Customer Reviews

Little Johnny From the Hospital

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The use of spacey samples and strange verbal exerpts keeps this release on the underground side, but there's some catchy ish goin' on after you listen a few times. Check out my favorite track, "World of Garbage", and you'll see how that popping-cork sound at the beginning makes you want to freestyle right then and there. Perfect for writing verses, or just as chillin' music to help one's creativity. NO LYRICS HERE, JUST BEATS. If you're expecting another "Funcrusher Plus" with this one, don't bother. If you're open-minded enough to skip the newest DMX single in favor of true expressive hip hop, look no further. Peace.

DJ Mister Len and rapper El P give us an album of experimental instrumentals that will excite you whether you are driving in a rental or recieving work that's dental. These guys continue to push the boundaries of hip-hop and electronic music to great new heights.

once again,underground hip-hop's saviors have done it again.keepin it independent they manage to shatter the standard they originally set with FUNCRUSHERPLUS by droppin' this jewel.Vol.2 should be even better with El-P's mind-shatterin' blows...Slim Shady beware!

These murky, rumbling beats definitely stand on their own. If you're looking for a sequel to Funcrusher Plus, you're going to be disappointed, but if you approach "Little Johnny From The Hospital" as a gritty ambient Brian Eno-meets-Isaac Hayes Blaxploitation "Three Tough Guys"-"Truck Turner"-era soundtracks, then you've got a great trippy experience ahead of you.

The Funcrusher Plus LP exposed the world to a completely new breed of hip hop. With "Independent as ..." as their rallying cry, Company Flow opened the door for hundreds if not thousands of underground hip hop acts to cross over into a marginal amount of commercial success without sacrificing their basic values. The irony is that although Company Flow made room for many other underground acts, there really aren't any underground acts like Company Flow. They are a seemless amalgum of 1985 and 3000. And despite the undeniable importance of El-P's "is this guy for real?" cadence, and Big Juss's definite contribution to their work on Funcrusher, the true essence of Company Flow lies in the beats. On Funcrusher they were almost entirely composed by El-P, with a little help from DJ Mr. Len. Here Mr. Len and El-P share the spotlight to some degree, providing beats for a millenium far in the distance. This album provides the basis for Mr. Len's follow solo production masterpiece Pity the Fool. And while Len was clearly El-P's apprentice to some degree during this release, Len does provide some of the album's finest moments. In fact Len might have stolen the show if this album did not arguably contain El-P's best beat work. And Little Johnny certainly bridges the gap between the production from Funcrusher and the production of Cannibal Ox's Cold Vein and El-P's own Fantastic Damage. One drawback to this album that if you are familiar with all of El-P's other work, you will be begging for him to get on the mic at least once to assert his intergalactic dominance, instead he lets the beats do all of his talking for him. And if you are an avid Company Flow/Def Jux fan you will release the lack of sampling material he is really drawing from, as some of his beats are simply reworkings or alternate versions of ones you've probably heard before. However, considering that he himself admits that he only has about 100 albums he samples from, it is amazing that he can come up with such consistent brilliance.

I don't understand the other guy's review. This is a wicked album, and I still listen to it a year after I got it. This is THE album to put on when you're not in the mood for rhyming. Check out the bassline on 'comp', and check out 'bee aware' (also on Mr. Lif's Enter the Colossus) 'linoleum' and everything else. It's awesome.

Bee aware (sorry, couldn't resist) that this is an instrumental album, but don't let that scare you away. Folks who give poor reviews of this release must have a short attention span--lyrics are nice, but they're not everything. How many producers can relate a story--even one as short and simple as Little Johnny's--to the listener through almost nothing but beats and scattered vocal samples? El-P and Mr. Len certainly can. Various elements of each track enter into the picture at different times, sometimes sounding discordant and misplaced, until they all fall into a context that works as a whole. El-P further develops this technique in his production of Cannibal Ox's The Cold Vein (which you should also pick up).

Standout tracks are "Bee Aware", the spacey but painfully short "# Nine", and the hellish "Happy Happy Joy Kill." Any fans of the production on Funcrusher Plus should thorougly enjoy this.

El P and Mr Len take hiphop art to a new height. Truly ART, unlike most other hiphop music, this album pushes the boundaries of electronic experimental music. Although i think this album was originally released just for djs, anyone who enjoys music as art will love it. it has head nodding beats, along with total weirdness. i love it!

This album is original. Don't listen to it one time and write a review, let the music sink in. You have to get used it. Some of these beats may be a bit spacy, but thats why I like them. Its probably also the reason they aren't rhymed over. El-P is a great beat-maker, and its what he does best (obviously). Its not comparable to Funcrusher, but as good as Funcrusher is, I think that's a good thing. No disrespect to El-P, but his lyrics, voice, and flow are substandard. He's a genius with beatmaking though, and this album shows it.

One word: "This album is dope". There's no rapping. Usually I would say "Thank God!" after that, but El-P's got some respectable stuff even if it sounds mostly like clamor. The beats don't mess around, and neither will you. If you're not stabbing at least three people at the same time by the end of the first track, go see a shrink. This album is melodic violence with a hardness of quality shrink wrap. I recommend this over a funeral.

You already know what the beats are like (cuz you previewed it already). It's tough finding good hard instrumentals like this.