Galactic - From the Corner of the Block

Last week in Boston I (somewhat unreasonably, don't tell my wife) splurged on a whole load of CDs when visiting Newbury Comics. One of these records is Galactic's latest album From the Corner of the Block. Having finally found the time to listen to it (don't you find it annoying that you can't load a CD on your iPod from a computer other than your primary? Guess I remember now why I'm not a big Steve "no-DRM" Jobs fan!), I wanted to share my first impressions with you.

I've talked about Galactic here in passing already, but I haven't reviewed any of their records (my favorite of which is and remains the awesome We Love 'em Tonight: Live at Tipitina's). In a way, From the Corner of the Block is both a result of the trend the band has been following lately and it's shift in audience, and a landmark release. Most of the songs feature singers from the hip-hop/urban scene, as opposed to the blues/soul vocals of resident vocalist Theryl 'Houseman' De Clouet. Since I don't know that scene, I can't tell you if these guys are famous or upstarts or considered good or bad. What I can tell you is that the combination of Galactic's legendary laid-back groove and hip hop vocals is a winner.

From the Corner of the Block rocks harder than previous Galactic releases I've heard, Stanton Moore's drumming is as sharp as ever, Ben Ellman's harmonica is a little more present than in previous releases (or maybe there's less of his sax playing) but overall, what makes this album is that marriage of groove and hip hop. One of the things I tend to dislike about most hip hop I've heard is the insistence on being backed by beatboxes and synths. Not only because I don't like them, but because they give the music a mechanical quality which is, to me, incompatible with groove. Hip hop artists backed by musicians (as opposed to machines) like Saul Williams, Abd al-Malik here in France, Nya with Erik Truffaz or the harmonica-laden Ironie du Son from Switzerland make for a much groovier combination in my opinion. And this is what works for me here too.

I haven't listened to it often enough to pinpoint preferred tracks or rappers. Suffice it to say that this is a good release that you should enjoy if you like groove music. Galactic are over here in Paris on March 7th, and I certainly hope to see them live.