Customer Reviews

Secret House Against the World

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What North American culture lacks right now is celebration of the individual. We live in a world of conformity.

Buck 65 challenges this convention.

I have never heard anything like this before. There is nothing more contradictory than a guy who sounds like a white farmer with the vocabulary of a well-educated intellectual, the language of a poet and the rhythm of a rapper. His music is impressionistic, absurdist and fearless.

I have two confessions:
1. When I first heard Buck 65, I hated him.
2. I am now addicted to Buck 65. I get irritable and go into withdrawal.

Also I have a personal vendetta against conformity. And Buck 65 is an inspiration.

Secret House against the World is my first forray into Buck 65, and I have to say that this is one of the most intriguing and artistic albums I have ever heard. And the fact that it is coming from an emcee makes it even more amazing. The musicianship on this album isn't that particularly complex, and it doesn't have to be, its stunningly simplistic and beautiful. Obviously a throw back to the artists influences, I believe this is Buck's chance to show the world that he is not just a "rapper", but rather an artists in general. His creative force is supreme on this album and I would highly recommend this to everyone. There is a huge country influence on this album, more of the classic country(think highwaymen), and creates a sort of melencholy sound which is beautiful. Of course there are hip hop influences such as turntables and tight beats and the occasional flow, and folk influences and indie rock. Buck also displays his Canadian heritage through the French language, and being a Canadian myself, I really feel this. A must own in my books, but one that may fall on deaf ears, especially those who only have tastes for mainstream and pop hip hop and pop rap.

Buck 65 just keeps reinventing himself with every new album, and 'Secret House Against The World' is perhaps the ultimate reinvention, with not a single track really describable as hip-hop (though it remains an influence). Buck's vocal style evolves a lot, continuing its pattern of becoming less and less like rap and more like beat poetry, with his voice getting deeper compared with his early work, and even with some singing this time. Almost every track takes a totally different direction, and a couple of nowhere near anything else he's done before. The lyrics continue to be superb. Because they're all so different, it's worth taking each track seperately:

Rough House Blues: A surprisingly effective blend of Cash-like black country (all cancered vocals, blues piano and insistent percussion) and hip-hop scratching.

Devil's Eyes: Angular chamber-pop, complete with vocodered sung vocals, jerky guitars and punchy strings.

Le 65isme: Insane - sounds like Gang of Four colliding with futuristic French electro.

The Suffering Machine: Dark folk, with a haunting, female-sung chorus.

Surrender To Strangeness: An inventive blend of a slightly more hip-hop-like beat, violin-and-piano landscapes, and a folky element.

Kennedy Killed The Hat: Totally unlike anything he's done - dizzying bass-heavy electro. Would go down a storm in an alternative club.

The Floor: Haunting piano with a beat-poet like delivery, pitch-black lyrics. Suddenly morphs towards the end into a beat that could have come off 'Square', with banjos and strings on top.

Blood Of A Young Wolf: An aching, heartbreaking track complete with lonely banjos and spaced-out guitar strums, featuring some of Buck's best lyrics.

Drunk Without Drinking: Sounds very similar to the Talkin' Honky style, but with a sung chorus that evokes everything from classic blues to Beck.

Blanc-Bec: A tribute to 80s metal (!), but needless to say its turned into something much trendier, with an electro influence.

Corrugated Tin Facade: The closest to a hip-hop track: could probably have fit onto 'Square'.

Drawing Curtains: A diversion into trip-hop! The heavily sexual interaction of whispered male and female vocals against a dark, rhythmic background and strings recalls Tricky very strongly.

Devil's Eyes (Piano): A French version against spiky piano. Sounds exactly like Tom Waits in this form.

Rich Terfry has come a long way from his Halifax underground hip hop roots, both in terms of showmanship and musical ability. Stylistically all over the map, Buck 65 freely wears his influences on his sleeve - from Secret House's Johnny Cash opening track (Roughhouse Blues) to the Tom Waits closer (Devils Eyes). Drawing Curtains could be by Tricky (though, in my opinion, substantially better than anything he's written in the last decade), while Blanc-bec is a fantastic tribute to '80s metal. The album also bears the distinctive stamp of Tortoise, who helped produce it, a first for Buck 65; he was literally a one man show until Talkin' Honkey Blues, and now he's finally opened his production (somewhat) to collaborators. And not only does he actually sing on this album, but he is joined by a French female vocalist. Where, you may ask, is the immaculately-produced hip hop of Square or Man Overboard? Well, it's still there, but has morphed into something more organic, something much less constrained by the limitations of the genre. Rich is a man of many hats, and he wears them all well (especially that exquisite white Greek fisheman's number he had on at the show a few weeks back). I highly recommend this album.

Buck 65 pretty much puts his heart out on this album, making it a classic. Every track is incredibly original. This is what Lucy Ford was for Atmosphere. Or what Healthy Distrust was for Sage. I would highly sugest buying this album. You will probably like it a lot. I can see myself in a week knowing all the lyrics to this album.

I was recommended Buck 65 by a friend who literally told me nothing about the band, other than that I was bound to like it. I wasn't even given an album title to pursue. So, on a whim, I picked up Secret House Against the World.

It is a rare and wonderful pleasure to approach something new with absolutely no expectations and be rewarded in abundance. I experienced that kind of thrill when I first discovered The Shins (living in Seoul, South Korea and being separated from all forms of English TV means that I miss all the press coverage of the latest and greatest bands), Alabama 3, and even, back in the day, Beck.

Buck 65 is certainly a musical maverick. He doesn't sit still, and much like the weather in Missouri, if you hear something you don't like, just give it a minute. Heavy on the craft, and light on the crap, this music pounds away at the edges of convention and leaves them crumbling and ragged.

It is a daunting task to try to describe this music, and I no longer wonder why my friend left me with just a name and no explanation. I could try to compare this album to a hasty conglomeration of others (and, honestly, I kinda did two paragraphs ago), but that's doing Buck 65 a disservice.

Let's put it this way: Buck 65's lyrics are potent and tightly woven. They are, in every sense of the word, poetry, and of a high caliber. Some might argue that the words tend to plod, given the repetitive rhyming schemes and their gravelly and sometimes uninflected delivery, and that's fair enough, but I still think, in spite of that, the language soars, and it is buffeted up by music that is unique in almost every way.

Unique is a hard thing to be, and not just because it takes skill, but also because a lot of people don't necessarily care for it. I can see how someone might hate this album. It is chewy and frenetic (Kennedy Killed the Hat). It is fathoms deep and sparkling with black lights (The Floor and The Suffering Machine). It is its own kind of creature, a chimera of country, hip-hop, synth pop, with a dash of funk and flophouse rock.

If off-beat, new, intriguing, honest, and smart music is in any way your thing, then you should check this album out. And, if it's still possible after reading this review, try to approach the music without expectations.

Because the expectations you don't have will be blown away.

This is an amazing cd. There is a great variety of songs on this particular album of his. i particularly like Devil's Eyes, Devil's Eyes (Piano Version), The Suffering Machine, Kennedy Killed the Hat, Rough House Blues, and Blood of a Young Wolf. There are songs in french as well as english, which I think proves that he is proud to be a Canadian. The lyrics are very well though-out and some, if you listen hard enough, could actually give you some good advice. If you like this cd, you'll probably like Talkin' Honkey Blues as well.
-Kat from Canada

Seeing Buck dolled up in a sailor's cap with a Nova Scotia insignia and wild attire singing "Rough House Blues" was like seeing a performer from the 19th century, stepping out of a time warp. He looked suspiciously upon the crowd, reciting very bizarre anecdotes and thumbing through an antiquated musicbook before stepping up to the turntables. He nailed down every number, and even reinvented some of the great folk songs from the thirties. A truly gifted performer.

Anyways, as for the album, Secret House Against the World is replete with country songs, folk songs, and the occasional rock number. The album is almost as much of a departure from Talkin Honky Blues as that album was to all previous albums by Buck. But what remains is the rustic and forlorn poetry of that along with the vibe on This Right Here Is... album, and is very well executed. My favourite track is "Blood of A Young Wolf" which is the most succinct country-hip-hop song I think anyone could have made, and is far from corny. This track and others, such as "Drunk Without Drinking", "Surrender To Strangeness" and "The Suffering Machine", are also progressive tracks indeed.

The only drawbacks, in my opinion, are "Le 65isme", and "Drawing Curtains" which pale in quality to the rest of the production. The piano version of "Devil's Eyes", on the other hand, appropriately concludes this unconventional album.

I will preface this by saying I have soaked up as much Buck65 as I could find in perhaps the last 3 years. Going so far as to get the likes of DJ Signify and pick up Josh Martinez.

I have never found the Buck65 cd that didn't immediately affirm my belief that he has more creative equity than almost every other artist and he throws out great narratives on geat songs... he's Bukowski, Cash and an old fisherman roled into one.

This cd however didn't imake the normal impression on me and I am frankly a bit disappointed. I have listened to it but once and it might be wiser to listen to it a few times as it might grow on me. But if it needs to grow on me it isn't the standard Buck65 fare as far as i am concerned.

As of Dec 29th the cd has grown on me and though I prefer other of Buck65's cds I like it more than I did at first considerably. be well

Buck 65 has juggled so many musical genres over the years that this new move towards country music comes as no suprise (probably because he has hinted at his country influences on every album since he began recording).
After the first liston I had of this CD I didn't really know what to think...I don't enjoy country music that much (except, of course, Johnny Cash) so I didn't really ejoy it very much. However, after listoning intensely over the next few days, I was in love with it.
After listoning to it alot, the influences were very apparent: Tom Waits (as always), Johnny Cash, Radiohead , Primus (this influence is really only apparent on the song "Blanc-Bec".
My favorite song off of it is the first single "Kennedy Killed the Hat", on this song Buck kinda half-sings-half-raps his lyrics and it sounds different and refreshing to hear him switch his flow a little bit (he should've switched it a little bit on "Blanc-Bec" because his usual deadpan/b-boy delivery sounds a little bit out of place in the verses).
If you like this new release from Buck 65 then you should check out his old records if you haven't already.
The only real complaint I have with this album (and the last one) is that it seems as though Buck has "sold out" (he signed to warner records) which hasn't affected the great indie quality of his music, but it still kinda sucks (however his cameos on DJ Signify's new album still keep him rooted in the indie world of anticon and underground hip-hop).