I enjoyed it, thought DiCaprio was very good, and as usual Clint Eastwood did a good job in the Director’s chair. I have a high degree in shitty American Studies but literally had no clue about Hoover’s life, except for him being the director of the FBI, so it was interesting to see how much power he had over the President’s he served under and how he gained it through blackmail and intimidation. I didn’t know about the rumours of his crossdressing so the scene with him dressing up in his dead Mother’s clothes was a little baffling, even after finding out I still think that scene comes off a bit Norman Bates-ish and probably could have been left out the movie. There’s a lot of scenes with DiCaprio and others in prosthetics to make them look older, it had to be done but I dont think prosthetics were particularly well done, the characters just looked like they were wearing old-people masks, because they were I suppose. Although I think Eastwood did a good job and I enjoyed the movie I think it’s structure was a little off. It’s set up so that Hoover is telling the story of his life and the FBI to an agent assigned to write it up as a biography, this allows the story to flip between the weeks before his death and different periods in his life, I don’t think it is a terrible device but it just seemed a little off. Worth seeing for DiCaprio’s performance.

Other than making a big noise online there isn’t too much that we can do to combat SOPA but someone came up with the idea of ‘Black March’, details of which are on the .JPG below.

Originally posted on J-Lounge.co.uk

Artist: Genesis Elijah

Title: Painkillers & Pilkington (EP)

Favourite Tracks: Whole EP

I’ve been eagerly awaiting the arrival of ‘Painkillers & Pilkington’ for a while now so when my blurry eyes checked Twitter this morning and saw that Genesis Elijah had, without much fanfare, Tweeted a link I got a little excited. If you’ve been keeping up with Genesis recently, and that’s no easy task as he can at times make even Action Bronson’s work rate look lazy, you will have already heard the tracks ‘Falling’ and ‘The Truth’, and seen the videos too.

Both of these tracks garnered a lot of attention, the James Blake ‘Wilhelm Scream’ sampling ‘Falling’ received praise from other artists who thought it echoed their own thoughts on the industry and their place within it. ‘The Truth’ gained a bit more of a buzz due to it’s sampling of a Ricky Gervais interview. This led to a campaign on Twitter to get the track to Gervais’s attention, and after a couple of days the man himself ReTweeted a link to it saying he’d listened to it a few times and liked the video. The Office co-creator also followed Genesis on Twitter, making him the only rapper he follows, a high accolade for a fan of Gervais.

The entire EP is produced by Pastor Dutchie and he’s done a great job. The production is understated and light with an awesome selection of melodic samples for choruses, these choices fit well with the largely contemplative tone of Elijah’s lyricism on the EP.

My favourite track on the EP is ‘Psalms’ with Genesis perfectly summing himself up in the opening bars; “I swear I ain’t even started, still regarded as an artist/ who’s a veteran in this section, an exception in this market// Slept on but its bless, I use it best to my advantage/ crept up to the throne, they didn’t suspect me as a target//”. ‘Psalms’ is a perfect example of how Elijah’s powerful pen game locks in so well with his flow and vocal. There aren’t many underground or mainstream artists who can keep up with him and as he says in those opening bars they’re not even going to see him coming when he goes for the throne. Pastor Dutchie again comes strong with stripped back drums and a haunting sample from Lana Del Rey’s ‘Video Games’.

‘Painkillers & Pilkington’ is a strong 5 track EP and an awesome showcase for the abilities of both Genesis Elijah and Pastor Dutchie, it’s also a free download so click the link below and get it played.

Ben Barlow

When I worked at Waterstones the store sold a lot of copies of Stieg Larsson’s ‘Millenium Trilogy’ (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest), and I heard good things about the books, but I never felt compelled to pick them up. The same can be said for Niels Arden Oplev’s 2009 film adaption, I’d heard good things but never felt compelled to go and see it, or even rent or download it in the years following its release. Again the same thing happened with David Fincher’s adaption, I hadn’t seen the Swedish original so why would I see the American cash-in? I did end up seeing it though, I missed the beginning of The Artist and this was the soonest starting movie so I bought a ticket not expecting too much from it.

I enjoyed it a lot. I think the Lisbeth Sander character is very interesting with a great deal of depth, even without having read the books I think if Larsson hadnt died Lisbeth could have become a long running and well loved fixture in the crime genre, and I very much look forward to seeing more of her in the next two films. The story is much darker than I expected too, dealing with rape, torture, mutilation, sadism, incest, with a sprinkling of Nazis. Maybe I liked it so much because it caught me off guard, something is always better when you dont expect much from it. Daniel Craig played his part well too although Im still not sure on what was happening with his accent, I cant decide if it was meant to be all out Swedish or the Swedish of a person who has spent a lot of time living outside of Sweden. Anyway, go see it while it’s still on.

Also, the title sequence was pretty fucking amazing:

And a little insight in to the making of the titles can be read HERE.

I hadn’t seen the 3rd installment of the franchise but didnt think that would encumber my viewing of this one. I was right. It was pretty boring. Tom Cruise is looking old and a little like an out-of-shape in-shape guy, or maybe the other way around, Simon Pegg had no reason to be there, I’m a fan but none of his comic asides were funny, Paula Patton was very good at being very pretty, and Jeremy Renner was brilliant like he has been in everything Ive seen him in. I don’t think I’ll bother checking out III. One thing I have to give it though is that it was definitely the best advert Apple have put out so far.

Originally posted on J-Lounge.co.uk

Artist: Krate Krusaders
Title: Vol. 2: When The Needle Drops (Album)

Favourite Tracks: What Life Is, Mamba, Listen, Modern, On A Rise, Live A Little Better, Fade To Black, Put The Work In, Righteous Path

1 Step and Bad Habitz have worked together under the Krate Krusaders moniker for the past 5 years and in 2009 dropped their first album featuring the likes of Ramson Badbones and Farma G. Since then they’ve produced EP’s for Genesis Elijah, Crucifix, and Split Prophets, amongst others. ‘When The Needle Drops’ is their second album and once again features an impressive roster of UK & US artists.

With dub sounding production (dub, not dubstep, forget dubstep) ‘What Life Is’ featuring Bristol natives Buggsy and Upfront MC is a great reminder that London is not the centre of the Universe when it comes to UK HipHop. Buggsy has long been one of the rappers I love to listen to just wilding out on a track, he’s got one of those flows which makes you hate a chorus for interrupting the vibe you inevitably find yourself in when listening to it. I’ve not heard too much from Upfront MC aside from a little of the Split Prophets material but he also delivers with him and Buggsy complimenting each other perfectly. Production also features a great sample from what Im thinking is a 70s rock track, but I cant place it so Im probably completely wrong.

Track 7 is ‘Listen’ featuring Journalist 103. A veteran of the Detroit HipHop scene Journalist is as good on the mic as any of his better known peers such as Guilty Simpson and eLZhi. ‘Listen’ is a typical example of the ground level, no-nonsense lyricism he laces his music with:

“…so every time I spit/ It’s like Picasso painting a picture so you can’t help but to get a glimpse// Of where I live and breathe, where my friend’s have died, where I pray, where I raise my seed/ It’s the place where the soldiers bleed, I ain’t talkin’ ‘bout Marines, but I’m talkin’ ‘bout the cats on the street// Listen!”

Probably the most high profile feature on the album Homeboy Sandman, who recently signed to Stones Throw Records, features on ‘Modern’. With restrained drums, violins and a sample which sounds like it could come out of a martial arts movie or a western (I couldn’t quite decide which) ‘Modern’ gives Homeboy the space to deliver some very laid back, clever, and almost stream of conscious sounding, bars:

“I play it straight, I know I’d only play myself tryna play it safe/ it used to be everybody made mistakes, now everybody makes mixtapes// Way too often they’re one and the same, I know I’m going in because it’s on the way to going insane/ ‘cause its been said I’m not a credit to my race, ‘cause I don’t make it rain”.

‘Live A Little Better” is 2009 End Of The Weak World Champ Jack Flash’s message about success and how to achieve it. This is my favourite track on the album, Flash talks a LOT of sense on it laying out the blueprint for the mentality you need to be successful and pointing out the faults in these pie in the sky dudes actions. The production is great, quite dark in parts, lifted with some nicely paced drums and some light keys.

The first single from the album features Akil The MC of the legendary Jurassic 5 on ‘Fade To Black’, another track with some head nodding production from Krate Krusaders, and the inevitably big bars from Akil. Overall ‘When The Needle Drops’ is a very solid album from Krate Krusaders, highlighting their dexterity as producers, their international reach, and their ability to pick out talented MC’s well suited to their production style. Although employing the elements of most HipHop production Krate Krusaders manage to leave their mark on each track, even on an album with varied tracks like this. Other than the artists mentioned ‘When The Needle Drops’ also features Ramson Badbonez, Dr. Syntax, Sonnyjim, and Wordsmith amongst others.

‘When The Needle Drops’ is available from Krate Krusaders bandcamp page from January 9th.

Ben Barlow

The last movie I saw in 2011, and having enjoyed the first film I was looking forward to the sequel. I think I hyped it up a little too much in my head though as although I enjoyed it I soon realised that what I found great about the first film ended up seeming very formulaic and not so fresh in this one. But as I said, I enjoyed it. Guy Ritchie has done a good job, and Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law have a great on screen chemistry. And of course Stephen Fry is the logical choice for Sherlock’s larger, more intelligent, and successful yet lazy older brother Mycroft. It’s a decent movie taking elements from a couple of Holmes stories (That I could spot, I haven’t read them all though), but it’s not something that you will benefit from seeing in a cinema, big screen blu-ray steeze.