White People, the second album from the imaginary finishing school outfit created around hip hop heavyweights Dan The Automator and Prince Paul, is an unabashed pitch at crossover success.
Their old school credentials were never in doubt but, in an apparent fit of hipster box-ticking, Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos, indie chanteuse Cat Power, MOR folkie Jack Johnson and, to reel in the greasers, Linkin Park's Chester Bennington have all been added to the mix. By the very weight of its collaborations, success would seem to be assured.
If White People has a problem it's that it attempts to cover too much ground at once. By being too ambitious the album ends up sporadic and patchy. Similarly the tracks that really work are those that stray little from the Daisy Age ethic. Both "Breakdown" and "I've Been Thinking" are obvious hit singles, each nothing more than a simple ballad with an understated hip hop beat dropped behind it, and they're all the better for it.
As a showcase for HBMS's technical proficiency and inventive eclecticism it's a fine sophomore effort. However, White People adeptly proves the first rule of production: often, less is more.
Article comments
1 - Temple Stark
Greg,
Launched this on the world - or at least the part of the world that scours Advance.net for the (family-friendly) cream of the BC Web log. That's hundreds of thousands of people a week.
Here's the link. Sorry here.
- Thanks. Temple