Mike Ladd - Negrophilia: The Album
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Hip-hop producer Mike Ladd has a knack for eye-catching album titles: besides Negrophilia, there's Easy Listening 4 Armageddon, Welcome to the Afterfuture, as well as the Vernacular Homicide EP. His latest creative effort is named after a book by Petrine Archer-Straw: Negrophilia - Avante-Garde Paris and Black Culture in the 1920s. Just as Archer-Straw describes how jazz became an integral part of European arts and culture in the twenties, Ladd seeks to depict the aughts by melding diverse stylistic elements in his own music. What better place to do so than on a recording for the Blue Series, Thirsty Ear's ongoing celebration of eclectic jazz-inflected creativity? The album features performances from several stalwart avant-jazzers, including drummer Guillermo Brown, wind instrumentalist Andrew Lamb, trumpeter Roy Campbell and keyboardist Vijay Iyer. Ladd supplies vocals and programming, while Bruce Grant contributes tape loops. Some cuts, like "Shake It", are heavily laden with electronic elements and hip-hop rhythms. Guillermo Brown's drumming is looped into a powerful groove, over which Ladd's vocals, closer to spoken-word performance poetry than traditional rapping, are offset by skronk saxophone leads. "Fieldwork (The Ethnographer's Daughter)" is even more layered, with an intricate arrangement of material set atop a lively, syncopated rhythmic underpinning. Lamb's saxophone work is quite impressive, particularly on "Blond Negress", where he balances funky licks with avant arpeggiations to create a zesty foil for Ladd's fervent rap. "Back at Ya" swirls with instrumental counterpoint -- a kaleidoscope of keyboards, dissonant saxophone and trumpet lines, and a punchy bassline -- then takes up a vigorous electrofunk groove. "Appropriated Metro", on the other hand, combines an acid house vibe with subtle rhythmic elements from ska. While these eclectic...
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