Cannibal Ox / Blade Of The Ronin
| Album: | Blade Of The Ronin | Collection: | Hip-hop | |
| Artist: | Cannibal Ox | Added: | Apr 2015 | |
| Label: | Ihiphop Distribution | |||
A-File Activity
| Add Date: | 2015-05-01 | Pull Date: | 2015-07-03 | Charts: | Hip-Hop |
|---|
| Week Ending: | Jun 28 | Jun 21 | Jun 14 | Jun 7 | May 24 | May 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airplays: | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Recent Airplay
| 1. | Jun 25, 2015: | channel 0+i
Vision (Feat The Quantum) |
4. | Jun 04, 2015: | channel 0+i
Psalm 82 |
|
| 2. | Jun 18, 2015: | channel 0+i
The Fire Rises |
5. | May 21, 2015: | channel 0+i
Sabertooth (Ft. Irealz & Bill Cosmiq), The Eternal Path |
|
| 3. | Jun 11, 2015: | channel 0+i (sunset substitution jeuves gigante edition)
The Eternal Path, Gotham (Ox City) |
6. | May 07, 2015: | channel 0+i
The Eternal Path, Sabertooth (Ft. Irealz & Bill Cosmiq) |
Album Review
lionel hutz
Reviewed 2015-05-01
Reviewed 2015-05-01
east coast indie rap
Cannibal Ox return 14 years later with their sophomore album. Yeah, “Cold Vein” is better (that’d be tough to beat), and there’s no El-P production, but this album is still great (and has a very cohesive sound despite having many producers). The production is less out there than El’s was, but it still does an excellent job of fusing traditionalist hip-hop construction with futurist tendencies. Less narrative storytelling than the first album, more abstract scenes and battle raps. Still plenty gritty street talk and post-apocalyptic vibes.
RIYL: Cannibal Ox, Company Flow, Run the Jewels, El-P, Ratking, RZA-inspired beats, proggy east coast street rap
FCC clean (except maybe 13/23?)
1. slow, intermittent drums, low key drama, scratches, intermittent low sampled dog barks. instrumental. 1:59
2. big boomy kicks, really stuttery intermittent cymbals, high fem vox syllable samples in background, fuzzy lead synth, beat pares back for a bit in the middle. scratches at the end. battle rap mode. 3:33
3. low wailing female vocal loop, slow boom bap drums. when verses kick in, switches to ghostly male vocal loop. female vocal loop and slow strings come back on chorus. flows are laid back but intricate and twisty. 3:25
4. classic east coast apocalyptic sound. vaguely operatic vocal sample on the hook, string swells, minor key synth pads and keys, organ swells. battle rap shit talking. scratches and more prominent organ riff on outro. 4:54
5. loping laid back drums, twangy guitar and chopped sped soul vocals, RZA-esque. flows bounce over the beat, usually starting straightforward and getting twistier and weaving more as the verse progresses. 4:35
6. short sample about animal nature, would make good outro from prev track or intro to next. 0:23
7. what sounds like affected sampled sitar drone, some other brighter synth pads, sampled interjections about not trusting anyone. stuttery driving mid-tempo drums. nervous flows about survival of the fittest street life, slightly aimless battle rap closer from vast aire. 4:45
8. slow reverby doowop vocal sample as melodic bed, slow strutting drums. twangy slow guitar loop intermittently mirrors vocal sample. nicely placed scratched samples, slow deliberate flows, abstract shit talking. 4:34
9. low woodwinds, buzzy echoed electric piano or mallet instrument, knocking loping slow drum break. quick raps, vast aire alludes to lines from a song on their first album, vordul uses a rapid fire monotone. 3:59
10. boomy slow strutting drum break, slow bassline, low flute loop, low buzzy sample (maybe subtle didgeridoo), more percussion kicks in at the midway point. echoed intermittent horn stab. very RZA-esque. 1:59
11. a couple echoed minimal buzzy synth lines bounce off each other (one’s almost like something from old BoC). intermittent piano notes, thick shuffling drum break. drums drop out for a bit a couple times. low key but determined flows. 3:37
12. rich boomy loping kicks/bass and shuffling snares, dystopian synth squelch and pads. some filtered guitar towards the end. drums drop out for a bit a couple times, and are gone for the last :30 or so. blown out filtered spacey flows, a couple great turns of phrase. psych boom bap. 4:49
13. jumpy drums with reverby claps, rising tense synth and organ. fine (surviving/thriving in a cold world) verses from the canox guys, but very nice non-sequitur (natch) guest verse from doom (who says “poppin like a hymen”, not sure whether that’s an FCC or not). 4:02
14. swaying swirling strings, bells, low synths, sample about universe’s origin. good outro to last or intro to next. 0:47
15. big drums with trappy cymbals on the hook, warm filtered synth pads, half-sung backup vox on hook. nicely shifting flows. very reminiscent of the underachievers. 3:17
16. nicely disorienting washed out synth pad, clanking heavy metallic drums, warm dirty neon synth line. laid back flows just behind the beat. cutting and scratching on the outro. really hazy, murky 90s east coast rap vibes with updated textures. 4:34
17. high pitched dramatic undulating synth pad, snapping metal. moving as one. 0:24
18. booming stuttery drums, filtered fuzzed synth lines, descending bells, dubby filtered rhythm guitar plugs. fuzzed filtered vox. slightly halting rough flows. 3:43
19. short opening vocal sample (jackson/willis in die hard III). straight-forward solid funky drum break, smeared oddly textured bells, rising warm synth pads. spacey flows with a few good twists. 3:18
20. mellow dubby chimes/keys/rhythm guitar/pads. shuffling clattery drums. bouncy flows. intermittent low sampled bird sounds. bouncing shifting flows. really great cloud rap. 4:59
21. buzzy descending synth, submerged reverby drums, a bit of descending glockenspiel (?). slippery but aggressive flows, filtered on the hook. 2:09
22. icy night time synth line, sliding shuffling heavy break, deep rumbling bass line. gritty northeast construction with late night down south/west coast synth vibes. shifty verses half the time (but not half-time), waking dream scenes. 3:14
23. remix of #13 (same maybe-FCC warning). slower burning beat (with just a bit of string and piano stuff, but not too much). 4:16
recommended: 22, 5, 3, 8, 20, 16, 12, 15, 23/13, 18, 11
Cannibal Ox return 14 years later with their sophomore album. Yeah, “Cold Vein” is better (that’d be tough to beat), and there’s no El-P production, but this album is still great (and has a very cohesive sound despite having many producers). The production is less out there than El’s was, but it still does an excellent job of fusing traditionalist hip-hop construction with futurist tendencies. Less narrative storytelling than the first album, more abstract scenes and battle raps. Still plenty gritty street talk and post-apocalyptic vibes.
RIYL: Cannibal Ox, Company Flow, Run the Jewels, El-P, Ratking, RZA-inspired beats, proggy east coast street rap
FCC clean (except maybe 13/23?)
1. slow, intermittent drums, low key drama, scratches, intermittent low sampled dog barks. instrumental. 1:59
2. big boomy kicks, really stuttery intermittent cymbals, high fem vox syllable samples in background, fuzzy lead synth, beat pares back for a bit in the middle. scratches at the end. battle rap mode. 3:33
3. low wailing female vocal loop, slow boom bap drums. when verses kick in, switches to ghostly male vocal loop. female vocal loop and slow strings come back on chorus. flows are laid back but intricate and twisty. 3:25
4. classic east coast apocalyptic sound. vaguely operatic vocal sample on the hook, string swells, minor key synth pads and keys, organ swells. battle rap shit talking. scratches and more prominent organ riff on outro. 4:54
5. loping laid back drums, twangy guitar and chopped sped soul vocals, RZA-esque. flows bounce over the beat, usually starting straightforward and getting twistier and weaving more as the verse progresses. 4:35
6. short sample about animal nature, would make good outro from prev track or intro to next. 0:23
7. what sounds like affected sampled sitar drone, some other brighter synth pads, sampled interjections about not trusting anyone. stuttery driving mid-tempo drums. nervous flows about survival of the fittest street life, slightly aimless battle rap closer from vast aire. 4:45
8. slow reverby doowop vocal sample as melodic bed, slow strutting drums. twangy slow guitar loop intermittently mirrors vocal sample. nicely placed scratched samples, slow deliberate flows, abstract shit talking. 4:34
9. low woodwinds, buzzy echoed electric piano or mallet instrument, knocking loping slow drum break. quick raps, vast aire alludes to lines from a song on their first album, vordul uses a rapid fire monotone. 3:59
10. boomy slow strutting drum break, slow bassline, low flute loop, low buzzy sample (maybe subtle didgeridoo), more percussion kicks in at the midway point. echoed intermittent horn stab. very RZA-esque. 1:59
11. a couple echoed minimal buzzy synth lines bounce off each other (one’s almost like something from old BoC). intermittent piano notes, thick shuffling drum break. drums drop out for a bit a couple times. low key but determined flows. 3:37
12. rich boomy loping kicks/bass and shuffling snares, dystopian synth squelch and pads. some filtered guitar towards the end. drums drop out for a bit a couple times, and are gone for the last :30 or so. blown out filtered spacey flows, a couple great turns of phrase. psych boom bap. 4:49
13. jumpy drums with reverby claps, rising tense synth and organ. fine (surviving/thriving in a cold world) verses from the canox guys, but very nice non-sequitur (natch) guest verse from doom (who says “poppin like a hymen”, not sure whether that’s an FCC or not). 4:02
14. swaying swirling strings, bells, low synths, sample about universe’s origin. good outro to last or intro to next. 0:47
15. big drums with trappy cymbals on the hook, warm filtered synth pads, half-sung backup vox on hook. nicely shifting flows. very reminiscent of the underachievers. 3:17
16. nicely disorienting washed out synth pad, clanking heavy metallic drums, warm dirty neon synth line. laid back flows just behind the beat. cutting and scratching on the outro. really hazy, murky 90s east coast rap vibes with updated textures. 4:34
17. high pitched dramatic undulating synth pad, snapping metal. moving as one. 0:24
18. booming stuttery drums, filtered fuzzed synth lines, descending bells, dubby filtered rhythm guitar plugs. fuzzed filtered vox. slightly halting rough flows. 3:43
19. short opening vocal sample (jackson/willis in die hard III). straight-forward solid funky drum break, smeared oddly textured bells, rising warm synth pads. spacey flows with a few good twists. 3:18
20. mellow dubby chimes/keys/rhythm guitar/pads. shuffling clattery drums. bouncy flows. intermittent low sampled bird sounds. bouncing shifting flows. really great cloud rap. 4:59
21. buzzy descending synth, submerged reverby drums, a bit of descending glockenspiel (?). slippery but aggressive flows, filtered on the hook. 2:09
22. icy night time synth line, sliding shuffling heavy break, deep rumbling bass line. gritty northeast construction with late night down south/west coast synth vibes. shifty verses half the time (but not half-time), waking dream scenes. 3:14
23. remix of #13 (same maybe-FCC warning). slower burning beat (with just a bit of string and piano stuff, but not too much). 4:16
recommended: 22, 5, 3, 8, 20, 16, 12, 15, 23/13, 18, 11
Track Listing