Beats & Rhymes, Death & Life

Chris Manak, AKA Peanut Butter Wolf, on the wheels of steel

Fade from black: To the sound of a hot soul bass line we see the interior of a record obsessive's living room. Shelves groaning with vinyl line the walls and there's a party going on. But we're on the outside, looking in through the patio doors, and the music is muffled. The door slides open and someone exits. The music becomes tantalizingly crisp and for a moment it seems that we'll be invited in. Then the door slides shut and [rack focus] we see Chris Manak, aka Peanut Butter Wolf, suave in a pork pie hat, at the wheels of steel. Just as we feel the sting of rejection [smash cut], we're let inside to the ultimate music lover's party. Thus begins Our Vinyl Weighs A Ton, a wonderful new documentary about the history and ethos of Stones Throw, the hip hop/soul/DJ culture/whatever record label.

Directed and produced by Jeff Broadway, the film takes us back to the beginning and thoroughly investigates what has become one of the most influential record labels in recent times, effectively letting us outsiders into the party. "Record Label?" you say, "But isn't the music industry dying?" Yes, the music industry is still in the midst of the great ruction caused by the Internet, but people still have a need for filters. Those with mainstream tastes might look to terrestrial radio, the Grammys, or American Idol and its ilk to find music. Others, like me, will look elsewhere, and great labels like Merge, Sub Pop, and Stones Throw are places we can reliably turn to to find the sounds that satisfy. One thing that makes these imprints so good is that they are the product of individuals with discerning taste and their own point of view. And so it is with Peanut Butter Wolf.

Our Vinyl Weighs A Ton gathers dazzling archival footage, marquee-quality talking heads (Kanye West, Common, Mike D., Talib Kweli, and ?uestlove among them), and a pumping soundtrack to tell the engaging story of how an army brat with a lifelong passion for music rebounded from more than one tragedy to create one of the greatest independent labels.
The film is dedicated to the memory of J-Dilla and Charizma. Charizma was Peanut Butter Wolf's early partner in rhyme who was murdered in an attempted carjacking at the age of 20. The film handles this devastating moment with compassion and sensitivity and we feel the loss as our own. "I just turned off," PBW says in a monotone and his grief feels as fresh as if it were yesterday. Eventually, his bereavement became a spur. Determined to get their music heard, PBW sent it to a number of labels, but was faced with either "no thanks" or no response. In 1996, he started Stone's Throw as a way to release Charizma's musical legacy, which remains in print nearly two decades later.

From there, the movie jumps forward to "Stones Throw Today" and introduces us first to Jonwayne, one of the label's newest signings, as he makes a beat out of household objects, and then to other members of the current roster. "We're all struggling for the same thing," Jonwayne tells us, "which is the advancement of independent music." PBW promulgates this philosophy by continually giving the unknown and even odd a chance to be heard. "I feel like I'm kind of a stomping ground to start people's careers and then they can kinda do what they want after," PBW says. Like all great label heads, he goes with his gut and against the mainstream. This has worked out well for artists like Mayer Hawthorne, who launched an international career on Stones Throw and is now signed to a major label.

When the film picks the story back up in 1998 it smoothly moves through the history, starting with the life-changing connection with Madlib (and his alter ego Quasimoto), whose multifarious talent officially put Stones Throw on the map. Madlib's prodigious ("five albums every two or three weeks") and inventive output awakened the competitive fire of a young Detroit producer: J-Dilla. "Madlib is just killing me," he told ?uestlove, "he's going where I want to go." Bringing Madlib and Dilla together was simply magic. Their record as Jaylib, Champion Sound, is indeed "a hip hop monument," as Common puts it.

Like the sun-kissed early days with Charizma, there was a future shadow hanging over this halcyon period: Dilla's blood disorder, which led to his death at 32 in 2006, just days before the release of Donuts, another masterpiece. Kanye calls Dilla's beats "the greatest drums in hip hop history," beautifully describing what makes them that way while getting a tear in his eye. "When Dilla passed, everything changed," says Madlib, "He was like Coltrane...no one knew what to do."

It would probably not have surprised anyone if Stones Throw had become a casualty itself at this point. While PBW continued to follow his nose, a lot of his choices alienated the hip hop heads and just plain didn't sell. His dark night of the soul also became a dark night of the wallet, but he held on. Bizarrely enough the road back was partly through Folerio, another alter ego created by Chris Manak. Folerio's smarmy image and bedroom electro-soul attracted renewed attention and new blood to the label. One thing followed another and Mayer Hawthorne, along with Dam Funk and Aloe Blacc, led to firmer ground, both musically and financially.

Our Vinyl Weighs A Ton is consistently entertaining and visually appealing, with an eclectic feel that is well matched to its subject. Music fans of all stripes will find it more than gratifying to see Stones Throw get the film it deserves. The movie will be shown tomorrow night at Music Hall Of Williamsburg, along with a panel discussion and performances featuring PBW, Jonwayne, J-Rocc and others. Watch the trailer below and catch it at a screening or festival near you.

Best of the Rest of 12: Hip Hop

I couldn't climb on the Kendrick Lamar bandwagon - just didn't do it for me. But I found some other intriguing sounds from the world of hip hop.

Beat Seeking Missile
Though he was only born in 1975, drummer and producer Karriem Riggins has worked with jazz legends on the order of the Milt Jackson and Oscar Peterson, as well as hip hop legends like J Dilla and Madlib. Alone Together is his first solo statement and sequences 34 sketches and loops into a head-nodding assemblage of beats sans rhymes. While he doesn't demonstrate the accretive power of DJ Shadow, Flying Lotus, or Dilla himself, it's an intriguing look into the musical mind of a master.

We Almost Found Detroit
J Dilla's tragic death in 2006 at the age of 32 left behind despondent fans and a seemingly endless trove of unreleased music. Rebirth Of Detroit takes some of those unfinished pieces and puts them together with a crop of Detroit's current MC's. Many of the beats are classic Dilla constructions but, except for Guilty Simpson and one or two others, the verses don't live up, with too many shout outs to Ma Dukes (Dilla's mother) and too much empty tough talk. Perhaps if the Dilla estate had worked with Geoff Barrow in his Quakers guise, a full on classic would have come out of the project. As it is, it's a decent collection but I hope future releases are either beats only or maybe with a single rapper who can come up to Dilla's level.

Productive Prodigy

Since his release from prison, Prodigy of Mobb Deep, has been working at a rapid clip, sometimes with partner Havoc (as on 2011's extraordinary Black Cocaine EP), but mostly on his own. Perhaps the clip has been too rapid, as the quality of his output in 2012 has been scattershot. For the fan, however, HNIC 3, H.N.I.C. 3, and The Bumpy Johnson Album all contained a measure of good tracks. The first was a mixtape that built hype for the second, which was the third official release in the series that began with his legendary first solo album, H.N.I.C. 

Perhaps the perfect version would combine tracks from both collections, as Prodigy's commercial ambitions got the best of him on the official album. However, even on crap tracks like Pretty Thug, he shows great skills, playing with the beat and lapsing into Jamaican patois. The Bumpy Johnson Album was a sonic upgrade for the tracks that he released for free via Complex Magazine in 2011, with a few new tracks added. The combination of all these releases has given me hope that his 2013 collaboration with The Alchemist, Albert Einstein, will be a return to full quality. Also one looks forward to when he and Havoc can put their bizarre and pointless (and possibly fake) feud behind them and put out another Mobb Deep album.

The Best Of The Rest Of Ten

As the year teeters on its fulcrum point, here's some stuff that almost made my Top Ten from last year and that you might have missed. For your listening pleasure, check out the Best Of The Rest Of Ten playlist at www.8tracks.com.

Eleventh
Of all the albums that did not make it on to my Top Ten for 2010, I probably spent the most time with Heligoland by Massive Attack. This was new proof that they are the best at what they do - mean moodscapes you can dance to. And the remixes are nonpareil - shell out for the deluxe version.


Post-Punk is Dead--Long Live Post-Punk

A combined 60 years of blistering history led to Red Barked Tree from  Wire and Killing Joke's  Absolute Dissent. Both are strong enough that I can say "Start Here" if you are new to either band.

Kosmische Dancers
Deutsche Elektronische Musik is a fantastic collection from Soul Jazz of Krautrock that's not Kraftwerk. And it's not all electronic - check out This Morning by Gila for some primo lysergic folk. If you like your motorik beat wedded to hypnotic guitars, look no further than Vol. 2 from Wooden Shjips.

Ancient To The Future

Nas and Damian Marley take the diaspora back to it's roots on Distant Relatives. Get this almost great record to hear Nas tells Damian: "My man'll speak patois/And I can speak rap star" over a mesmerizing Mulatu Astatke groove. Speaking of Mulatu, fresh off their collabo with the man himself, The Heliocentrics have joined forces with Lloyd Miller, to cook up some deep if meandering jams on, yes, Lloyd Miller and The Heliocentrics. For another unusual blend, try Mochilla Presents Timeless: Suite For Ma Dukes, which features a 60 piece orchestra playing music of the late, great J Dilla. It's devastating in more ways than one. Big Boi's Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son Of Chico Dusty is filled with witty grooves and salacious verse. It's your party tape in a neat package. Seek out the leaked tracks with Andre 3000 to counteract Jive records jive.

Poptones

Edwyn Collins finally returned from a couple of near death experiences with the energetic and tuneful Losing Sleep, which has a wonderfully tossed off quality that belies how high the stakes were. The Clientele's unexpected Minotaur found them at the top of their form. Jerry, in particular, has an epic construction that could only be the result of Alisdair MacLean's ever-growing mastery of songcraft. Heralded by the arrival of the brilliant I Want The World To Stop (and it's accompanying film), I expected great things from Belle and Sebastian Write About Love. However, there were two or three sub par tracks (Norah Jones? I mean, really) that dragged the album down. The good stuff is still good, however.

Reissue, Repackage

The always fascinating Numero Group outdid themselves with the towering Syl Johnson collection, Complete Mythology. His searing Is It Because I'm Black? album predated What's Going On and other conscious soul records and deserves to be in their company. And there is much more to discover beyond those 10 cuts. The Jimi Hendrix reissue game redeemed itself with West Coast Seattle Boy, a beautifully assembled collection that was filled with startling sounds and hidden gems. Essential. Kill City has always been one of my favorite post-Stooges Iggy Pop efforts and it sounds better than ever now. If you buy only one dub collection from 2010, make it Sound System Scratch, an astonishing compilation of Lee Perry 12" produced for sound system use only. Can't wait to hear The Return Of Sound System Scratch.

Miscellany
Brooklyn Rider, the genre-hopping string quartet, followed up their debut with Dominant Curve featuring a sublime Debussy alongside compositions and arrangements by members of the group. Bryan Ferry's Olympia got a lot of attention. Fortunately, it was damned good. His voice sounds great and the grooves are multilayered (three bass players? Well, OK). Finally, Autechre, one of the most accomplished electronic groups of all time, released Move Of Ten, featuring some of their dirtiest music yet. 

If any of this music seems obscure, you  chance to change that by buying it and trumpeting your pleasure to the world!

Coming soon - VERY soon - The Best of 11 (So Far). Until then...