classic too. Might dig that one out next for a listen.

    153566
    Tags:
    jimi hendrix, Lenny Kravitz, prince, Curtis Mayfield, Beach Boys,
Submitted by Site Factory admin on



I remembered this album, then found it deeply buried in my record collection.

 



 

It wasn’t a hip hop record but it was informed by hip hop. Its lo-fi and it rambles. It channels a little bit of Hendrix, some Lenny Kravitz, definitely some Prince, a little Donnie Hathaway and Curtis & maybe some Ben Harper. But there’s quite a bit of white pop in there too – maybe some lo-fi Beach Boys, The Beta Band, occasionally flickers of Jeff Buckley. “She’s Still Here” is even a little gospel joint done on a scrungey indie Casio not a church organ. It’s as if Beck had channeled black music and not grunge. “The Headphone Masterpiece” is like some sort of stoners late night mix tape by one guy – “Can’t Get No Betta” opens with a clearing of throats which seems to epitomise the ethics of the whole record.

It’s loose and songs start and stop – sometimes he just explores a little beat and then drops it, but leaves the vibe there. Sometimes the songs play out for 1 minute, and sometimes for 6. The odd ones sort of a leftfield hit (“The Seed” & “Cant Get No Betta” but maybe not in the version on this record. Occasionally it is uptempo (“The World Is Coming to My Party” rides a roughhouse electro riff but it’s not really a jammm). It’s sometimes funny (“Bitch I’m Broke”) and sometimes its pretty deep (“The Seed” holds the thought that “if Mary dropped a baby girl tonight, I would name her Rock n’ Roll” ). It might be misogynist (there are quite a lot of dick references and a fair bit of cheating) but it might just be he’s playing with us and with hip hop conventions. Who would know but he seems too cool to be a dick and he’s happy to fuck with us – “Brother with An Ego” laughs at all that stuff in 0.14 seconds. “Serve This Royalty” seems to be a bit of soul think piece on what was up with hip hop then with references to chains and Adidas, but then again it might not be. Some of it is in tune and some of it isn’t. Like he couldn’t be bothered to fix the takes. Cool enough is good enough. It was a sprawling double CD full of ideas, and then nothing. Some of it I don’t like, some of it still sounds fresh today (stand up to rap on “Batman v. Blackman” - a beat waiting to be used). It all sounds really good through headphones (of course).

I recommend it pretty highly as one to dig out of the back of your cupboard or seek it out if you’re not already familiar with it.

And the good news is I came across this when I was searching Cody ChesnuTT on the internet.



 



 

Turns out it’s the first taste off his new album which is due out on October 30, I for one am looking forward to seeing if he’s got any more after all these years.



 

-Tony H



 

BTW. Whilst thinking about this one I also realised it came from a pretty free black music time. And that this



 



 

Was a classic too. Might dig that one out next for a listen.

Tags Tier 2
jimi hendrix
Lenny Kravitz
prince
Curtis Mayfield
Beach Boys
beck
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