Me and My Music Taste

I absolutely hate rap music, and r 'n' b. Pretty much no exception, sure I like some of Eminem's songs, the ones with decent lyrics that aren't all about bitches and bling. It is because of those common themes within that music world that puts me off it, I don't want to hear some one shouting "I'll woop your head boy, you know that I will", to be that is a load of shit, that will never adorn my iPod. Anytime I hear music with such a beat I will ignore it, shout for it to be turned off. Unfortunately by 16 year old brother likes some of that said music, through hanging out with some of his Chavvy friends (thankfully he is not a chav). But one advantage of his taste, which does also include good music such as the music I listen to, is that he introduced me to this unique band, Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip.

Now I wasn't an instant convert, he told me to listen to a song on YouTube "Letter from God". Of course, hearing the name of the band, I grew sceptical, but the music to start with didn't sound too bad, and when he told me to listen to the lyrics I thought they were OK. But still, a bit too "rappy" for my tastes. But he liked them and asked me to download their album for him, which I did that night.

He listened to the CD a fair bit, which meant, that since my room is opposite his, I heard the gist of the music, and wasn't a fan. He then came in my room a few weeks later, and told me to listen to the Lyrics of "Angles" which I did. Now I was beginning to get into it. I stuck it on my iPod, and thought, if I get bored, maybe I will give it a go. Which happened after an exam in January.

Background to the Band

Dan le Sac and Scroobius Pip consists of two people - Dan Stephens and David Meads and they released this album in May 2008. The name Scroobius Pip is taken from an Edward Lear nonsense poem "The Scroobious Pip" which was left incomplete when Lear died in 1888. The duo are both from Essex, and met when they both worked at HMV in 2001.

The Album

The Beat that my Heart Skipped

This song starts with a bit of a poetry piece from Scroobius Pip, before kicking into the actual song. The music has a kind of drum and base beat behind it with a bassy bit above it, which is rather catchy. I don't think that this is the best song on the album, Pip raps over most of the song, but the bridge piece, with some sort of humming reminds me of some of the Gorillaz music.

Development

Starting with a bit of a muted guitar sound, the song sounds to start with more like its going to be an indie song, before the computer sounding voices start. The music then has a futuristic synthesised sound overlapping it. The lyrics to start with are not brilliant, and again this song is not one of the highlights of the album. At about half way through, the rap changes, and is quite funny, it goes through the elements of the periodic table (up to fluorine) telling you a random fact about each of them, I think that was quite clever and made me chuckle while hearing it on the bus after a chemistry exam.

Look for the Women

According to my iTunes I haven't listened to this song yet, I think I hear a bit then turn it off. It is less of rap piece, which makes it a lot better, it is spoken with a tune. The music is nothing special, and it has a rubbish chorus which sounds like some 40 year old drunkenly singing in a pub. But other than that it is OK, again, I do not think there is anything special with the lyrics to this song.

Rappers Battle

Musically very early 90's sounding to start with, with a more modern overlapping drum beat. This song brings in the beginning of good lyrics. Much more poetic, although better is to come. The song handles the difference between the brain and skin, and the way skin remembers "deep abrasions" but the brain doesn't "deep conversations" and it makes a rather good point. The end of the song is rubbish, after Pip has finished the music continues and has some random crap over the top of it.

Tommy C

This name had the provisional title "James Blunt Can Fuck Right Off", the newer name I think fits much better. It handles Pip's definition of Beauty. The lyrics are about Tommy Cooper, and I think it's very clever the way it's written, and does give a good background about Cooper, whilst describing Pip's idea of Beauty as the way that Cooper died. This song is defiantly one of the top 5 from the album, although I do not like the chorus, which I find does the song no justice and could be left out.

Fixed

This song uses the beat to Dizzie Rascals "Fix up Look Sharp", one of the many hip hop songs which I find totally unbearable. The songs lyrics are about the UK hip hop scene . I don't really like this song, the lyrics are nothing special, and it just forms background music if its on, doesn't grab the attention that "Tommy C" does.

Angles

Possibly the best song on the album, with some fantastic lyrics. The song tackles a story from the different angles there were to it, and has the underlying message of "don't judge a book by its cover".

Mark is at Uni and wants to make something of his life, and hopes to get a good job so he can afford a house for him and his younger brother, Billy. Their Mum died giving birth to Billy, and his dad blames him for it, and has beaten him since he was young. Billy doesn't blame his dad, and wants to get him a present, but having no money decided to steal it. He was caught by Keith, the head of security at the shop, and since Billy "switched off" he grabbed him by the throat. Billy subsequently realised that "life was just a series of wars". He went home and killed himself.

When Mark came home after finding out about his brother, he read his suicide note, which said about the incident, he took the old biblical message of "eye for an eye", went to the shop and stabbed the guard.

The way the story is conveyed, with the added view of the Guard and his assistant, is brilliant. It certainly adds some depth. The anger behind the last verse is quite emotional. And the chorus is underlines the whole song:

Thing's in life aren't always quite what they seem,
There's more than one given angle to any one given scene.
So bare that in mind next time you try to intervene
On any one given angle to any one given scene.

Letter from God to Man

As the title suggests, this song is a letter from god to man, and again boasts very powerful lyrics.

I know I haven't been around much lately
But it didn't seem like you wanted me to be
The last time I sent down a message you nailed it to the cross
So I figured I'd just leave you to it, let you be your own boss

The lyrics tackle a number of problems with the human race today, and give "god's perspective" which I think is very clever, especially when some of the terrorist attacks etc are "in god's name". The music at the end of the song does my head in, but the music over the main bit of the song is fine, and adds some feeling to the lyrics.

Magicians Assistant

In an interview with the Telegraph:

"Because of the Emo music scene, self-harm seems to have become an acceptable thing," says Le Sac, "just another thing where people say, 'She's a teen, that's what teens do'. I wanted to address it."

That is what they addressed in this song. A simple synthesised sound in the background, which is quite eerie, with Pip little more than talking over it. It handles the issues with self harm.

Self harm, that's what they call it.
'Cause it just affects you.
It's your life, your body, so you can choose what you do,

It then goes on to say what would happen if they committed suicide, taken from the perspectives of family, friends and Pip as the boyfriend. As someone who used to self harm, its sort of a reflective song, that really makes you think about how selfish it is. The lyrics are very poignant, and at times are spoken with a venom behind them, especially near the end:

But as you said before, this just affects you.
It's your life, your body, your sister, your parents, your friends, and your partner
so you can choose what you do.
And if one day you can't rein it in,
and of your last breath you are the only witness,
Then fuck everything else cause that's not something you've got to live with.

Back from Hell

A bit too rappy for me really. The lyrics are nothing special, it doesn't speak of any themes that draw attention, and is more of a Hip Hop song than the others. It isn't a song I have ever listened to properly it just annoys me.

Thou Shalt Always Kill

Another genius song. It tackles the attitudes of youth of today, and acts like the ten commandments so to speak, telling people what they shouldn't do.

Thou shalt not stop liking a band just because they've become popular.
Thou shalt remember that guns, b!tches and bling were never part of the four elements and never will be.

Thou shalt not pimp my ride.
Thou shalt not scream if you wanna go faster.
Thou shalt not move to the sound of the wickedness.
Thou shalt not make some noise for Detroit.
When I say "Hey" thou shalt not say "Ho".

I really like this song since it challenges a lot of the minds of the traditional followers of Hip Hop music, kind of insulting their attitudes, albeit I think that even if those people listen to this song, they might fail to understand that.

Waiting for the Beat to Kick In

Starting with some straight rap, with some simple lyrics, about the type of music they do. It then slows to more talking with a tune, and telling a story, and some advice that had been given to him by a number of people.

Listen here,
In this life you can be oh so smart or oh so pleasant,
For years I was smart, I recommend pleasant,
Being smart can make you rich and bring respect and reverence,
But the rewards of being pleasant are far more incandescent",

The song provides some very sensible advice, and is quite thought provoking. The music behind it is simple a smooth beat. The last verse has more grit to the vocals.

Reading my Dreams

This is a hidden track after the above song, around 7 and a half minutes in. The music starts of with a soft piano, and then has some soft spoken lyrics. It is kind of a love song and very sweet, the end lyrics are really beautiful:

In each others arms and with interlocked hands
Lay two smiling faces and one set of plans

Summary

Like I said I am not a fan of hip hop, r 'n' b, rap or whatever. But this quote from a broadsheet newspaper sums it up:

In an age when hip-hop, both the American version and its UK imitation, has become thuggishly obsessed with machismo,
ego, guns, sex and money, the wit and musical edginess of Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip is not only thoroughly welcome,
but right on time

They present this type of music in a new way, opening it up to a wider audience. The lyrics are clever, and well written, some of it reading like the best of modern day poetry, and the meaning behind some of the songs is excellent. Songs like "Magicians Assistant" tackle subjects which are rarely pressed by "popular music", and I think the way it is tackled is brilliant.

What Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip have managed to do, is create a Hip Hop album, but shed the connotations of the music being full of droll lyrics which say nothing, they have removed the stigma from Hip Hop that the likes of Fifty Cent and P. Diddy - or whatever his name is - have placed upon it, and through this they have created a great album which speaks to more people than the music would suggest.

I thoroughly recommend this for lyrical content, though I am certain that the music will not appeal to most people out there, fans of the rubbish stuff like Fifty Cent etc will like it for its music, and possibly the lyrics too. And fans of poetry should be able to appreciate the lyrics of the songs. If you don't like the music and don't want to give it a listen you should at least read the lyrics.

You can grab your own copy for £6.99 from Play.com!