I've wanted to listen to this CD for a while now, but I think the twenty-strong tracklist was fucking with my head. It ain't an EP, or even a medium-length album. Not in practicality, anyway; it's a fifteen-track CD, but it has five bonus tracks (I'll talk more about that later).
Dropped in 2007, this CD is a collection of rare and unreleased material from Lo Key; well, that's what it's supposed to be. The tracklist for this album is more-or-less exclusive to this CD, but Lo Key has such a habit of intersection and crossing tracks over that you can find some of the tracks on other CDs (Not including, of course, bonus tracks). But in general, the content on this CD is pretty exclusive and doesn't exist anywhere else. With that bit of background, I'm going to jump into the review.
Graphics:
There are two different versions of this album! Details at bottom of review
I'm going to be posting the album art below as per usual, but the cover art is of an astronaut on another planet, kneeling among unearthly crags, holding a green Lo Key mask. It is in a very realistic art styling, with lots of neat features that draw the attention of the viewer. It is the kind of art that would make one stop in the rap section of an album store, and scrutinize the work.
On the back of the CD there's a track listing, which doesn't include the bonus tracks or the outro, seeming to cap the album out at fourteen tracks. There's a URL for Infectshop.com, but the URL and website are both capsized, dead, so it's interesting to note that Lo Key hasn't bothered to change the art for the sake of. The cover art is a flap; there's another ad for Infectshop.com on the inside that advertises a bunch of the albums available there. Futile effort, but a relic of the past. The CD art has Lo Key's name and the album title on it, plastered against what looks like wood or perhaps some martian substance. I can't really tell, but it's not very interesting in any case.
Content:
On the surface, this is just another Lo Key CD with a collaborative mess of tracks that may or may not be featured on other releases in the underground. Beyond the surface, it's a mostly collaborative slew of rare and unreleased material, with a lot of remixes thrown in there for good measure. I'm sure some of the tracks here were developed specifically for this album, but they aren't a majority.
What's the noise? It's pretty good, but not spectacular. A lot of the tracks here seem to fit, in the sense that they would feel strange lingering on other CDs released by Lo Key. For that same reason, a lot of the tracks on this album, while well-produced, don't stand about as particularly great. This album is entertaining for sure, and there are a good handful of gems here that will have you returning to this CD after the first listen. On the other end, it is a vault release, not a studio album, so don't expect to be blown away or anything like that.
While the above is true, this CD is undoubtedly good. I like a lot of the songs on this CD, and since it's a vault release, the sound can bounce around quite a bit, keeping things fresh and entertaining. It's also one of Lo Key's largest releases, most of his CDs tend to cap at around ten or less tracks, whereas this CD shoots all the way to twenty tracks. While this number is imposing, it is composed of quality content, and is worth your money for sure. I'm sure that whether you're not a fan at all, or owned this since day one, that you'll thoroughly enjoy this CD.
After the outro, there are five more bonus tracks that were slapped on at the end for whatever reason. I'm unsure exactly why this is a thing, but it's not really unwelcome. I don't think that most people that are listening to Lo for the first time are going are going to buy this CD, but if you were to bring this on a road trip or something, the last five tracks would shake things up quite a bit and introduce the listener to extra flavor from different Lo Key releases. Another note on that; the bonus tracks aren't actually new content, they're just songs pulled from other Lo Key releases and then assembled on the end of the album in no particular order.
That's about all I can say about this piece, fam, but one final note!
The album art originally (Released on 7th Seal Ent.) is different than the current album art. I'm going to post them both below - old first, new last. Other than the front cover, I'm unsure if there are any other aesthetic or even musical changes between the two pressings. I don't own the original copy, so if any ninja who has it wants to hit me up with some deets, feel more then free to do so, fam.
JRH gives "Release" by Lo Key a: 3/5!
Strong points:
- Strong, consistent production
- Wide variety of noise that keeps the CD fresh and interesting
- Lots of good features and collaborations
- Rare, mostly hard-to-find content, which adds a nice novelty to the CD
- The bonus tracks are a good way to capture the attention of someone who hasn't listened to much Lo Key. They're also great if you don't own a lot of Lo Key's work.
- The remixed songs on this CD breathe life into old work, which is something I think a lot of artists neglect to do. That is something that I appreciate especially.
- One of Lo Key's biggest releases - twenty damn tracks! Definitely getting your money's worth, here.
- Great graphics that capture the eye
Weak points:
- Intersection and cross-releasing means that some of the tracks here can already be found on other CDs, which means that they aren't particularly rare anymore
Enjoy your day, kick the fuck back, and hit us with a like, homie!
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| I actually like the original art better than the re-pressed art. |
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