julian
The Quazarz siblings see Palaceer Lazaro & Co. indulging in a bit more genre-melting, and the smear of sounds anchored to Butler's sultry, rich voice and hypnotically bonkers lyricism pays off in a surprisingly breezy, fun listen.
Favorite track: Eel Dreams (feat. Loud Eyes Lou).
…speaking of air and darkness, "Born on a Gangster Star" came into the world in a big damn hurry, like nightfall on an island. You can see it happening, but then again it’s so gradual that the next thing you know—it’s dark.
Imbued with the energy and ideas from all the creative embers floating in the atmosphere like fireflies, Shabazz Palaces recorded this entire album over the course of two weeks with Blood in Seattle. New gear and new equipment disintegrated comfort zones into dust and a new path appeared in the rubble.
Herein the Palaceer continues the tale of Quazars, a sentient being from somewhere else, an observer sent here to Amurderca to chronicle and explore as a musical emissary. What he finds in our world is a cutthroat place, a landscape where someone like him could never quite feel comfortable amidst all the brutality and alternative facts and death masquerading as connectivity.
Inspired by days on end spent in the waves—water and light, both—of Southern California, the work came to the Palaceer in a flash, like being picked up by something and carried. Always dribbling with his head up, he can see what’s going on around him and react to it, rather than starting in a certain direction and hoping to achieve something upon arrival.
What’s good?—the kids ask. What does it even mean, and what does it even matter? Who is behind these choices? We are all of us sitting under a waterfall of all. this. shit. But it’s the excess that is casting us into ruts.
The Palaceer stays away from the fleeting and the superficial nonessential. Stay away from your device—your phantom limb—and stay away from your image—your phantom self; that is his decree. Considering the motions behind the things you like to consume artistically, rather than just the way something looks or sounds, and thinking in layers, and trying to be more considerate and not so self-oriented—this is his medicine for combat.
"Born on a Gangster Star" flirts with a pop sensibility, but through the prism of Shabazz Palaces’s fire and fury. For the Palaceer, that sense is all about how the groove is moving, and the supernatural telepathy that occurs amongst his cohort. Appearing here, in body or in spirit, are Julian Casablancas, Thundercat, Darrius Willrich, Gamble and Huff, Loud Eyes Lou, Thaddillac, Ahmir, Jon Kirby, Sunny Levine, and Blood. The story belongs to Quazarz, but the air and darkness belong to us.
supported by 88 fans who also own “Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star”
imma have to go and be the bad man
that, and curb stomp g3nuinely instills 4 sense of dr3ad in me and it hits so h4rd it makes me want t0 punch 4 right winger NAOMI RECORDS
supported by 78 fans who also own “Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star”
Just a beautiful jazzy rap album with buttery smooth flows versed with huge talent. It's not only lovely to the ears, but the lyrics are profound and empowering about the struggles that she faces. zhangtastic
Seattle R&B artist Parisalexa's debut LP is here, bridging a '90s-inspired sound with a contemporary approach for a smooth, smart listen. Bandcamp New & Notable May 5, 2020