West Oaktown

Colossus | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Om Records
• ASIN: B000AANWE6
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #257,026 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Innacity

2. From The Lab

3. You A Grown Man Now

4. If You Knew My Mind

5. One

6. Thrupenny Bits

7. Like That

8. The Tribute

9. Brotha's Tryin' To Be

10. Sunshine

See all 12 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Intro

2. The Tribute

3. Interlude 1

4. Brotha's Tryin' To Be

5. Interlude 2

6. If You Knew My Mind

7. From The Lab

8. Thrupenny Bits

9. Innacity

10. Interlude 3

See all 17 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Funky. Soulful. Conscious. Organic. One part jazz, one part hip-hop, this double disc provides a sound that’s both accessible enough to be immediately interesting and intricate enough to maintain that interest. The man behind Colossus, Charlie Tate, has drawn on his own impressive musical experience in creating this album, having worked with the likes of Roy Ayers, Fred Wesley, and Gil Scott Heron. Haunting keys, warm basslines, subtle scratching, and head-nodding percussion keep things moving throughout. The production is so strong that the guest emcees are often relegated to the background--the exception being the outstanding performance of London’s Roots Manuva. With West Oaktown Charlie Tate establishes a level of artistic and musical credibility that makes many of his peers pale in comparison. While the mainstream media may sleep on an artist like Colossus, OM Records certainly have not: alongside J Boogie and People Under the Stairs, the OM hip-hop offering is suddenly looking surprisingly strong. -- Anish Acharya

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Music: 5 stars, Lyrics: 3 stars, January 15, 2006

By 

B (Providence, RI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: West Oaktown (Audio CD)

The music and production on "West Oaktown" is, as is expected from an Om release, stunning and impeccable. It's experimental in the good sense of the word, never anything less then smooth and highly listenable while still pushing the stylistic envelope of hip-hop. The fusion of jazz and hip-hop, live elements and loops, is viscerally enjoyable.

It's a shame, then, that the rapping not only fails to live up to the quality of the production but in many cases makes potentially stunning tracks unlistenable. "If You Knew My Mind" begins with the uninspired, well-worn monosyllabic rhymes: "I'm not the same, nah / Cuz people change, uh-huh / I live the game, uh / I feel the pain, uh." These guys took some of the most interesting backing tracks of the decade and that was the best they could do?

By far the worst track is "Like That" which contains one of the most regrettable metaphors in rap history. "Dropping bombs, all day / Like Timmy McVeigh" the MC cheerily boasts, seemingly unconcerned that he's glorifying--and equating himself with--America's worst domestic terrorist of all time, whom he feels comfortable calling "Timmy." On another track or from another rapper it might come off as intentionally provocative, but amid a series of standard and uninventive brags over an unthreatening beat it comes off as painfully ignorant and unconcerned. As a result the cheery jazz noodlings and rhymes that come after are impossible to enjoy.

Thankfully not every track crashes and burns. On many, the rapping is neither here nor there; it doesn't add anything but it doesn't take anthing away. There are a few tracks, though, like "Innacity," "You a Grown Man Now" and "Thrupenny Bits," on which solid and inventive rapping enhances already standout tracks.

Because the production is so much more interesting and creative on the whole than the rhyming, it's amazing to me that they sell the record with a bonus disc of rather ordinary, standard-issue hip-hop remixes. The exact opposite, an instrumental version of the originals, would have served fans much better.

There's more than enough great material to make the record worth the purchase, especially because of it's highly original sound. If only it didn't have such glaring verbal missteps it would have been truly spectacular.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exhilarating, August 11, 2006

By 

rollerfunk (US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: West Oaktown (Audio CD)

5 Stars...no sweat. If you like experimenting in black sounds, this is the perfect album for you. An extremely tight fussion of hip hop and jazz. Impecable production!

The previous Reviewer (Emil Adjamian "gij emo"), gave only one star to this album...bottom line is, if you dig all the BS mainstream music you hear on the radio or watch BET/MTV (Puffy and co.), then this cd is not for you. Please, don't fake da funk.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best Colossus since the "X-Men", February 3, 2006

By 

Daniel B. Honigman "-Daniel" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: West Oaktown (Audio CD)

Wow. This is a musical experience. It's jazz + hip-hop at its finest. It's engaging, and lyrically sharp. It's definitely worth a buy, and the included remix CD is worth listening to as well.
Enjoy!