Raine Maida
The Hunter's Lullaby
2007, Kingnoise Records
spoken word, hip-hop, folk rock
½
Before I can even start this review, you need to check out the genres this album covers. Yes, that would be hip-hop there, your eyes are not deceiving you; just think of it as 80s hip-hop rather than the mess that calls that genre home today. One would think that ‘Raine Maida’ and ‘hip-hop’ wouldn’t be in the same thought, let alone the same sentence, but here they work in a lovely, if imperfect, symbiosis. The use of spoken word and the faster beats that are more familiar with hip-hop prevent Maida from falling back to his Our Lady Peace roots and forces him to create lyrics that are just as driving and as outspoken. Meanwhile, the honest lyrics and haunting musical quality to this album reinforce the hip-hop elements, making this the catchiest pop/rock/hip-hop/whatever album you’ll hear from Canada, let alone a member of a band that was a frontrunner in the alt rock scene before it was even known as one. My only objection is the lack of variation in lyrics – we all expect a solo work from the main vocalist in a band to be extremely personal, but does it always have to be so dour?
Recommended Songs: '***,' '***,' '***,' '***'
listen @ myspace
listen @ last.fm
For Fans of
Depeche Mode's Violator or Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins's Rabbit Fur Coat
Tags: depeche mode, jenny lewis and the watson twins, rabbit fur coat, raine maida, the hunter's lullaby, violator
