Spring Offensive, A fresh look
Sole, founder of Denver based Black Canyon records, drops Nuclear Winter remix album.
http://www.circleintosquare.com/item/spring-offensive-vol-1
When Nuclear Winter dropped in 2009 it was clearly something fun, fresh and different. An attempt to throw rocks at the machine with the monsters slingshot, a worthy endeavor no doubt, yet as far as holding a flame to Sole’s more cerebral/thick-fisted projects such as Selling Live Water (2004) and Plastique (2009), the album makes its stand as a side project.
No matter how you look at it a sonic pioneer such as Sole -- one of the more salient early century Indy rappers -- using beats heard on top 40 stations is a hard thing to stomach. While Nuclear Winter Vol. 1 was a good jam, full of sharp allusions to the titans (Sole rips riffs from Kanye, Biggie, M.I.A., and Jay-Z), witty political references, and more than a few hilarious moments, as a whole it is hard to find a good fit for the album amongst Soles other projects.
Spring Offensive, the official Nuclear Winter remix, I would argue, makes the cut as one of the fresher rap albums this year. Spring Offensive takes aim from all over the place and hits in a much different way than its older brother. Sole held an open contest and posted the albums acapella’s on his website Soleone.org. For those of you unfamiliar with Sole this website would be a good place to start...as well as a good place for some great vegan recipes. Yes, you heard me correctly, Rap albums, t-shirts, and vegan recipes. Sole is a gangster in a bio dome of his own kind with things like ethnic food and micro farming.
It feels easier to listen to these lyrics when you aren’t caught up in remembering the original top 40 version. This new sensation makes the album as a whole feel more estranged, vivid, and slashing in sound much like a Mansbestfriend or Skyrider release.
It becomes easier to appreciate the quality of lyrics and takes away from some of the gangster sarcasm inherent to Nuclear Winter. The track “Juicy” is a prime example of this change in tone. The difference between the original and the remix is the difference between music you are hearing on the radio right now and what you will hear on Sole’s most recent release “The Pyre” -- an audio book collaboration between Sole and Ravi Zupa -- it went from straightforward rap over a straightforward rap beat to something that sounds like spoken word coming from a pulpit during a coup d'état. Because yes, in Sole’s rap it is no secret that the world is burning down around us.
Although the changes in tone are better heard than explained in a review another notable exception to the original is the controversial single “My President is Black” featuring Jared Paul. The original holds solid ground as the single for its album but the remix takes on new ground, pushes into different territory than that we are comfortable experiencing rap in; it is safe to say it has left drum bass rap beats in the dust.
The point of this review is to generate some interest and respect for this remix album. As a whole will the album stand stronger than Nuclear Winter? Who knows? Who cares? Certain tracks I enjoyed less, such as “Where They Put My Flag On” but other additions, the new Outro for instance, would have had a tough fit on the original.
It is a good album for those that loved the original and especially those that were on the fence.
And by the way, the album is free! Follow the link here and even post it on your own social page. It isn’t every day that real rap albums are free. This isn’t your cousins free EP or a rappers demo. Enjoy it, listen to the words, and always, always, read my shit.
soleone.org
http://www.circleintosquare.com/item/spring-offensive-vol-1
