Send "Slaughterhouse " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 Slaughterhouse are arguably the first hip-hop collective birthed by web-based crowdsourcing. Joell Ortiz, Crooked I, Joe Budden, and Royce Da 5'9" didn't have much in common other than extroverted online presences and an increasing lack of solo options, but their philosophical alignment and mutual respect led to this collaboration. In spite of the dismal sales of their 2009 self-titled LP, these guys do have fans-- most importantly, Eminem, who signed them (along with Yelawolf) to a newly reinvigorated Shady Records.The Slaughterhouse EP is a stopgap release to piggyback off this bit of positive PR. Problem is, it won't change anybody's mind about Slaughterhouse. EP kicks off with "Back on the Scene", a presumed mission statement featuring Dres of Black Sheep. But whatever goodwill can be wrung out of a hip-hop track as beloved as "The Choice Is Yours", "Back on the Scene" is just more proof that, in the hands of Slaughterhouse, anything can become a charmless headbanger boogie. You get neither the joy or hunger of a newcomer nor the confidence or accomplishment of veterans, just the clock-punching diligence of people who've been plugging away at the same job far too long. Otherwise, it's more of the same lyrical combat, accomplished and workmanlike but never overly flashy in terms of technique. "You get more for your money when you fuck with Mr. Porter," goes the salutation on "Sun Doobie", while the clinical piano plinks and snare claps roll off the same assembly line Dr. Dre and his associates have been manning for the past half-decade. An eight-minute Slaughterhouse track is a daunting enough prospect, and the autobiographical "Move On (Remix)" is saddled with overbearing R&B dramatics and maudlin orchestral sweetener. Hardly any individual personality is allowed to emerge within Slaughterhouse's stiflingly narrow topical scope, any hot rhyme (mostly courtesy of Royce) feeling weirdly redundant....full text |
| Nappyafro |
| Even though the group Slaughterhouse was formed three years ago and released their self-titled debut album in 2009, it seems that with their recent signing to Eminem’s Shady Records, the group consisting of Joell Ortiz, Joe Budden, Crooked I, & Royce Da 5’9″ may finally get the shine they deserve. While this is the final project that Slaughterhouse is releasing on their former label E1, this may also be a primer for those who are not familiar with the group and look forward to there Shady debut. 1. Back On The Scene Featuring Dres; Produced by M-Phazes The EP begins out the way it’s suppose to; with a song that displays Slaughterhouse’s lyrical talent. When the song starts out you may think it may be a remake of Black Sheep’s “The Choice Is Yours (Revisited)”. But that’s that’s just serves as an the intro and a reference for the hook (Dres from Black Sheep makes an appearance on the hook). When the M-Phazes produced beat drops, it ‘s pretty ideal from Slaughterhouse. While the hook was kinda lazy, the verses more than make up for that. Example:...full text |
| Hiphopdx |
| As is the case with so-called “super groups,” much has been made of Slaughterhouse ever since the quartet of Royce Da 5’9, Joell Ortiz, Crooked I and Joe Budden joined forces in 2008. Following the release of the lyrical Molotov cocktail that was their self-titled debut, however, the group’s output came to a halt. There were hints of label politics as Shady Records tried for months to get the group out of their deal, putting the group’s musical future in some doubt. But all’s well that ends well, as Slaughterhouse finally made the successful move to the house that Eminem built. In the meantime, that doesn’t stop E1 from dropping a six-track EP to tide the fans over. “Back on the Scene” appropriately brings Black Sheep's Dres along for the ride to set things off. M-Phazes appears to flip the same sample as The Neptunes did for Clipse’s “Dirty Money,” and ends up outdoing them with energetic claps and well-timed synths. Mr. Porter of D12 provides a simple backdrop with stabbing keys, allowing all four emcees to work their magic. Rhymes Royce: “Nickel ain’t the one at all / Snatch ya vocal chords out and plug ‘em in my wall / You a knife at a gun fight, our shit is raw / You a square, you silverware in a civil war / The Slaughterhouse wolf pack is right under the moon / The reason you itchin’ with your lighter under ya spoon… / No need to ride with nobody, I feel the heat can help me / Your jeans skinnier than Em when he’s eating healthy.” “Everybody Down” is a bit of a let-down, as the Black Milk production is surprisingly flat, as are the emcees rhymes. “Put Some Money on It (Remix)” is probably an underachiever as well, as anything less than face-melting from Slaughterhouse and The L.O.X. over a Sean C & LV cut is disappointing. That being said, although it doesn’t meet expectations, there’s an undeniable chemistry between the crews, which bodes well for future collaborations. Frequency helms the last two offerings on the EP – the remixes to “Fight Club” and “Move On” – and in doing so solidifies himself as one of the must-haves for Slaughterhouse’s second studio album. His dramatic keys and rich strings elicits the emotion from Crook and co., particularly on the latter track....full text |
| Sputnikmusic |
| There is a certain beauty in nothingness. Given the cluttered lives that we all lead, with our eyes locked into some form of electrical stimulus for the entirety of our day to day activities, and even then our leisure is normally spent in front of a television or at a movie, watching people act out entirely arbitrary events for a chuckle or the hint of a tear, it's hard to find moments where we are truly enveloped by natural sounds. Here's where Natural Snow Buildings come in. Their newest album in their ridiculously expansive catalog channels the sounds and emotions of the serene calm that comes from those rare moments of escape. Waves of the Random Sea floats peacefully, ever aware that our hectic schedules could intrude on the tranquility of it all, so it makes every second shine in a resplendent glow. It makes it that much easier to tune out all the pent up stress of modern living and take in the here and now, breathing it in and pushing it out in time with the pensive drone. For those that have yet to venture into the esoteric world of psychedelic drone, Natural Snow Buildings have been making ethereal minimalistic soundscapes since the late 90's and to be quite frank, you'd be hard pressed to find a better band in the genre. Their sparse movements traverse the gamut of human emotions, and the songs contained on Waves of the Random Sea continue to explore new crevices of the human psyche. It begins by beckoning the listener with an inviting calm; simple guitar melodies and even a few siren-esque vocals open the door but dark clouds hang on the horizon. Over the course of the album, Natural Snow Buildings take the listener on an inward journey, exposing the skeletons in even the darkest of closets with every stroke of droning keys. The longer you let it take you by the hand and lead you down the path, the more unnerving the picture is that it paints. Being the layered, introverted listen that it is, Natural Snow Buildings' Waves of the Random Sea is not going to appeal to everyone, and even those who are open to the road it leads down will see this as a mood album. It won't always be the most listened to album, but when the time comes for it, there are few pieces that are this affecting....full text |
| Brainwashed. |
| More than a decade into their career, the evolution of Natural Snow Buildings continues to surprise me: Waves of the Random Sea might be the most accessible album that Mehdi and Solange have released to date (in a good way, fortunately). It might also be their masterpiece. In any case, they've clearly made a lot of progress in broadening their palette of moods, as there is not much here that could be categorized as crushing, menacing, seething with dread, or oppressively sad. Instead, this album occupies somewhat lighter, more spacious territory and is mostly filled with drone-tinged, temporally ambiguous acoustic folk instrumentals (albeit of the most lysergic and warped variety). More importantly, it is absolutely amazing. This is one of the most vibrant and multilayered albums that I have ever heard. Blackest Rainbow This is a very coherent and thoughtfully sequenced (double) album, something that Mehdi and Solange have become increasingly adept at in recent years. Waves of the Random Sea works quite nicely as a whole and it works equally well as two separate halves. That separation of the two albums is even preserved on the CD version, as the third piece, "Breaches Through the Layers of Fog," concludes with roughly a minute of silence. Interestingly, however, the two halves bisect quite differently on the CD and LP versions, with the brilliant first half of the album ending with either the post-coital-sounding warmth of "Breaches" (CD) or the disquieting, theremin-happy, sci-fi weirdness of “Abduction Dream." There are some other differences between the two versions of the album as well, ranging from subtle editing and track length changes to an excellent LP-only drone piece entitled "Split Realm," which seems far more like an album highlight than a bonus track. As alluded to earlier, the first half of this album approaches perfection. It may very well be the most consistently mesmerizing and beautiful forty-minute stretch in the entire Natural Snow Buildings discography. "Waves of the Random Sea" begins the album with flanging drones and quivering swells before turning into a hypnotically repeating and surprisingly melodic acoustic guitar and tambourine interlude. Those two motifs set the tone for the album's entire first half, which can best be summarized by saying that I feel like I am covertly witnessing a pagan/medieval/morbid fairy tale/ritualistic acoustic ensemble performing in a clearing in the woods while the very fabric of reality shudders and occasionally ruptures around them and a murder of nearby crows caws ominously. Even that doesn't quite do it justice, however, as it fails to mention that Mehdi and Solange manage to sound like a full drum circle and a half dozen musicians wielding an eclectic array of tamburas and other stringed instruments playing together at once. Nor does it take into account that the production and layering throughout is quite stunning, as sounds seamless drift in and out of the mix and pan and shimmer hypnotically. Or that the woozily twinkling coda of "Breaches Through the Layers of Fog" feels like waking up after a long beautiful dream. There are also a number of great details that I could zero in on as well (like the increasingly prominent scrapes of a finger sliding from fret to fret in "Breaches"), but the important thing is that the first three songs constitute pure drone/psych heaven. The second half, on the other hand, is merely great (although the added "Split Realm" evens the score a bit on the vinyl version). The centerpiece here is the twenty-minute epic "Drift the Water Soul," which morphs into a prolonged bed of glistening, shuddering drone after an introduction that sounds like ceremony music for some sort of royal medieval procession. One thing about the drone section that amazes is me is how alive and organic it feels–all the various components shiver, drift, and swell with such seamlessness that it is hard to remember that there are two actual people with instruments and a mixer weaving it all together. Each sound seems intimately connected with every other sound and they all seem to react to subtle shifts around them. "The Still Desert" concludes the album in much the same fashion, though it is nicely enhanced this time around by a complicated tapestry of cymbals, acoustic guitars, and pipes as well as a heartbreakingly strangled-sounding trumpet. Again, an important CD/LP difference makes an appearance here, as the vinyl version slowly fades and shivers to a close, while the CD ends with brief and perversely sweet vocal piece by Mehdi in which he repeatedly assures me that my home is where I’m happy. It's an unexpected way to end the album, but a very effective one: by the end of Waves of the Random Sea, I feel like I have just returned to reality after a very long and weird journey. I've not sure that I'm necessarily happy that I am back, but it is nice to have some time to process what I just experienced....full text |
| Israbox |
| Woohoo!! Medhi & Solange are back with a brand new album! 'Waves Of The Random Sea' is their 1st physical release since the magnificent Shadow Kingdom (Norman album of the week in Sept 2009). BUT the Centauri Agent did come out as a free MP3 download in between which I've got but always forget to listen to as I can't see it when I look through my records. I'm a bit rubbish with MP3's. Anyway if you're not familiar with these guys then now is as good a time as any to get to hear them. They essentially make a unique style of Gaelic folk and drone mixed together into long sprawling opuses which take you to special places. Thier releases are often very long, the last album was a triple LP/ 2CD set, before that was Daughter Of Darkness which was spread over 5 full length cassettes, and then there's the countless ludicrously limited CDR's and cassettes which have come out over the years which all go for at least a million pounds each. Over the album you get 6 reasonably long tracks which when listened to as God intended will take you to a mystical place, far far away. I heard it for the 1st time yesterday stuck in traffic on the M1 and it made the whole situation completely bearable. The way the more folky segments blend with the intense droney pieces (usually constructed from cello, harmonica etc) is stunning. There's a real medieval feel to the proceedings as well, especially when the percussion kicks in towards the end of 'Through Breaches'. Sporadically the more folky elements will appear with Medhi's amazingly high voice and then before you know it you'll be thrusted back into some celestial sounding drone music. From start to end this is a great record and one you need to get as it serves as a great continuation from The Shadow Kingdom! NB: the tracklistings are different for both formats so there's one extra track on each format which ain't on the other (because it wouldn't all fit on the LP as it was intended!) Awesome!!...full text |
Slaughterhouse lyrics
|
| ||||||||||
