also:
Digable Planets - Blowout Comb - 1994 - Pendulum Records
Digable Planets' sophomore album is the true definition of a hidden gem. After the success of their debut thanks to the hit single "The Rebirth Of Slick," the group relocated from Philadelphia to Brooklyn in an attempt to surround themselves with the sound of New York hip hop and infuse it further into their jazz-hip hop blend. Whereas the first album heavily sampled classic jazz tunes, Blowout Comb supplements the samples with a lot more live instrumentation giving the music a much more open feel. Their new homebase (and stature) also allowed them to hook up with other like-minded rappers, which leads to some fantastic cameos by Guru, Jeru The Damaja, and Jazzy Joyce. There is so much standout material here that it's hard to really call much of it "standout," which is a complement. It's such a finely crafted record from beginning to end - with a true sense that they were creating a whole rather than just recording songs and grouping them together haphazardly. For example, the second song "Black Ego," stretches out comfortably at seven minutes, never wearing out its welcome but instead feeling like a soulful jam session. There's never a feeling of "let's get on with it! This is only the second song!" Instead it just makes you want to relax deeper into your chair and get onboard with the journey ahead. "Borough Check" opens with a (possibly?) live intro of DP and Guru and then transitions into a piece that heavily samples Roy Ayers' "We Live In Brooklyn Baby." The Jeru duet "Graffiti" is just as interesting with its live vibes. Later "K.B.'s Alley" grooves a bit on the same beat that will later reveal itself in full form as "9th Wonder," perhaps DP's best single of all time. And then the album closes out with another seven-minute track, the wonderful "For Corners" which would be a great closer with its first instrumental half alone. All in all this is a brilliant album that needs to be recognized far more than it is. It's' just a shame that it took the group imploding to create such a masterpiece.