Blue Brain

Erik Schrody, better known by his stage name Everlast, is an Irish-American rapper and singer-songwriter, best known for his hit “What It’s Like“, and for his unique genre-crossing mix of hip-hop and acoustic-based rock music. Love, War and the Ghost of Whitey Ford is the fifth solo album released by Everlast. The album was released on September 23, 2008. So why am I reviewing it now?

The album went fairly un-noticed or reviewed by the mainstream media, which is unfortunate because it may be Everlast’s greatest work. With the exception of opening track “Kill The Emperor,” the album largely abandons any hip-hop influence one might expect, instead delivering dark tales and gritty personal musings all threaded together by Everlast’s baritone crooning and a gang of live instruments.

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Phoenix is a French alternative rock band started during their childhood by Thomas Mars, Deck D’Arcy, Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz in the affluent suburb of Versailles, in the same culture that produced late-’90s bands such as Air and Daft Punk. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is their fourth studio album. I would describe their sound as Gorillaz meets Death Cab for Cutie; a blend of soft rock and electronic.

To be honest I had never heard of Phoenix before I stumbled upon this album, so I can’t really comment on what (if any) kind of evolution this album is from previous works. However, I can say that I really enjoyed this album and it’s great from top to bottom. There’s a sense of purpose about the album’s opening salvo of tracks: Liztomania and 1901, in particular, are so well done, so perfectly constructed as to outflank any reservations you might have about the band’s slightly dry approach.

There’s also a nice range of tempos throughout the album, Fences spikes the electro beat of Daft Punk with an urgent acoustic-guitar breakdown for splendidly danceable melancholy. To the near Brit-rocky rave-ups of Lasso.

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