Customer Reviews

Play With Toys

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One reviewer was right on in pointing out that this album came out years before Beck blew up. For those of you that haven't heard this yet, this album is filled with relaxed breakbeats, jangly guitars and singing about breaking up, drinking, bad hair, and the hope of a brand new day. The intro and outro tracks are funny as hell, and the samples are as much a part of the music as the vocals. They aren't thrown in just to spice up the music, they tell part of the story. This is a very easy album to get into, and I do believe that fans of any genre can listen to this and appreciate it. It's a shame that this album is relatively obscure, almost NEVER getting any radio play other than on the occasional college station. Help this talented man out and buy this album. I heard that he's a religious man now, but who knows...maybe with enough interest, he'll convert back to the dark side of Basehead.

Fabulous album worthy of being played over and over and over again. It epitomized the waning days of my college career. However, you do you have to listen closely to pick up on the wry sense of humor. I have never heard a rap albums possess this sense of introspection about beer (ie Ode to My Favorite Beer) and women who shun you.

Take with maximum pharms, folks. This understated masterpiece is like the first "Friday;" massively blissed out, unassuming, and takes the world by storm. There has not been a CD like it since. Off-Kilter vocals, gently strummed guitars, and hillarious sample all drift in and out of consciousness. Thing is, this CD is a decade old, and every time I hear it, I am left thinking that it is still fresher than most of the music being released today. Dieu merci for the small labels.

This album came out 10 years ago and sort of foreshadowed artists like Common & The Roots. The hip hop vocals and beats mixed with almost jazzy feel.

Michael Ivey was a genius and it's a shame he hasn't had any more albums released since 1996's brilliant Faith. Always smooth but still funky, always funny but still intelligent, he's in a class all his own.

Buy this album used as soon as possible, you'll never get tired of listening to it.

The first time I bought this album... it was on audio cassette. I had no idea who Basehead were... I was just browsing through a record store looking for something NEW (which in corporate music america is sometimes so hard to do) and I saw this cassette jacket with a beer bottle on front. I liked the song titles, so I bought it.

The first track, the first time I listened to it... was really weird. Sounded like some crappy country band singing some stupid song.. and I was just about to toss the cassette out my window when I started listening to the words... and realized it was rather funny.

Then, when track two opened up with jazzy beat and somber, almost spoken lyrics,... I loved it. I have listened to this album hundreds of times... it is one of the most underrated pieces of urban music of its time. Everybody who I knew, after I introduced them to Basehead, became instant fans also. Where is this band?? They are intense, and I can't believe that they are not more popular.

the depth and complexity of Basehead/Michael Ivey is unrivaled and indefinitely intriguing. one Basehead album is ten albums and eight soundtracks and three movies in one package. might as well throw in a slip-n-slide, a case of beer and a brand new bag too. there's more to listen to here than many other bands' entire discographies combined. this is the music world's best kept secret. shhhhh!

Get the original, deleted version of this album on Emigre Records. It was released months (maybe a year?) earlier on the Emigre label (a record label started by a font/typeface graphic design magazine of all things!) The original version of the album had samples that were deemed illegal by The Powers That Be, and several tracks had to be revamped a bit, one or two of them were changed VERY noticeably. Plus, the design and packaging was way better on the Emigre version, too. You can tell the difference immediately if you pull out the booklet: the Emigre version is on matte/rough paper with a different foldout...and the Imago one is glossy and slick to the touch. Don't get me wrong, the Imago version still rules...but...I prefer the original version, the way Mr. Ivey intended it. Oh, plus--do yerself a favor and pick up the "2000 B.C." CDsingle: the two 'remixes' (actually an alternate version and a cool live-ish funk version) are great, as is the bonus track "Can It Be?" Sweet stuff.

Eric Ivey is basehead. Alcohol-fueled, Minimilistic Hip Hop. This is his first extaordinary record. The record follows Ivey and friends on his journey of depression after a breakup of a long-time girlfriend. The record is not depressing, but very comical. Grab a beer and listen to this most original record.

To keep it short, this album is amazing, If you like all that gangster sh#t you probably wont like this though.

Frankly, it would be wrong to call 'Plays With Toys' a rap CD. The only close thing to rap you find here, at least stylistically, is the rhythm of the vocals, which aren't really rap. Rather, they seem more rap-themed.

Years before Wyclef unsucesfully tried to cover 'No Woman, No Cry' Michael Ivey was rapping over a guitar (yes, real instruments!) singing about women who've hurt him and how he drinks to forget about them. The mood is laid-back but not necessarily mellow. The drum beats keep pace with the music and keep you from relaxing too much... Smoking/drinking music is what some would call it.

I just call it one of the most consistently perfect CD's in my collection, good for driving at night or kicking back on a rainy day. I highly recommend this CD to any fan of music.