Album Notes

US: Year's Best Albums: Local bands put spotlight back on songwriting

Found: Wed Jan 02 14:33:06 2008 PST
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Year's Best Albums: Local bands put spotlight back on songwriting Year's Best Albums: Local bands put spotlight back on songwriting -- Newsday.com

January 2, 2008

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Songwriting came back in vogue among local bands this year, a welcome trend indeed. For several years, young bands mostly were content to create a lot of sound and fury, but in 2007, groups such as Camera-Head Shark, The Shake and The New Rivalsnames focused on verses, choruses, lyrics and hooks - the classic fundamentals of rock. (Fittingly, the best songwriting of the year came from a gray-bearded classic rocker, Tom Griffith.) Rounding out the top 10 local albums of 2007 (most of which were self-released) are ONE EXCELLENT RAPPER, a weird metal-rock band and a young emo act with ideas to spare. Here's the list:


#6. Kaleber, "The Anomaly" - This Wyandanch rapper firmly believes two things: Hip-hop is dead, and he was born to resurrect it. On tracks such as "Dope (New York, New York)" and the cliched "Hoodstripes Pt. 2," Kaleber exposes bling and drug-slinging for the worn-out cliches they are - all without missing a beat.


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Newsday.com
Kaleber as a hip-hop savior on 'The Anomaly'
Rafer Guzmán

WITH THE BAND

November 22, 2007

No rapper ever succeeded by being modest, as Chad Mohammed, aka Kaleber, clearly knows.

On "The Anomaly" (Mutiny Music Group), the Wyandanch rapper depicts himself as the savior of hip-hop, fighting the good fight against the fake gangstas, major-label caricatures and bling-blinded knuckleheads who have turned rap into self-parody.

Throughout the 18-track disc, Kaleber keeps the violence mostly metaphorical, shuns drug-dealing and generally aims for higher ground. He also manages, amazingly, to spell "Wyandanch" in rhyme.

Kaleber's laid-back tone and conversational style keep him from getting preachy, and he slings enough bravado to retain his machismo. Over the easygoing rhythm of "Dope (New York, New York)," he scores thug-points for hanging out with dealers but proudly notes that he never became one.

On "Up," he drives home a similar point: "I ain't a thug, but I keep it gangsta, though." He raps about loyalty and respect on "No I in Team ...," then adds this hard-nosed corollary: "But there is an M-E."

The album's best moment is "Hoodstripes Pt. 2," a cautionary tale built on a rueful soul-sample. It's the reality behind the rap myth of flipping bricks for fast cash, an ugly portrait of a small-time hustler who never made it. "You used to be the man, been on the block for years," Kaleber sneers between epithets. "I know you seen some grands/You still selling crack out your rear?" (Of a car, most likely - but the baseness of the image is unmistakable.)

Kaleber is less effective when emulating commercial rappers like Eminem ("And Judas Kissed") or 50 Cent (the clubby "With Me?"). And we could all do without the gay slur that pops up early in the album. Still, Kaleber is making hip-hop with heart - "The Anomaly" indeed. Check out samples at MySpace.

Write torafer.guzman@newsday.com.

Copyright © 2007, Newsday Inc.