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Review: m-flo’s Beat Space Nine

There are few things that can make me turn into a giddy music nerd as quickly as a new m-flo album.

*Beat Space Nine* is the fourth full-length album from the Japanese hip-hop collective known as [m-flo](http://www.m-flo.com/), and their second in the line of dance-flavored cameo-filled albums. With Verbal doing the MC work and Taku doing the production, m-flo brings infectious hooks, smooth rhymes that switch between English and Japanese seemlessly, and above all else a very polished and fun take on hip-hop. Anyone who has an ounce of rhythm in their body have a good chance of liking at least a few of their tracks, if not their whole back catalog.

Songs will be rated on the traditional MP3 rating scale of 1-100; over 80 indicates love, over 60 indicates like, 50 indicates the thin line between positive and negative feelings. I am listening to most of these songs for the first time, so forgive me for not grasping nuances or whatever.

### BEAT

m-flo traditionally has a handful of filler tracks on their albums, and I normally skip them. But for once, the opening filler has an actual musical hook, drum beats, and sets the album going on a high note. I’m actually sitting here wishing this was a full-length track, but since it’s not, **60**.

### Taste Your Stuff (m-flo loves BENNIE K)

I actually got my hands on this track a week or two ago, and was warned it was more dance pop than hip hop. I shrugged off this warning, and put it on – who was I to let a little warning get in the way of my musical cravings?
I now extend this warning to you: this thing will get stuck in your head. If you put this on your MP3 player, there’s a good chance you will bounce along to it. It will lodge itself in your brain and will not leave. Why can’t American pop songs be this good? **90**.

### Loop In My Heart (m-flo loves EMYLI & YOSHIKA)

A bit of a back and forth over some very nice disco beats. I actually think Verbal is a little overpowering here, and I’d much rather here Emyli and Yoshika shining with their very nice melodies over Verbals spitting out a lot of responses. Still, decent track. **60**.

### SO EXCLUSIVE (m-flo loves Sowelu)

Again with the disco beats (although with a bit more funk), this time we get a lot of focus on the female vocals. Verbal is just right here, not overpowering the vocalists with his stuff. The funk is definitely prevalent here, with the whole backbeat claps and everything. The track has clicked for me – not the sort of thing I want to listen to 24/7, but a track I wouldn’t turn off if it came on. **70**.

### I’M DA 1 (m-flo loves WHEE SUNG)

I’m not really sure what’s going on here. I mean, sure, Verbal is going rap crazy, but I’m totally baffled with the music underneath. It’s a little drum’n’bass, which doesn’t fit in with some of the refrain harmonizing…I think I’ll be passing on this one. **40**.

### ONE DAY (m-flo loves Miriya Katou)

Slow start, probably a good choice after doing four up-beat songs. I’m not sure why, but this is sort of reminding me of a few tracks by The Streets (*It’s Too Late*, mostly) – I may not know what exactly is being said, but it feels rather reminiscent, sort of sorrowful. Not quite on the level of *Come Back To Me* off the first m-flo album, but it’s good. **62**.

### A.D.D.P. (m-flo loves Monday Michiru)

Recent m-flo fans will remember the brilliance of *Way U Move* off last year’s Astromantic; where a Dragon Ash ballad was suddenly twisted into a Daft Punk-lite dance floor burner. If you take the dance floor portion, stick on some very classic house/rave piano, throw in some disco strings, and layer some Monday Michiru harmonizing in, you get A.D.D.P. Hello, dream track. **95**.

### tO yOUR bEAT (m-flo loves YOSHIKA)

We slow down again for some more Yoshika loving. There’s nothing particularly wrong with this track, but it’s not standing out in any way over what we’ve heard thus far. **55**.

### SPACE

Filler track #2. Unfortunately, this is the traditional m-flo filler track, with some weird Japanese speech sample over top of a little beat. Passing, hardcore. **20**.

### DOPEMAN? (m-flo loves EMYLI & Diggy-MO’)

A number of months ago, when the singles that would make up this album were starting to get released as EPs, there was a wonderfully crazy track called *Dopamine*, featuring EMYLI and Diggy-MO. I really, really got into it, and it had a fun video too.
*DOPEMAN?* is essentially a rework of this track – slightly different vocals, somewhat different backing music. While it’s a decent little remix, the original version really blows this away. Those that have the original single would do well to hang onto it. **50**.

### COZMO-NAUGHTY (m-flo loves Kahimi Karie)

Best song title ever. The disco funk returns with a vengance, and brings along some slinky vocals with it. Very experimental in parts, it’s got a definite lounge feel. The whispered rapping is a little weird – never mind the very Orange Lounge flairs – but there’s something very appealing about the track as a whole. **74**

### The Other Side Of Love (m-flo loves EMYLI)

Saving me the trouble of listening to this all the way through, I’ve actually owned the Let Go EP for a few months, which had this as a B-side. With some minimal bass paired with a light guitar, Emyli provides some nice melodies over the occasional breakbeat rhythms. I certainly enjoyed this enough when I initially heard it, so let’s not ruin a good thing. **75**

### Float’n Flow (m-flo loves Rie Fu)

Please, please tell me this isn’t island reggae. Please please please…okay, it’s not quite reggae, but it’s definitely got a tropical feel, and that’s really throwing me off during a sci-fi themed album. Don’t get me wrong – if there’s any band I enjoy going on musical tangents, it’s m-flo. I loved *Life Is Beautiful* and *Vanessa* off the last album, both with a very obvious jazz direction. But I don’t go for this style of music, any time. **39**, just to keep it off all my playlists.

### HEY! (m-flo loves Akiko Wada)

Wow, this is…okay, let’s see, the rhythm and backing samples are totally motown soul. The instruments on top of that are sort of psychedelic rock. This is a hell of a hybridization of a few genres; I can only think to describe this as modern soul. This is the sort of musical tangent I like. **66**.

### let go (m-flo loves YOSHIKA)

Obviously the track from the previously mentioned Let Go EP, this starts slow and languid with very pretty vocals from Yoshika and nice string ensemble work. There’s a hell of a bridge near the middle, with some well timed rapping; it all mixes together great. **78**

### TRIPOD BABY (m-flo loves LISA)

This track strikes me as funny, in a way. Originally, m-flo was a three person unit, with Verbal, Taku, and Lisa. Lisa, after two albums, decided she wanted to go off and start a solo career. And so here we are, a few years after the band split, with all three of the members back together giving us one more track.

But, strangely enough, it’s also a symbolic track. Lisa’s solo portions are very much typical of the old m-flo; single melody, not a terribly complicated rhythm, and her voice shines well. The Verbal portions are typical of new m-flo; experimental, branching into new genres – here I’d say we’re delving into dancehall. The refrains bridge these different styles, and it works fairly well.

It’s not the strongest track off the album musically, so the rating won’t be terribly high (although it’s certainly listenable). But *Tripod Baby* signifies the transitions the band has made over the last three years, and it’s worth noting just for that. **60**

### NINE

The closer filler track; exactly the same as the first track on their first album, *Planet Shining*. I don’t even want to try and figure out the significance of this. As it’s filler, and not really musically interesting filler, it pulls a **20**.

## In Closing

While it’s not quite as obviously great as Astromantic (where I had two tracks pegged at 100), this is a solid album, and anyone who’s ever liked m-flo will likely not be disappointed.

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Endured

Cue Vengaboys!

Katie and I made the trek to Six Flags Great Adventure today. We took lots and lots of photos, as one might expect. Here is a Flickr set containing all of mine, along with the trademark snappy comments.

We did manage to ride Kingda Ka, the new ridiculously overpowered coaster. While the fact sheet gives you the raw technical numbers – 0 to 128 mph in 3.5 seconds, then up 456 feet, then down the same amount – and this streaming video will give you a general idea of what the ride is like, let me present you my personal version of the experience to drive the point home:

– The line is long, *much* longer than the actual ride. We lucked out, by going on a weekday and finding our way over right after the ride had opened; our wait was only 65 minutes. I’ve been told by coaster fanatic friends that the lines can go up to 5 hours long.
– There is a sign near the front politely informing you that on occasion, the cars *don’t* make it over the 456 foot hill, but they were designed to gracefully come back down to the base and then re-launch. This will haunt you the entire time you’re in line.
– You are forced to watch these cars go from 0 to 128 mph over, and over, and over while you’re in line.
– As such, by the time you’re actually in the car, you – and everyone else – will be screaming the second it leaves the station, even though you probably have another minute before you’re screwed.
– Ride in one of the first two rows. Do not ride in the last row.
– There is a horn that blows shortly before you take off. This horn can be heard everywhere in the park. This horn will haunt you.
– The 0-to-128 acceleration is so quick that my eyelids were literally shaking in the wind.

The rest of the park is crap, but I’m certainly glad we got to ride what will be the most notorious coaster for at least the next few years.

Categories
Recommended

Glengarry Glen Ross – A Broadway Review

This afternoon, Katie and I went to a matinee of the new version of David Mamet’s *Glengarry Glen Ross*. We sat in the Orchestra section. This review contains no spoilers.

For those not familiar with the Pultizer winning play, I’ll quote the [official site](http://glengarryglenross.biz/)’s synopsis:

> GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS is a riveting account of the competing personalities in a seedy Chicago real estate office, where it’s business as usual until a high-stakes sales contest takes a shocking turn. Welcome to the fast and furious world of American entrepreneurship, where lying, cheating and stealing are all in a day’s work… and where the salesman will stop at nothing to close a deal.

It was made into a [popular movie](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0104348/) in 1992 with an amazing ensemble cast: Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey, Alec Baldwin, Jonathan Pryce, and Jude Ciccolella. The play includes all of these parts save Alec Baldwin’s. The three most notable cast members for the stage version are Alan Alda (playing Jack Lemmon’s character of Shelley Levene), Liev Schreiber (playing Pacino’s firey Ricky Roma), and Jeffrey Tambor (picking up Alan Arkin’s George Aaronow).

Over the past 6 years or so – I saw the movie first when I was in college, long after its release – I’ve grown a huge appreciation for the movie, with its classic roles, relentless dialog, and tense pacing. I had high hopes for the stage version, and it mostly met my expectations. I apologize in advance about what follows, as all my thoughts on the play largely revolve around comparisons to the film. A point by point breakdown in no particular order:

**+ Liev Schreiber and Jeffrey Tambor were excellent.**

I never got much of a handle on the character of George in the movie – I had always considered him the weakest of the bunch in the movie. But Tambor poured a hell of a lot into the character, giving him a real personality that was unique to the play, even despite what would seem like similarities in manner to Shelley. I was a big fan of Jeffrey coming into this from his work on *Arrested Development*, and this only cemented it further.

I was also pleasantly surprised by Liev Schreiber; I had my doubts at first at his ability to fill in the shoes of a character I have such a strong connotation with Al Pacino for, but he did it admirably. I’ve previously only seen Liev in *The Manchurian Candidate*, and my impression of him coming in was favorable – his take on the role was unique and powerful in its own way.

**= Alan Alda and Gordon Clapp were decent.**

I should preface this by saying I’ve never seen the play before today, only the film, and so perhaps Alda nailed the part – but compared to the Shelley Levine character I’ve known, it felt like Alda was forcing it a bit, rambling a bit too much and just going too broad. He didn’t ruin the play by any stretch – his acting was still good – but I just felt he was too overzealous at times. Perhaps it was because he was laying the accent on too thick.

Gordon Clapp, taking up Ed Harris’ role of Dave Moss, was great in his interactions with Jeffrey Tambor but lacked the punch needed when facing off against Liev. Not bad, just not great.

(Ironically, both of these men, along with Liev, are the ones nominated for Tony’s. I’m pulling for Liev.)

**- Fred Weller and Tom Wopat were forgettable.**

Fred Weller, picking up Kevin Spacey’s role, spent a lot of his time on stage not saying anything, and his body language didn’t convey anything. Spacey had a real edge in the role, and Mr. Weller was just lacking it.

Tom “Luke Duke” Wopat was showing the wrong sort of desperation as James Lingk; while Jonathan Pryce had nailed down a man who is backed into a corner by everyone he deals with, Wopat came across as wishy washy and didn’t leave much of an impression on me by the end of the play.

**+ The set design was amazing.**

If you go to see this play after reading my review, you may sit through Act I wondering what the hell I was thinking. But the second Act II starts, there is an audible gasp in the audience when you see the set. It’s one of the most detailed, functional sets I’ve seen yet, and it’s mighty impressive. I find myself crossing my fingers for Santo Loquasto – he deserves the set design Tony.

**= The first act was sort of blah.**

This is Mamet’s fault, not anyone in this cast; the structure of the first act requires too much piecing bits together through snippets of dialog, too much trying to connect people through disjoint scenes, and a real lack of flow. Luckily, it’s different enough from the film where people who have seen the movie aren’t going to be bored out of their skulls.

**+ The second act was electric.**

This also falls on Mamet’s shoulders, thankfully. There are no breaks in the second act, and it all flows beautifully. At the intermission, I was wondering if the play was worth seeing – the second act sealed the deal completely.

**? It’s very weird to be in the audience.**

The movie doesn’t come across as funny at all, just suspenseful and tense. While the play certainly has some intentional humor written into it, there were lots of instances where there’d be laughter just at swearing or cuts at other actors. The audience was also predominantly old, presumably because they all wanted to see Alan Alda. Not a good or bad thing, just strange.

—-

In conclusion: The cast is above average and works well together, and while the first act is a little weak, the second act is more than worth the cost of admission. I recommend catching this in matinee whether you’ve seen the movie a thousand times or not seen it at all.

Glengarry Glen Ross runs through August 28th at the Royale Theatre on West 45th St.