Fonk Da World - Nils Landgren Funk Unit (The)

Advantages: Gets your toe tapping
Disadvantages: Jazz AND Abba? Will you have any street cred left?

...I think it's fair to say that even the most ardent Abba fan could never claim that the band is, was, or will be, cool. But what the Swedish supergroup did manage was to create some incredibly catchy, and suprisingly technical, music, with Benny and Bjorn realising early on that success was more of a possibility if they left the fronting of the band to the less photogenically challenged Agnetha and the other one. And so the copycat cover version was spawned. Copycat beget television tribute show, and tribute show beget hugely popular stage show. What all of these dopplegangers had in common was that, in the end, they were all the same. The same songs, done the same way, but worse than originally. And then came Nils Landgren and his Funk Unit. Landgren is a stunningly good jazz musician and normally has at least one 'cover' on each... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Consistent quality
Disadvantages: Little variation

...“The Lords Of The Underground came out with their second album, “Keepers of the Funk” in 1994, and as their name suggest, the New Jersey trio (consisting of members DoItAll, Mr. Funke, DJ Lord Jazz) are a underground rap group, and with this record they were really able to take their names into the mainstream. 1. “Intro” 2. “Ready Or Not” They jump straight into it on this one as they show what this album has to offer from the get-go with a tune which references what they came with on their debut, and comments on how exactly they hope to take things forward on this one. It is a fly one, and I felt that it was pretty representative of their music. **Four Stars** 3. “Tic Toc” From the title alone, most Hip Hoppers should associate it with MC Ricky D’s classic words on “La Di Da Di”, and this is just what you get for the hook... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: A few good tracks, some creative ideas
Disadvantages: Some duds

...Full CD title: Out of the Blue Volume 2: The World Will Know Baby Blue is a female, British, hip hop artist from London. Three things I tend not to like: female rappers, British hip hop, rappers with strong London accents. A friend who was moving house gave this to me, and I had very low expectations. I expected a whole CD with maybe five or six tracks I could stand to listen to, maybe two tracks out of the twenty-three I actually liked. Defiantly something I could look to sell on eBay when my friend wasn't looking. In fact the album was quite enjoyable. Yes, there were a few tracks that hit every point on my "why I hate British hip hop" check list, but the majority were quite good. First a thing about the CD cover and inlay: it is very amateurish. The lighting is all wrong, and there is a big reliance on gradients. Luckily... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful