Presents Monk Hughes & Outer Realm

Monk Hughes | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 27, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Stones Throw
• ASIN: B0002CX1IY
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #307,274 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars We Gettin' Down, July 30, 2004

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Thomas B. Mitchell "only eating the red Mike-... - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Presents Monk Hughes & Outer Realm (Audio CD)

The "Monk Hughes and the Outer Realm: A Tribute to Brother Weldon" is yet another brilliant project from the ever-prolific Madlib.

Madlib has the Yesterday's New Quintet, a jazz "group," but really it's just him multitracking. This is another title in that vein, only it's attributed to "Monk Hughes" the "bass player" for Yesterday's New Quintet. So, get how twisted that is, Madlib has a "solo" record from one of his aliases.

It's a series of instrumental jazz tunes (many highly improvisational) that loosely recall Weldon Irvine. He was a bandleader/writer/arranger who is widely sampled (most notably by Tribe Called Quest on the song "Award Tour"). Irvine was a keyboard player (pianist/organist by training, electric keyboard madness on record) and sort of a mentor to a lot of these rap guys who fancy themselves instrumental musicians. Before he was "rediscovered" by rappers and rap fans, his most noted accomplishment was probably co-writing the song "To Be Young, Gifted, and Black" (which was recorded by a number of prominent R&B folks including Donny Hathaway and Aretha Franklin--who made it an album title as well). Irvine's body of work is stylistically varied, mostly instrumental, and tends toward the soul/jazz side. Lots of polyrhythms, expansive keyboard playing, but tight and listenable compositions. Best way I can describe it: Stuff Tribe would sample.

While this album bears a ballpark resemblance to both "Stevie" (the Yesterday's New Quintet album of Stevie Wonder covers) and what I have heard by Weldon Irvine, it is a more challenging listen than either. One reason: Its subject--Irvine--was a much less commercial entity than Wonder. Anything that invokes Irvine's name is NOT going to have big, fat "Superstition"-type hooks in it. Another reason: Madlib is not the trained composer and performer that Irvine was. This is not said to discredit Madlib--whose instrumental skill is improving measurably on each subsequent release--but Weldon Irvine had more training, tons of band experience, first-hand exposure to groundbreaking musicians, and (most importantly) about 20 extra years of practice. I have no doubt that, in terms of forward-thinking musical expansion, Madlib will soon be included in that upper realm--not just for his instrumental jazz records, but for his widely varied and consistently inspired body of work.

"Inspired" does not necessarily mean "immediately enjoyable" and therein lies the challenge. I give Madlib generous credit for composing all the tunes on this record (12 of them), but, unlike "Stevie" or even "Madvillain," this record is harder to grasp. "Stevie" was probably the first Madlib production that I didn't need to listen to several times before enjoying. Here, without the melodic foundation of Wonder's songs, Madlib's original compositions wander a little bit. There is also a noticeable melacholy streak that runs through this record (no doubt generated by the fact that Irvine committed suicide in 2002). Major props to Madlib for using this moody, free-jazz approach and almost completely inverting his "typical" tight, terse production style. This record is certainly not tight, nor is it terse. These are lengthy, expansive, improvisational tracks with lots of vintage keyboard. There are no Stevie Wonder hooks or MF DOOM witticisms to comfort you.

But the payoff--as with every Madlib work that I've heard--is immense. Buried in these vamp-y jams are miniscule nuggets of jazz/soul/funk brilliance. In essence, Madlib has created tracks that could be sampled. You may have to wait for 4 or 5 minutes for the magical moment (maybe one bar) of interplay. You may have to sit through Madlib playing the same 3-note segment on the ARP synth 10 or 11 times in a row, but then a squiggly bass part slides in and the drum adds a fill and there's a washy fender rhodes progression and you're like, "Hey! What the hell was that???!!!!" Suddenly, you're bringing that 2-second segment back. Before long, you're listening to the entire song over and over (like I'm doing right now with "Day of Spirit Man").

It's clear that Madlib has integrated one Weldon arrangement technique--to have at least one instrument repeating the hook or at least maintaining the rhythm while the improvisation happens. One example is the rhodes phrase and conga rhythm that ground "Day of Spirit Man." Another instance where this technique works especially well is on "A Piece For Brother Weldon," where (without the repeated foundation) the improvisation would almost certainly derail the track.

With his soul/jazz foundation and occasionally amazing bits of instrumental interplay, Madlib invokes the funky spirit of Weldon Irvine quite admirably. And he does so alone, which is astonishing when you hear the record's "band" sound. I can only imagine what a monumental recording undertaking this must have been, especially when you consider that almost every instrumental part morphs within each track. The result is definitely a turntable kind of album, where the hassle of getting up and moving the needle prevents you from skipping over less-desirable passages. And that's a good thing, especially in this music world of singles-driven rap "albums." Madlib keeps it righteous, intelligent, and concept-driven. That's why there's nobody like him.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Madlib Brings More of the Fusion, More of the Funk, September 15, 2004

By 

Jonathan C. Hamlet "hamletto" (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Presents Monk Hughes & Outer Realm (Audio CD)

I've listened to Madlib's work for awhile now. I was a huge fan of "Quasimoto," then I bought the first Yesterday's New Quintet album, "Angles Without Edges." It was a tough listen, but I grew to like it a lot. As a person who was always into jazz, I thought Madlib's way of blending jazz fusion, free jazz, and hip hop with basically limited keyboard skills was creative and new. I was disappointed with Stevie, because the keyboard on the album is relatively pedestrian and not much creative is done with the actual Stevie Wonder songs. It was no surprise to me to find out that Madlib had recorded it ages ago.

This new "Monk Hughes and the Outer Realm Presents" album really shows how long ago "Stevie" was recorded. The pieces are complex, the keyboard work much more intricate, more synthesizers, more chaotic beats. This to me not only blows away "Stevie", but "Angles Without Edges" too. Madlib has gone further into the roots of jazz fusion, bringing out pieces reminiscent of Herbie Hancock's "Sextant" and Miles Davis' "Live Evil" and "Live at the Filmore West" work all at once. The beats on it resemble IDM style Autechre beats at times too.

Some say this album's a hard listen. That I'll grant them, but there's so much of a richer sound to it than previous Yesterday's New Quintet work that it's more than worth it and I actually find it an easier listen than "Angles Without Edges." It's creative, it's complicated, and it's challenging, all the things a good musician like Madlib, who's moving further out of his composer shell every day, should try to do.

5.0 out of 5 stars nothing ventured, nothing gained . . ., August 12, 2011

By 

Joel S. Schneider (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Presents Monk Hughes & Outer Realm (Audio CD)

Outer realm is a good description of the locale of this music - I haven't quite heard anything like it. What's so impressive is that Madlib creates this wild, evocative perspective and then maintains it and holds one's interest through the entire recording (at least mine). I would call this music "Hipnotica". It's like swirling through the astral world with 3D vision. Ideally, this recording should be approached as a 73 minute inner journey - it may take a little time for you to fully adapt to the environment (it did me) as you find yourself propelling over the dense, sonic foliage and electronic fauna. At a certain point I found myself in a state outside of time (at least rational clock time) and it was then that I began to really channel the swirling images, and colorful beings within this inner/outer realm. William Blake called it "the Godly imagination". Still, another listener may determine that "Monk Hughes and the Outer Realm" is mere drivel . . . fair enough . . . still, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

a hint . . . if you are poetically inclined with a propensity to visualize images from sound you will have quite a rewarding journey - if you're looking for something with more signposts and hooks to hang on to, you may be at a loss. Fortunately, this music exists for those who can appreciate it.