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Underground > Radio & Music >

Neptunes present... Clones

08:38 / 15.08.03

So whaddya reckon? Stand out tracks on the first listen are NORE, Dirt McGirt, and the Busta track which isn't exactly new. Choice Dirt lyric: I can see the gap between your cunt and your ass. Roscoe P Coldchain: best name in ages. Does Justin's absence add credence to the rumour it was Pharrell Britney cheated on him with? Are the Neptunes treading water or is there something new going on? Do you reckon Light Your Ass On Fire is the first US rap track to bite Dizzee Rascal's production style?

Anyway, I reckon - so far - that's the only track that's really exciting - not just, oh, another Neptunes track. But my main impression is nostalgia - remembering when these guys could really surprise you and pull out stuff that sounded like nothing else going on. And some of those tracks still sound like nothing else going on - Got Your Money, Southern Hospitality, Shake Ya Ass. (On the other hand, there's some rose-coloured glasses there cause they've always had their share of shitful tunes.) None of these tracks is even as catchy as Hot In Herre (although I could be eating my words in a month's time). Oh wait, Hot Damn is hell catchy, I've had Pusha's chorus in my head for weeks already. Hot dayyyy um. It's a new day.

But yeah, I am excited about hearing all this on a proper club sound system tonight.

And what the fuck is with the rock bit in the middle?!

09:17 / 15.08.03

They're lined up to produce blink-182's next record, I believe. And according to a natty piece of revisionism last autumn, they've always been into rock. No, really, they bonded over Bon Jovi.

Regrettable Juvenilia

14:56 / 08.09.03

Such an odd album in many ways - it really *is* like a mix-tape, only the kind we mean rather than DJs/rappers usually mean... It's like a collection of tunes the Neptunes like, some of which they know you'll like, and some of which they're trying to force you to like - hence that awkward couple of rock tracks in the middle - I'd love to be perverse and say they were actually quite good, but they're just not - although I'm not sure they're any worse than what passes for decent in the world of rock these days (Foo Fighters etc).

Very difficult to talk about this as an album so will do this track by track, depending on which is my favourite at the time...

'Hot Damn' - at first I wasn't too bothered about this track, because it just struck me as 'Cot Damn' with bolt-on extras. However, I have now realised that a) I loved 'Cot Damn' in the first place, and b) these extras are fantastic. The little bit where it turns into 'What Happened To That Boy?'. The bit where Pusha (or is it Malice?) goes "Ugghhkk!" at the start of his verse. And then Pharell's laid-back-as-fuck mini-verse: "Y'all niggas are clones, I hand out styles like ice-cream cones" - he just sounds soooooo smug and cocky, in the best possible way, and there's something really cool about how his verse is just a couple of lines, tossed off - insert theory here about how indie/rock fans always complain that pop/rap stars sound like they're not "trying", whereas on something like this it's all about being as effortless as possible (see also: Jay-Z in 'Frontin').

11:55 / 09.09.03

Effortlessly Neptunes but thats the problem.
The only bit that suprised me was the rock out in the middle and it was so... indie-lite.
The sound is getting a bit old now because either a) they produce everything nowadasy or b) those who they don't produce steal their style anyway.
I liked but now I'm a bit bored.
The N.E.R.D. album still pisses all over this Neptunes release.

Regrettable Juvenilia

20:49 / 09.09.03

I don't really see how their "sound" is getting old - they have more than just one, which is surely the point of this record. Have The Neptunes ever produced a beat that sounded like the one on 'Hot' before? They *do* demonstrate a new style on a regular basis (for examples not on this record see 'Grindin', 'Work It Out', 'Nothin'), *in addition* to knocking out repeated variations on a very recogniable theme (see obvious crowd-pleasers on Clones like 'If' and 'Popular Thug', which while I like them are really hey-it's-that-Neps-sound-again tracks).

22:01 / 09.09.03

Slave 4 U and Caught Out There feature pretty much the same backing track only programmed differently.
There is an obvious Neptunes sound, just like there was an obvious Rodney Jerkins sound. Its (not to define it totally though) that staccato guitar or drums, some heavy or discordant bass riff and some interesting electronic smaples over the top.
Thats a lame description but I hope you get what I mean. I do love the Neptunes but the album is going to have to grow on me. I think I'm mostly annoyed by their domination of the RnB market, its just gonna lead to stagnation if they let it. I guess Pharrell is savvy enough to avoid that at all costs though.

22:03 / 09.09.03

smaples?

I likes thems apples.

Sheesh I apologise for my typing.

00:04 / 10.09.03

It's patently obvious from listening to the live-instrument N*E*R*D album that they were always into rock.

John Ostby, the singer in Spymob, appeared on a fairly limp track on Kelis' last album.

Spymob are a ninth-rate Lotion, but he has a good voice.

01:57 / 15.09.03

i don't really see how 'caught out there' and 'slave 4 u' have the same backing track at all... but yeah, obviously plenty of their tunes are recognisably neptunes, but i don't know how that's different from any other musical auteur - whether it's the rolling stones or sonic youth or timbaland - they have a recognisable sound, it's the variations they perform with it that matter. i reckon the neptunes have a pretty good batting average on that point, and (as per flyboy) they can also knock out something really unexpected every now and then - on clones, what about the roscoe p coldchain track?

i reckon, also, whenever you listen to a neptunes album (as opposed to single) at first it seems all the same and kind of okay, then you listen to it heaps and realise practically every song is stuck in your head and you can't decide which is your favourite.

03:28 / 15.09.03

There appear to be two versions of this?

One has Kelis 'Milkshake', and the other does not. I have the latter.

10:56 / 15.09.03

Milkshake is a wkd tune... the album would be vastly improved if my version had it... I take it you've got the +DVD version?

Oh and Slave 4 U and Caught Out There have exactly the same noises (I honestly can't describe them though, kinda "boing-y") running throughout. Its not a bad thing as both tracks are different enough to stand alone but its like a guitar band using the same pedal on all their songs is all I'm trying to say.

I dunno I guess I wasn't bowled over by the Neptunes album and I thought I would be. The N.E.R.D. one is leagues better, a lot more cohesive too.
Give me some time and a few more listens.. I expect I'll be eating my words.