The Barometer Online

Rjd2 Since We Last Spoke Definitive Jux Records Grade: A [Click to enlarge]

Briefly, the weather gets colder, and occasional spring showers grace campus. The sun hides behind a veil of solid gray. Puddles dot the uneven sidewalks and everyone stares at their feet. The heartache begins again, but this time, it's not so bad. This time, the soundtrack helps resurrect the forgotten smile and fleeting confidence.

Rjd2 has returned, bearing a gift. A small collection of 12 songs, Since We Last Spoke is a confusingly concise and poignant album. Never stale, rarely stagnant, this album is a deeply emotional journey, something rare in the world of hip-hop.

Rjd2's first album, Deadringer, was the sleeper album of 2002. Coming out of nowhere, Rjd2 quickly established himself as the new authority of post-millennial electronic hip-hop. Deadringer skillfully displayed his uncanny ability to meld genres and set a new precedent.

Although once thought of as a poor man's DJ Shadow or a simplistic version of Dan the Automator, Rjd2 manages to pull off what neither of them could do -- put out a solid sophomore album that didn't sound rehashed.

Since We Last Spoke, while annihilating the "sophomore album curse," charts relatively unseen territory in hip-hop. Trading the extraneous MCs for guitar samples, pretension for production and ego for emotion, Rjd2 refuses to follow the path he set with Deadringer. Not just another collection of songs, Since We Last Spoke is a musical snapshot, complete and well-formulated.

The album's namesake and opener, "Since We Last Spoke," instantly signals change. Cymbal-heavy percussion, erratic tempo, chopsticks-style organ and a distorted guitar sample combine, creating a rolling wall of sound -- a juggernaut of style.

"Ring Finger" is a prime example of Rjd2's eclectic style. A rock-heavy intro quickly disappears, lending its momentum to a quaint Spanish-guitar sample, feather-light downtempo vocals and one of the most effective Moog lines ever recorded.

This is where it starts to get confusing -- Since We Last Spoke opens up with four amazingly powerful tracks, but when the fifth track, "Making Days Longer," hits, the compass flips. From here on out, instead of indulging the listener in the drum-heavy, hook-based tunes, the record slips into a smooth melancholy, displaying some of the greatest songs of Rjd2's career.

The album standout, "One Day," is a stunningly emotional track. With feigned confidence, the song is a musical "Dear Jane" letter that ends with the stunning realization that even though the ties are cut, emotional attachments are long-lasting -- healing isn't instantaneous. As the last track on the album, it's a deeply reflective and self-divulging track, a rarity in traditional rough 'n' tough hip-hop.

Good electronic music boils down to two things: good choices and ingenuity. Since We Last Spoke proves that Rjd2 excels in both. Never really following a set formula, each track feels like a reinvention while still maintaining the cornerstones of his style.

Since We Last Spoke is a strange album. What starts out as so confident, ends on such a humble and downtrodden note. It's an honest, insightful album that shows that these rare and precious moments of overcast skies are just as important as the ones filled with sun.

Eric Feigner is a Diversions writer for The Daily Barometer. He can be reached at baro.diversions@studentmedia.orst.edu.

Article Tools