Artist: Tairrie B
Title: Vintage Curses
Genre: Hip Hop / Alternative Metal
Release Date: 14th August 2015
Label: self-released
Album Review
Wicked witch Tairrie B, one of the first female white rap performer and former vocalist of the metal bands MY RUIN and MANHOLE (later renamed TURA SATANA), released a full-length rap album called ‘Vintage Curses’. As I noted in my review of the previous single, this album marks a return to her roots after 25 years. And there is more. One can say that ‘Vintage Curses’ sort of summarizes a quarter of a century as it describes internal and external metamorphoses, arranges priorities in life, and gives a message to the world: “The hair got blacker, the voice got deeper, I got stronger while they got weaker”. TAIRRIE B's entire career is reflected in the LP. If her debut work was old school Hip Hop without any significant deviations, ‘Vintage Curses’ impresses with its variety of genres. There's the melancholy of Trip Hop, abstract noises, and her ambient and Metal heritage from MY RUIN.
The album opens with the already familiar single ‘Beware The Crone’, which sets the tone and mood of the whole album. As I wrote, ‘The Crone’ is a mystical and psychological archetype, and TAIRRIE B chose it on purpose. The calm and intelligible ‘Beware The Crone’ is replaced by the quite aggressive and biting track ‘Wicked Witch of the West Coast’, which starts with a scene of an exorcism and develops a rather stringent rhythm becoming an R'n'B track interspersed with riffs. ‘BTCHCRVFT’ is one of my favourites on this album. This atmospheric, sinister, and almost hypnotic track presents a complex structure and occult aesthetics. ‘Ad Nauseum’ merges Psychedelic Rock, Proto-Doom, and traditional Hip Hop. ‘Spirit Queen’ is the heaviest track on the album and might be also realized within the framework of MY RUIN. Great and expressive. ‘Down As Dirt’ brings us back to the world of mystical Hip Hop. ‘Sky Above, City Below’ is one of the strongest tracks on the album featuring Old School Gospel. Another favourite of mine is ‘Carpe Noctem’. Here, TAIRRIE B's voice gets calm and insinuating again, and the scene gives way to charming darkness. ‘Devil May Care’ is wicked and life-affirming at the same time and it ends the album.
‘Vintage Curses’ seems to me like a summary of 25 years of conditional "silence" in the Hip Hop scene. There is anger and sadness, sarcasm and seriousness, emotion and wisdom. And yes, TAIRRIE B's voice has become significantly lower and the lyrics deeper, which makes the album special. 25 years later, TAIRRIE B is once again an innovator and a pioneer – nobody has presented Occult Rap with recitative powerful riffs as an independent genre ever before. Bravo, Tairrie B!
Tracklist
01. Beware The Crone
02. Wicked Witch of the West Coast
03. BTCHCRVFT
04. Ad Nauseam
05. Spirit Queen
06. Down As Dirt
07. Sky Above, City Below
08. Old School Gospel
09. Carpe Noctem
10. Devil May Care
Line-up
Tairrie B (Theresa "Tairrie" B. Murphy) – Vocals
Mick Murphy – Drums, Guitar & Bass
Website
www.tairrieb.bandcamp.com / www.myruin.bandcamp.com / www.houseofcapricorn.com
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 9
Total: 9 / 10
