In this week’s episode, Matthew and Ricardo discuss the premiere of NBC’s “Quantum Leap” revival series, the Season 2 premiere of ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” and, alongside Matthew, the first three episodes of the newest Star Wars series “Andor”, the A24-released “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” and “Bodies Bodies Bodies”, and Rob Zombie’s ‘highly-anticipated’ film adaptation of the beloved 60s sitcom “The Munsters”.
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“The Path Home: Live at Evelyn Chapel (09/17/2022)” is the first live album (not to be confused with his previous Sessions records) from Chicago singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist C.W. Franz. On September 17th, it was performed and recorded in front of an intimate audience at the Evelyn Chapel (which ISN’T on the album cover as I erroneously assumed) located on the grounds of Illinois Wesleyan University.
Now the name of that educational institution should sound familiar to those who’ve been following C.W.’s musical output. His 2021 album ‘Five Piano Improvisations” consisted of….well….five improvisations he recorded in 2018 at the Harriett Fuller Rust House using its lounge piano. And while that project involved a small group of guest musicians, C.W. literally and appropriately rides solo on “The Path Home”.
The title alone is a clear indication of what to expect and what is fortunately delivered. On the album’s Bandcamp page, C.W. states that many of the songs being performed – most of which are now part of his discography – “were composed at Illinois Wesleyan and others had not been performed in some time”. Thematically, “The Path Home” feels like attending a family or school reunion, but instead of bragging about all the ’cool’ things you’re currently involved in, you bring the experiences of the past, good and bad, which helped shape the person you are today. And in C.W’s case, he brings a selection of songs inspired by his own personal experiences over the years, delivered sonically in a palatable, easy-listening format whilst maintaining the free-form, improvisational and experimental approaches to his overall music.
“The Path Home” is divided into three sections: Parts I & II and the Epilogue (“Birds of the Air”). Incorporating a suite-style aesthetic to his compositions (which he excellently showcased on his recently-released “C.W. Franz VI” record), each Part consists of five songs, one of which is ‘new’ and non-existent in his catalogue up until the release of this album.
Part 1 opens with “Cardinal’s Greeting”, the interlude-like second track off “C.W. Franz II”. Obviously, there isn’t any supportive instrumentation present in this version, but C.W. makes up for that by expanding the core melody of the original into a fully fleshed-out song. In my review of “C.W. Franz II”, I called that track “the equivalent of a sunrise over a stretch of Midwest land”. This version, thanks to its somber and meditative vibe, sounds like a long passage of time – a lifetime even – being reflected upon over and over. Up next, we get the title track which was actually the penultimate song on C.W.’s 2017 record “I [survived]”. C.W. confesses, in the first of his softly-spoken song intros, that this song came about from improvising on a keyboard. Here, he re-designs the dreamy, spacey sound of the lengthy original into a shorter, digestible and dare I say, more emotionally captivating song. The slow, methodical piano chords act as metaphorical footsteps along this “path home”, with occasional sonic touches of gloom and uncertainty emphasizing the difficulties and setbacks one should expect to face along the way.
The following song “Kate” is one of the two of the “Five Piano Improvisations” included on this record. It’s clear that this track is near and dear to C.W., and it shows throughout the entirety of this relatively prolonged and bittersweet version of the original song. “Iconoclast”, dedicated to an unnamed guitarist/pianist who influenced him, finds C.W. delivering a brand-new composition, with faster, familiar-sounding bits of classical music sprinkled throughout it. And though I can’t tell whether it’s based on the musical style of that artist or not, I always get the sense of a constant subversion and rejection of classical musical techniques with every listen I give this track. Part 1 concludes with “Champaign-Urbana”, one of the most haunting tracks off C.W.’s Illinois history-themed “C.W. Franz V” (those box guitar strums on the outro STILL get to me, by the way). Much to my surprise, he effectively emulates the dark tone of that track, largely due to the way he builds tension through a series of inter-connected chords of varying speeds.
Part 2 commences with the second and final ‘new’ song “Improvisation: Elegy for Henry Cowell”, a dedication to the late composer, writer, pianist and pioneer of American avant-garde music. With regards to tone, this is easily the bleakest song on this album, with its intentional use of piano clusters – a technique Cowell himself popularized during his career – playing a large role in establishing its dark atmosphere. Thankfully, the darkness is dissipated by the peaceful, albeit moody, version of “Pavane: Long Take”, the second of the “Five Piano Improvisations” present on the album.
Next up, we have “In Moments of Doubt” which, like “The Path Home”, was also part of the last leg of “I [survived]”. And while I do appreciate the modal jazz-inspired sound of the original, I must say that in terms of embodying the song title, this piano improvisation is much better! Thematically, its melodic highs and lows really do feel like the doubting and second-guessing we all do when it comes to our decision-making in life. It may seem clear and absolute at first, but instinctively, it’s easy for us to ponder on what could’ve been and whether the action or inaction made was the right thing to do or not.
But the record’s biggest surprise comes in the form of “Quiet Fireworks”, the brief outro from “C.W. Franz VII” and the heartfelt conclusion of the self-titled album series. Similar in execution to the abovementioned “Cardinal’s Greeting”, C.W. treats us to a longer, warmer, lovelier version of the main melody from the original song, and even bookends it with the exact monologue he used to conclude that song as well. Additionally, this version is so remarkably well executed, it can stand on its own without knowing or remembering the context or narrative of “C.W. Franz VII”.
Part 2 concludes with “Wa.panwi (First Light)”, the closing track from “C.W. Franz II”. Like the original, this improvisation brings a sense of finality and closure to the overall live show. Thanks to its relaxed, hopeful tone, it sounds significantly more dreamlike than the original, which is funny since C.W. jokingly mentions a reviewer calling that particular track “a Native American lullaby”. In retrospect, it would’ve been interesting if C.W. delivered the closing narration from the original track, similar to what he did on “Quiet Fireworks” (I know it’s credited to Jake Morze but still…..would’ve been interesting).
And speaking of Native American, the album concludes with “Epilogue: Birds of the Air”, where C.W. briefly plays an eagle bone whistle which, by the way, made for one of the most memorable highlights on his “Orange Diamond Sessions: Two Waves (06/04/2022)” via the track “Bossa Improvisada”. Symbolically, this marks the departure of C.W. and his audience out of the Chapel, into the world and back on their individual paths. As for C.W., there’ll be more steps to take, more lessons to learn and more songs to make, the latter of which he’ll hopefully share with us when he returns ‘home’.
Elegantly performed and improvised from top to bottom, “The Path Home: Live at Evelyn Chapel (09/17/2022)” is a fantastic addition to C.W.’s ongoing discography and what I anticipate will be the beginning of a series of “Live” albums in a similar vein to his “Sessions” projects. First-timers to C.W’s music should find this record a good starting point for getting into his discography, while fans will definitely appreciate and enjoy the piano-based reworkings of some of his most memorable songs. Personally, I hope that in the next live show, C.W. invites at least one of his previous musical collaborators, and maybe we get something along the line of a “Sessions” record. But for now, “The Path Home” is an intimate, sentimental and moving musical journey worth embarking on.
OVERALL RATING: 8.5 out of 10
Available on Bandcamp, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio and Deezer
In this TV-themed episode of BBB RADIO, Matthew and Ricardo discuss the season finale of the sci-fi web series “Vaser Claw”, the first season of the video game-to-anime series “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners”, the second halves of HBO Max’s “Harley Quinn” and Adult Swim’s “Primal” (SPOILER WARNINGS IN ADVANCE) and the first two episodes of the fourth and final season of FX’s “Atlanta”.
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In this episode, Matthew and Ricardo share their thoughts on the second trailer of the upcoming anime series “Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War”, highlights and trailers from Disney’s D23 expo, the first two episodes of the sixth season of “Rick & Morty”, the first two episodes of the AMC animated drama series “Pantheon”, Season 5 of Netflix’s “Cobra Kai”, the Hindi fantasy action-adventure “Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva” and the Disney live-action/animated remake of “Pinocchio”.
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In this episode, Ricardo shares his thoughts on the first season of HBO Max’s “Rap Sh!t”, Matthew reviews the third season of the Adult Swim animated comedy series “Tuca & Bertie” and the seventh episode (“Finale”) of the Trinidadian superhero web series “Batchack Man: The Peacemakers” (in addition to delivering a special message to the Trinbagonian film community) and they FINALLY discuss the sixth and final season of the critically-acclaimed “Breaking Bad” spin-off: “Better Call Saul”.
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“It’s Almost Dry” is the newest remix album from Long Island, NY hip hop producer Cassbeats and a sequel of sorts to his 2021 project “Daytona 500”. If the titles of both projects sound familiar (I don’t blame you if you assume the latter involves Ghostface Killah), it’s because of the artist being ‘remixed’: Virginia’s own Pusha T, whose brand of ferocious, provocative coke rap spawned 2018’s “Daytona”, arguably one of the best albums of the past decade, and “It’s Almost Dry”, a STRONG contender for best rap album of 2022!
With a career span of roughly 15 years, which includes his production work alongside iconic rappers like Juelz Santana, Obie Trice and the late, great Prodigy of Mobb Deep, Cassbeats currently promotes his brand of eclectic instrumentation through his beat tapes and remix albums. And it’s the latter that caught my attention when I checked out his Bandcamp page, with its impressive line-up of projects dedicated to rappers from the 90s onward, from Yonkers’ Jadakiss and Styles P to Buffalo’s Benny the Butcher and Conway the Machine.
Usually, the two main concerns I have going into an unofficial remix of a rap song are the time alignment of the vocals over the new instrumental and the quality of the vocals themselves, especially in the case of “It’s Almost Dry” – and to an extent, “Daytona 500” (which I did listen to before diving into this project) – where there aren’t any official acapellas for the album tracks and the vocals have to be ‘extracted’ through the use of Digital Audio Workstations. Fortunately, Cassbeats pulled it off (Ha! Get it?) way better than I expected on “Daytona 500” and the same can be said for this project as well. The exception, however, is on the final track “Let the smokers shine the coupes”, where I felt the noise reduction applied to Pharrell Williams’ aggressive beat resulted in Pusha T’s vocals sounding low and less commanding, even over Cassbeats’ buzzy, glitchy instrumentation.
Like “Daytona 500”, Cassbeats’ “It’s Almost Dry” consists of seven tracks, each bringing a sonic re-contextualization of the songs we know so well from the original album. I say this because it’s fairly easy for a first-time listener, particularly one who’s listened to “It’s Almost Dry” numerous times, to remember Pharrell and Kanye West’s work on that record the second a Pusha T verse begins. But what makes this project truly special is Cassbeats’ own musical spin on these tracks without sacrificing the grit, grime, splendor and soulfulness which helped earn the album its current “AOTY” status.
On the opening track “Open Air”, Cassbeats delivers a cold, dark instrumental laced with bleak piano chords which sound lifted from some obscure giallo film from the 60s or 70s. And given Pusha’s unapologetic bars centered on the amount of weight he was able to move back in his ‘neighborhood pusher’ days, the production brilliantly compliments the chilling vibe of the overall song. Then there’s “I pray for U”, Cassbeats’ take on the lauded final track off “It’s Almost Dry” which, by the way, features a strong contender for VERSE of the year in the form of Pusha’s brother Malice’s lyrical contribution. Thankfully, Clipse’s (*wink wink*) bars remain intact on this remix, while Kanye and Labrinth’s (you can still hear his vocalizing after each verse) gospel-inspired production is replaced with a string-assisted boom-bap beat that somehow makes the lyrics sound a tad bit grimier than they actually are.
The grime is certainly felt on the following track “Just so you remember”, where Pusha’s cold-blooded vocals sound FANTASTIC over Cassbeats’ mellow, vibraphone-supported instrumental. Interestingly, the Colonel Bagshot samples from the song “Six Day War” are left on this remix, but they exhibit this strange, ghostly presence, as if one is recalling some verbal warning from the past. We get a similar instance of this on the penultimate track “Dreaming of the past”, where Kanye’s soulful production is swapped (at least his closing verse isn’t removed) with an ethereal and appropriately dreamy instrumental. Even the Donny Hathaway sample and Pusha’s sung chorus fit within Cassbeats’ psychedelic soundscape, albeit in a haunting fashion.
But the two major highlights on this project come in the one-two combo of “Hear Me Clearly” and “Diet Coke”, where Cassbeats’ production sound radically different to what we’ve heard from the original versions and yet gives listeners another way to view and enjoy the songs from a musical perspective. On “Hear Me Clearly”, we get this delightfully nocturnal, vaporwave-based beat laced with synths, snares and finger snaps. And while it may lack the urgency and tension present in the song’s original beat, Cassbeats’ production sounds tailor-made for the soundtrack to a drug-fueled, 80s crime film (“Scarface”, anyone?). But the best track is easily “Diet Coke”, where every vocal piece on that song (Pusha’s bars, Fat Joe’s chopped-up vocals and the “Chipmunk Soul” snippets in the background, the latter of which appear sporadically on this remix) are aligned MASTERFULLY over a head-nodding mix of hard-hitting drums, dramatic piano chords and soul-based chops. It’s such a faithful – and soulful – reworking of the original song that I imagine fans of the original will instantaneously gravitate towards it!
As a whole, I really enjoyed Cassbeats’ “It’s Almost Dry”. Obviously, fans of the Pusha T album like myself will appreciate this project more than non-fans, but the craftsmanship on display in terms of moody, textured, boom bap-incorporated production should entertain even the most jaded of hip-hop listeners. Cassbeats is certainly on a roll with these ‘reworked’ projects of his and I can’t wait to hear what artist and/or album he remixes next!
OVERALL RATING: 7 out of 10
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