Fake For Real - Tag - GlueThe English written companion of Fake For Real: since 1997, reviews and articles about rap music2024-03-11T20:40:46+01:00Sylvain Bertoturn:md5:a035ff44a020bb716e18191580d6e9ecDotclearGLUE - Catch As Catch Canurn:md5:be34dcdbeb60d2ff2ca8dbe67357bf782015-07-13T19:37:00+02:002023-02-07T17:34:08+01:00codotusylvAlbumsGlueMaker <p>Eventually, Glue's discography would be short. Apart from a few singles, a tour CD, and an EP, <em>Sunset Lodge</em>, the trio would have delivered two albums only, across its career. Each record, though, was a strong one, and this is the only thing that matters. Each was the product of a perfect alchemy between the rapper Adeem, the producer Maker and DJ DQ. They were both perfect examples of records made with care, without unnecessary considerations like making something new, or, on the opposite, complying to such or such heritage. And they were recorded by three equally skilled protagonists, all sharing similar views.</p>
<p><img src="https://english.fakeforreal.net/public/Pochettes/2006/glue-catch-as-can-catch.jpg" alt="GLUE - Catch as Catch Can" title="GLUE - Catch as Catch Can" /></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.fatbeats.com" hreflang="en">Fat Beats Records</a> :: 2006 :: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H1R10E/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000H1R10E&linkCode=as2&tag=fafore05-20" hreflang="en">buy this record</a></strong></p>
<p>However, even if both records proved to be well balanced, even if they both staid equally distant from the boredom of conformism and the vanity of experimentalism – indie rap's two plagues – <em>Seconds Away</em> and <em>Catch as Catch Can</em> were different. On the former, Adeem was playing the emo and introspective card, while on the latter – surprisingly released by the Fat Beats label – the rapper invited us to fight against pessimism and defeatism ("Stride"). He looked outwards, he was politically committed, and he had become a critical observer of the world. Actually, one of the tracks was titled this way: "The State of the World".</p>
<p>This record was more expansive, more explosive, more extrovert. It was obvious with the lyrics, but also with the quicker rhythm ("Beat Beat Beat" was pulsing hard, "Glupies" had sputtering drums), its angry rock influences ("A Lot to Say", "Making a Mess", the crazy finale of "Vessel"), its funky groove ("Restless", "Belmont and Clark") and, last but not least, DJ DQ's scratches. Actually, his turntablism was wilder and more present than on the previous records, inclusive of instrumental tracks like "In Between Her", one of the most notable. Only a few other songs opted for a quieter way, a jazzier one, like "Hometown Anthem".</p>
<p>Something was lost, however, with the new Glue. We missed the fragile tension of the other album. Actually, the songs the closest to <em>Seconds Away</em> were the most convincing, on <em>Catch as Catch Can</em>, like the delicate "Never Really Know", where Adeem talked about the illusion of the past; or the concept song "Vessel", a crescendo, where the rapper was going both ways, the introspective and the conscious ones, the album's finest moment, along with "Someone Who Dares", an instrumental track no less than sumptuous, thanks to its scratches and cello.</p>
<p>Actually, this album main strength was its last three tracks. It may have been less strong a record than the other, but these songs were among the trio's very best.</p>https://english.fakeforreal.net/index.php/post/2015/GLUE-Catch-as-Catch-Can#comment-formhttps://english.fakeforreal.net/index.php/feed/atom/comments/2255GLUE - Seconds Awayurn:md5:f12472cd59b675604c538600f41271562014-04-21T14:45:00+02:002023-02-07T17:33:47+01:00codotusylvAlbumsGlueMaker <p>Music is only a matter of alchemy. And this alchemy, this delicate balance, few approached it as closely as Adeem, Maker and DJ DQ, a.k.a. Glue, one of the most solid and constant groups ever engendered in hip-hop's underground. As soon as at its beginning, with the excellent <em>Seconds Away</em>, Glue was this perfect rap trinity that, when perfectly aligned, a MC, a producer and a DJ can be.</p>
<p><img src="https://english.fakeforreal.net/public/Pochettes/2003/glue-seconds-away.jpg" alt="GLUE - Seconds Away" title="GLUE - Seconds Away" /></p>
<p><strong>Ramona Records :: 2003 :: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BZIT3E/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000BZIT3E&linkCode=as2&tag=fafore05-20" hreflang="en">buy this record</a></strong></p>
<p>Adeem, of the Dorian Three, made a name for himself when he won at the Scribble Jam – and he did it twice. With this album, however, he didn't sound too much as a battle rapper. While moving from a live to a recording experience, and despite a few more joyful tracks, like the Honda Civic dedicated "Jump in Lilly", he got more introspective, or even depressive ("Winners never Sleep"). Though he was voluble, and his flow was malleable – refer to his fast delivery on "Elbow Room" -, this mic virtuoso could also explore quieter styles, in a spoken word way, or even get silent, and just give way to the beats, like with the beginning and the end of "Lullaby for the Sun", the instrumental "Land in the Sea", the guitar and rolling drums of "1970", or the Schubert-sampling "Plays her Piano".</p>
<p>The music deserved these pauses, since it was produced by one of Chicago's finest beatmakers. As usual, Maker preferred subtlety to uproar, attention to details to grandstanding. So that he underlines the melancholic mood of Adeem, he produced graceful and magnificent instrumentals flirting with trip-hop, like with the introduction of "Lullaby for the Sun" or, in a less accomplished way, with "Mixing Excuses". This did not revolutionize hip-hop, but it expanded its musical territory with unusual samples, like the spinning organs of "Goodbye", or the sitars of the prodigious "Haunt". Maker also excelled in guitar rap with "Fighting Ends", and he could be bold, sometimes, as with "No Helping", or the 3 phases, all outstanding, of the memorable "Winners never Sleep". DJ DQ, on his side, delivered dynamic and entertaining scratches, as with "Country Funk".</p>
<p>None of these was a novelty in hip-hop. But in the extended indie rap family, Glue was positioned in the best possible way: though they were obvious heirs of the boom bap era, they didn't try to copy the music of this bygone age; they could be quite adventurous, at times, but this was not their main selling point. All three guys were just driven by the need to build good albums, not just manifestos. This is why <em>Seconds Away</em>, despite some uninspired tracks like "John Kimball", is so perennial and enduring a piece of work. This is why it is so long in the mouth, and why, for years, we never got bored with listening to it.</p>https://english.fakeforreal.net/index.php/post/2014/GLUE-Seconds-Away#comment-formhttps://english.fakeforreal.net/index.php/feed/atom/comments/2085