Reviews Nieve & Cook - Away With Words

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First, when someone asks me do I want the good or bad news first I always say the bad, so I can get on with the good. So I'm going to start with the bad news about this album first. When you play this album, you are going to have to turn up the bass on your EQ to get the effect that the kicks and bass should be providing while flat. Not a lot, just up.

There. That's it. That's the only thing wrong with this album.

Now that that's out of the way:

This album brings back the magic of notebooks. I remember when my notebooks held the magic of the rhymes I had written, and it was truly magic in them. Nieve's notebooks have tapped into that magic well and definitely weave spells on the listener. Even the music makes me see the notebooks. Cook (Orpheus around here) absolutely brings some true heat on this album as well. This could have come out during the Low End Theory days and fit right in. A mixture of jazz and Hip Hop with awesome LIVE instruments and wonderful vocals provided by Jean Curley I'm glad I got to review it because I'm rotating in the ride heavily.

1. Anime Superhero - Great way to start. The beat is cool as hell and it's a head nodder. The hook stays in your head and the delay FX were done well! I like this song a lot. The scratches are tight. Lyrics are really good, back to notebooks!
2. Chronic Intoxication - The lyrics again are really nice, great imagery, this is very jazzy and definitely for smoking to. Joel Van Dijk does a great job on the guitar.
3. Fantasy -This is nice, mellow and jazzy. Jean does a great job on this, she sounds sexy as hell and it goes right with the live horns provided by Ben Adamson. Nieve again provides imagery that's nice and reminds me of the same things he speaks on. Wish dude would have been my rhyme partner back in the day, LOL.
4. Play On - Another throw back to the days of goodness. The beat captures a good essence of them days, and Nieve educates the new generation on the realness of yesterday. Thumbs up!
5. So Smooth - Jazzy as hell, lyrically straight. Jean again brings a soulful sound, Joel on the guitar and just beautiful horns by Ben Adamson make it feel like Guru's Jazzmatazz.
6. Forever Changing - Not really a big fan of this song personally, the beat seems a little like it was left on repeat loop and then some samples are thrown in it. Out of all of them this is the weak one. But it's realer than a lot of stuff out right now and Shiben Battacharya provides a good bassline and basically it's a cipher song.
7. BlackBird - This is a good "Guruesc" type beat here. Lyrically again smoking. J.O.E has a great bassline, Jean is hot the song is nice as hell to me. You can see the smoky jazz club in your mind's eye.
8. Midnight Baby - Gets your head noddin pretty quick while staying smooth. Good riding music.
9. Diamonds in the Rough - A Cali tribute, and by far the most hype track on the LP. Great use of samples, Denkym killin the cuts!
10. Tell Me - Thanks for taking one of my song titles sheesh. This is good on the samples, Nieve again takes you on a lyrical journey through his life and society and touches on American youth in general. It's hot!
11. Another Day Comes - Hate to have to clear these samples, but this is a nice song about hope and never giving up, the type of thing we need in music nowadays. Jean again on this provides good upliftment, Shiben provides a great bassline.

All in all you will probably buy a hell of a lot worse mainstream garbage in the near future. Do yourself a favor and take a step back in time, while at the same time, into the future because as long as this trio of white folks from California keep bringing a lost, and much needed East Coast golden days flavor, Hip Hop is gonna be alive. Some may disagree but beyond my kicks not being in my chest (easily fixed with a twist of the wrist) this album is slammin!

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Score: 4.5