A child receiving his first taste of real music can be one of the most beautiful moments in a parent’s life. Watching junior beat on a set of pots and pans or strum daddy’s guitar seems much more entertaining then J.Lo. Watching little Johnny put his ear up to the speaker to hear the fading notes of Penny Lane or Sounds of Silence has to be better than watching Fat Joe lean back, it’s just gotta. My first reaction to Tommy Guerrero’s Flamenco influenced trip-hop is almost the same. Wonder, amazement and a carefree high wash over the listener. The album left me thinking, how did 15 tracks with out vocals go so damn fast?
Too understand the roots of Tommy’s eclectic sound you might have to know a little about his history, you see, Tommy was born in San Francisco, which is known for it’s racial diversity (Tommy is Hispanic) and art scene (besides the gays and hippies) Tommy learned music at a young age and joined his step brother’s band at 13. While he has never made a splash in the pop music industry Tommy is probably best known for, not his smooth beats or jazz influenced bass, but a single piece of wood. Tommy Guerrero was, before a Mo’ Wax signed beathead a Professional skateboarder. He pioneered street skating boarding and shared many a video part with big names like Tony Hawk, Steve Cabellero and Lance Mountain. While his 2nd LP, A Little Bit of Something isn’t exactly perfect for flying down a halfpipe, it will come to good use if your sitting on your back porch with a book.
Layer upon layer of Acoustic riffage, smooth Rhodes and Jazz bass come rolling out of my speakers. More than not the dreaded click beat is paired with it. It seems these days tracks like Lean Wit It Rock With it have more or less destroyed a simple click from reentering the field of good electronic music. But believe it or not kids, a time when a click was minimalist and catchy. And you could dance to it with out hearing “GET OFF THE FLOOR CRACKA”. Enter Guerrero’s simplistic approach to music production. Anything from the rumbling beats of It’s Raining Again to the clicking of it’s predecessor Flux and Meter or the Rasta-in-a-garbage can style flaunted on tracks like As the Sea Holds Creatures Vast and True can bring a song together. If beats are cement to a tracks brick then Tommy’s beats is some of the stickiest cement ever.
Another unique aspect of A Little Bit of Something is the guitars. Find me a hip-hop/electronica record with guitars as diverse and wonderful as this album and I’ll eat my foot (not literally, It’s just to make a point) There’s flamenco, indie, and Carlos Santana style singing solos (Soul Miner, among others). Some might make the point that the album has no vocals, so it’s not worth the buy, but hey its an opinion, but I’d rather listen to an awesome guitar solo paired with a cool electronic beat than one paired with Michelle Branch (come one Santana, you can do better) Think a song can’t be catchy with out a solid chorus and words? Think again. Case in point: Blue Masses, the albums opener is an unforgettable mix of smooth jazz and crunchy hip hop beats. Think potato chips in hair gel. It will have you humming all day.
Spanish influence is another aspect of music that Tommy will show you the good side of. Sure Enrique who-sa-whatitz and Rico Suave may have killed it back in the day, by mixing it with sickly sweet pop, but Tommy adds his own flavor douses it with heaping portion of trip-hop loving. Tracks like So Blue It’s Black show Tommy’s mastery of the Acoustic flamenco guitar. Few artists have the musical mastery to play one instrument through a whole album let alone every single one like the Tommy does. His guitar playing creates landscapes that a keyboard could never pull off. When a song features live drums they could not be more tight, the bass is mellow and heavy, and the organs are reminiscent of that perfect Rhoades tone found in such classics as Radiohead’s masterwork Kid A. The last song Exzebache is perhaps the best example of all these instruments working together to form a new style of sound. It’s the perfect chill music.
Overall the album is a great mix of Indie and hip-hop with Jamaican and Spanish influences. Unfortunately, like most budget trip hop records A Little Something features very few samples and no vocals which can make certain songs sound a tad boring and maybe a little samey, but please don’t let this discourage you from the record. Hopefully if you take anything from this it’s that music can be awesome without saying a word.
Recommended Tracks
Blue Masses
It’s Raining Again
Exzebache
-Joe
