Here we have two albums that have further extended the dialogue between hip hop and live music, extrapolating song-length instrumental arrangements from the sample-based productions of the Wu Tang Clan and J Dilla. They’re both great, in their own very different ways.
Enter the 37th Chamber is an album of instrumental interpretations of a dozen or so Wu Tang Clan productions by the Brooklyn-based El Michels Affair. It pulls together tracks that have been released over the past couple of years on their Shaolin Series 7†on Truth and Soul with a bunch of tracks recorded specifically for the album.
The dubby basslines, brooding pianos, dusty drums and punchy horn lines so characteristic of RZA’ productions lend themselves perfectly to the El Michels Affair self-described “cinematic soul’ treatment. It’s clear that the band and the RZA have drawn on similar musical sources for their inspiration. So, while in some ways these versions don’ deviate dramatically from the original Wu Tang beats, the album develops a very similar mood to the one created on the first El Michels Affair album Sounding Out the City. The production is proudly analogue, drawing on 60s and 70s soul, dub and psyche for inspiration, with heavy rhythm section foundations embellished with reverb-soaked horns, vibes, strings, and even a children’ chorus belting out the hooks of Shimmy Shimmy Ya.
The album works beautifully regardless of whether or not you are familiar with the Wu Tang originals. But having spent a few days listening to tracks back to back with the Wu originals, I’m even more impressed. The comparison gave me even more appreciation of the quality of RZA’ original beats and the creativity of the band’ interpretations. While some of the tracks chosen were pretty obviously matches made in heaven (the piano riff in “C.R.E.A.M.’ and the horns in “Uzi (Pinky Ring)’ would have been irresistible for the band), others required a bit more imagination. In the absence of the rhymes, the songs here are deftly arranged – new bridges and melodies have been added here and there to keep things interesting.
Clearly, the El Michels Affair’ interpretations have met with the approval of some of the Wu Tang MCs – indeed, the idea for the singles and album great out of a live collaboration between Raekwon and the band some years ago. It’d be interesting to know what the RZA himself thought of all this…
Of course, we’ll never know what Dilla would have made of Suite for Ma Dukes. On this four-track EP, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Carlos Nino take a radically different approach than the one taken by the El Michels Affair. Rather than re-creating the beats, they’ve given J Dilla’ productions a chamber orchestra treatment – no drums or beats, just lushly orchestrated strings, woodwinds, brass and bits of percussion.
It’s a brilliant EP. The orchestrations are wonderful, with different sections of the orchestra weaving in and out of each track to shift the focus to different elements of the Dilla productions. For each track, the originals have been radically deconstructed and then recomposed, as new melodic and dramatic possibilities are explored over several minutes in each case.
Again, I don’ think you need to know or love the original Dilla productions to enjoy this EP. Rather, it’s a beautiful example of jazz-influenced orchestration, which reminded me at times of some of Bill Lee’ music for his son Spike Lee’ films. And once again, the comparison with the originals brings new dimensions to both. If Tribe Called Quest’s “Find A Way’ and Slum Village’ “Fall in Love’ might have been obvious choices for orchestration, Common’ “Nag Champa’ in particular has been transformed almost beyond recognition. The EP is rounded out with an interpretation of “Antiquity’, a track originally co-produced by Dilla and Nino for a project with Dwight Trible and the Life Force Trio.
Kurt Iveson
