Greyboy : Mastered the Art | Flawed
Greyboy (Andreas Stevens), who hails from San Diego, first attracted attention with the track Unwind Your Mind (on the Home Cookin’ compilation), a collaboration with Marc Antoine and Karl Denson. His reputation as an international artist was cemented with Freestylin’, produced, legend has it, on a budget of four-thousand USD and zero spent on promotion. Both Freestylin’ and Land of the Lost, Greyboy’s second album, had their basis in Jazz- Greyboy was one of the pioneers of Acid Jazz in the United States. Mastered the Art is a return to HipHop (Mr Stevens also has a HipHop label, P-Jays, together with Rob Dyrdek, a name known to most serious skateboarders, and has written the soundtracks to a number of skateboard movies). A fourth album is scheduled for release on Ubiquity Records (a small and unimportant label founded by Michael McFadin, owner of The Groove Merchant record store. Ever heard of it? Me neither- and that’s the point) in the first half of 2003.
Greyboy fuses samplers and live instrumentation, a fact which, in itself, does not merit a ‘Eureka!’. Almost all instruments on Mastered the Art are played by Elgin Park (Mike Andrews), who co-wrote all the tracks with the exception of Hold it Down. Fourteen instruments are listed, from acoustic guitar and electric bass to piano, sitar and yukulele. Now, that’s what I call versatile. Antoine, Denson and Park are members of the Greyboy Allstars, a West Coast Jazz ensemble.
Mastered the Art was released in 2001, five years after Land of the Lost. The tracks on the album can be divided into two distinct categories: HipHop pieces and instrumentals, a blend of easy listening and soundtracks of the sixties and seventies. That type of music has been exploited ad nauseam in the past few years, but Greyboy’s pieces at their best (which, alas, is not often) have fresh, innovative and inspired elements and, while definitely not in a league with Bacharach, Mancini, Morricone, Schiffrin et al., tower above the flood of aural insults pressed on CD of late (such as compilations of seventies’ German porn soundtracks). Logan’s Run, the album’s tenth track, is the best example.
The album opens with Mastered the Art, an instrumental, the best after Logan’s Run. The twelfth, and last, track is the Nicola Conte Jet Sounds Remix of the opener, which is, indeed, quite high-octane, even though I’m not a fan of the new Bossa wave, of which Mr Conte (yes, he is related to Paolo) is doubtlessly one of the high priests.
Hold it Down, with raps by Muddie (that’s Mr J Tweed, whoever he is) is laid-back summer HipHop dominated by Spanish guitar chords, a bass line that puts strain on the subwoofer (and activates bowel movement in the constipated) and a sequence that sounds as if were generated on an eighties’ Casio music computer. Think Trio and Da Da Da. Delectable!
Uknowmylife is reminiscent of Jedi Mind Tricks (who are in my personal Top Five of the phattest HipHop acts), but without their love of conspiracies and paranoia, and an indication of what Greyboy will be capable of once he fast forwards to the present.
Polyphonix is pure easy listening, ideal music for poolside parties attended by readers of wallpaper* magazine, who think they’re hip because they wear ironed retro Fred Perry tennis shirts and new Adidas Gazelles. The proper preparation of a Martini cocktail (whether to use Beefeater’s, Bombay Sapphire or Gordon’s, for instance, or whether to shake or stir the cocktail) or the comparison of the tastes of French and Italian goat’s cheese are topics of serious debate at these parties. I suggest that they be tied to their Ponton Chairs in front of a powerful PA and made to listen to Rage Against the Machine for a minimum of five consecutive hours. Greyboy himself has a bit in common with these pseudo-hipsters: on his website he talks about his furniture! Let me quote verbatim: ‘... his prize possessions are a coffee table designed by Alexander Girard and swag leg desk and kangaroo chair by George Nelson.’ This, indeed , is puerile. Greyboy also ‘ ... drives a metallic gold 1970 Ford Torino GT ...’ . I’m certain that he’d have liked me to mention this fact.
The fifth track, Dealin’ With the Archives, is my favourite. It starts with an Andalusian arabesque on an acoustic guitar and then there is a flute sample- six simple notes- that will break your heart. A single guitar chord- think of early The Police (Walking On the Moon, for instance)- in a loop, vibraphone ornamentation by David Pike, excellent turntable work and the vocal talent of Main Flow blend into a laid-back HipHop piece. R. Kelly should listen to this, it’s what he could have written instead of Fiesta.
Chinois would have been a more apt title for Marrakesh, a brief vignette of two-and-a-half minutes, with its implication of Northern African tunes. Pleasant, but irrelevant, even superfluous, as are Instantly, a Jazz improvisation which follows it, Smokescreen and Bath Music. All four pieces lack build-up and structure and are self-indulgent experiments that waste listeners’ time and try their patience, which is rather irritating.
Ghetto Boogie, the album’s fourth HipHop track, is darker and more complex than the previous three.
Greyboy is a producer with much skill and talent. What he lacks is an individual sound and voice. Another sample enthusiast and perfectionist who has achieved that is also a native of Southern California: Josh Davies, better known an DJ Shadow.
Greyboy fuses samplers and live instrumentation, a fact which, in itself, does not merit a ‘Eureka!’. Almost all instruments on Mastered the Art are played by Elgin Park (Mike Andrews), who co-wrote all the tracks with the exception of Hold it Down. Fourteen instruments are listed, from acoustic guitar and electric bass to piano, sitar and yukulele. Now, that’s what I call versatile. Antoine, Denson and Park are members of the Greyboy Allstars, a West Coast Jazz ensemble.
Mastered the Art was released in 2001, five years after Land of the Lost. The tracks on the album can be divided into two distinct categories: HipHop pieces and instrumentals, a blend of easy listening and soundtracks of the sixties and seventies. That type of music has been exploited ad nauseam in the past few years, but Greyboy’s pieces at their best (which, alas, is not often) have fresh, innovative and inspired elements and, while definitely not in a league with Bacharach, Mancini, Morricone, Schiffrin et al., tower above the flood of aural insults pressed on CD of late (such as compilations of seventies’ German porn soundtracks). Logan’s Run, the album’s tenth track, is the best example.
The album opens with Mastered the Art, an instrumental, the best after Logan’s Run. The twelfth, and last, track is the Nicola Conte Jet Sounds Remix of the opener, which is, indeed, quite high-octane, even though I’m not a fan of the new Bossa wave, of which Mr Conte (yes, he is related to Paolo) is doubtlessly one of the high priests.
Hold it Down, with raps by Muddie (that’s Mr J Tweed, whoever he is) is laid-back summer HipHop dominated by Spanish guitar chords, a bass line that puts strain on the subwoofer (and activates bowel movement in the constipated) and a sequence that sounds as if were generated on an eighties’ Casio music computer. Think Trio and Da Da Da. Delectable!
Uknowmylife is reminiscent of Jedi Mind Tricks (who are in my personal Top Five of the phattest HipHop acts), but without their love of conspiracies and paranoia, and an indication of what Greyboy will be capable of once he fast forwards to the present.
Polyphonix is pure easy listening, ideal music for poolside parties attended by readers of wallpaper* magazine, who think they’re hip because they wear ironed retro Fred Perry tennis shirts and new Adidas Gazelles. The proper preparation of a Martini cocktail (whether to use Beefeater’s, Bombay Sapphire or Gordon’s, for instance, or whether to shake or stir the cocktail) or the comparison of the tastes of French and Italian goat’s cheese are topics of serious debate at these parties. I suggest that they be tied to their Ponton Chairs in front of a powerful PA and made to listen to Rage Against the Machine for a minimum of five consecutive hours. Greyboy himself has a bit in common with these pseudo-hipsters: on his website he talks about his furniture! Let me quote verbatim: ‘... his prize possessions are a coffee table designed by Alexander Girard and swag leg desk and kangaroo chair by George Nelson.’ This, indeed , is puerile. Greyboy also ‘ ... drives a metallic gold 1970 Ford Torino GT ...’ . I’m certain that he’d have liked me to mention this fact.
The fifth track, Dealin’ With the Archives, is my favourite. It starts with an Andalusian arabesque on an acoustic guitar and then there is a flute sample- six simple notes- that will break your heart. A single guitar chord- think of early The Police (Walking On the Moon, for instance)- in a loop, vibraphone ornamentation by David Pike, excellent turntable work and the vocal talent of Main Flow blend into a laid-back HipHop piece. R. Kelly should listen to this, it’s what he could have written instead of Fiesta.
Chinois would have been a more apt title for Marrakesh, a brief vignette of two-and-a-half minutes, with its implication of Northern African tunes. Pleasant, but irrelevant, even superfluous, as are Instantly, a Jazz improvisation which follows it, Smokescreen and Bath Music. All four pieces lack build-up and structure and are self-indulgent experiments that waste listeners’ time and try their patience, which is rather irritating.
Ghetto Boogie, the album’s fourth HipHop track, is darker and more complex than the previous three.
Greyboy is a producer with much skill and talent. What he lacks is an individual sound and voice. Another sample enthusiast and perfectionist who has achieved that is also a native of Southern California: Josh Davies, better known an DJ Shadow.
posted by Arta Buneta at 11:47 PM
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