Soul Vibrations

J-Boogie’s Dubtronic Science – Soul Vibrations
Reviewed by Sadie O., 10/25/08
Bay Area hip hop of the pretty/jazzy variety – not that that’s a bad thing at all, it just reminds me of the theory that the Yerba Buena indians couldn’t put up much of a fight because living here was so damn easy they never picked up warfare… Definitely a relaxing CD that makes you feel smooth and easy. That said, the rhymes are dope and the musicianship damn good. Lots of fine keyboards and horns, and the vocalists need no intro.
Single FCCs on 2 and 13. I like 6, 9, 15 (and 2, despite the FCC)
1. 3:27 *pretty girl chorus, slow, spacey… spoken intro by local Reggae singer. Devolves and glitches a bit.
2. 4:12 FCC: “bullshit” ****slow hip hop with a bit of… circus horns? Rap by Lyrics Born – nuff said – Mamaz are hella unique, too…
3. 6:05 ***downtempo swingy groove with a bit of Latin percussion, rap about being an immigrant. Strong stuff! Flute and pretty female poetry in Spanish in second half of song.
4. 4:16 **acoustic, folky 60’s groove, horn section, vocal harmonies. Sad rap about love going bad.
5. 6:08 ***downtempo funky/jazzy groove, nice male singing. Sweet. Wicked keyboards.
6. 3:47 ****old school funk w/ a bit of scratch, Funkadelic horns, cool nonsense-free female singing.
7. 4:54 **downtempo rubber bands and smooth jazz, big vocal harmonies. Female spoken word, lots of horns.
8. 0:17 random sounds, beat that builds into next track.
9. 5:58 *****super funky midtempo syncopated beat, completely infectious. Rap with intricate internal rhymes. This is GREAT fun!
10. 4:46 **downtempo smooth jazz, reverby, pretty singing, positive rap.
11. 4:35 ***guitar and laughter intro, then Caribbean-infused Latin jazz, uptempo but relaxed sweet hipwiggler. Fun bit of cuica and Latin percussion.
12. 4:48 **odd processed disco intro, then rather downtempo jazzy funk with chimes, female singing, male rap, love song. There’s definitely a bit of Funkadelia cutting through the prettiness.
13. 5:28 FCC: “shit” **piano chords intro, then electronic whoops, glitchy. Serious words.
14. 5:21 *ethereal chimey flutey stuff, bits of female vocals, no words. Extremely relaxing…
15. 6:12 ****rubbery midtempo funk, pretty female singing, male and female raps about BAY LOVE. Oh yeah!