He’s one of the biggest hip-hop artists to ever come from Canada. He’s toured with Radiohead, who once asked him to replace producer Nigel Godrich for what became their Hail to the Thief sessions. He’s played pretty much every major venue in the world (his claim) and he’s considered to be a legend by many in the American avant garde hip-hop scene. His entire back catalog was bought up and reissued by WEA just as many of your favorite big-name artists were getting dropped. He’s responsible for my personal all-time favorite hip-hop record (Vertex) and he was once touted as “The Next White Stripes” (despite sounding nothing like The White Stripes). He is Buck 65 and, despite having a mostly successful 20 years as something of a do-it-all outsider artist, he just can’t seem to find a whole lot of success in the U.S. market. Because of this, I haven’t been able to find his latest record, 20 Odd Years, released last summer, at any U.S. stores. Why not? Well, because his album, as it turns out, wasn’t even released in the U.S. Not just that, but Odd wasn’t even been made available in the U.S. at the time I wrote this review (it did, however, finally get released as a $25 import at the very end of March). This, I don’t understand. Sure, he’s a weird dude who makes weird music, but not that weird.
Go to Buck’s website and typed out right under the title of his new record is a bit of text that reads “the most beautiful hip-hop album ever made.” When I interviewed Buck last year he told me something similar, explaining that it was maybe the work that he was most proud of. At that same time he had just finished releasing his Dirtbike trilogy of albums (basically long, continuous mixes of new music) on the Internet for free. (I suppose that somewhat justifies the $25 ticket price of Odd, huh?) Prior to releasing his new record Buck released four EPs on iTunes (basically three or four songs per month, all but two of which songs are included on the new 13-track record). To celebrate his 20 years “in the hip-hop game,” Buck collaborated with a handful of his favorite musicians, including Gordon Downie (The Tragically Hip), Nick Thorburn (Islands, The Unicorns), Jenn Grant, Hannah Georgas, Olivia Ruiz and John Southworth – all French or Canadian musicians whom Buck has played shows with over the years. Oddly enough, none of his Anticon, Rhymesayers or Bike For Three collaborators from recent years. Kind of a bummer, really, that he didn’t include any of his hip-hop compatriots.
So is 20 Odd Years, an album featuring loads of rock musicians and only one hip-hop musician, really “the most beautiful hip-hop album ever made?” No, of course not, but we all know that Buck was just talking shit. Sure, he’s proud of his grand new record, but if he really thought it was that good, he’d probably bother to release it in the U.S. right? Regardless, this is easily his best work in some time, even if the collaborations do get in the way of that strange Buck 65 magic. Situation, his last proper record, was supposed to be the one that put him back on the map; produced by popular battle DJ Scratch Bastid and released on Sage Francis’ Strange Famous Records (and distributed by WEA), the album offered the straightforward boom-bap sound Buck initially became known for in the late 90s. That didn’t work, and so it’s not too surprising that he’s taking a route more true to himself this time around.
Instead of, say, Language Arts, we get an overly accessible hip-hop record that features a production style that jumps around quite a bit, almost scanning its way through the many sounds Buck has experimented with on past releases. The turntable-heavy “Gee Whiz” is an instant standout, coming off like a even-more-cleanly produced This Right Here-era cut. Featuring Thornburn on minimal guest vocals that play through more like a sample than a collaboration, the track is Buck’s best work since the one-two punch of his much loved Dirty Work EP and Strong Arm mixtape back in 2006. “Whispers of the Waves,” featuring Canadian legend Downie, is an excellent production featuring tin drum programing, guitar loops and Gord on the hook. It doesn’t work too well for me, personally, but it’s a solid song that should satisfy Hip fans (and probably tickled the hell out of Buck, too). “Paper Airplane,” featuring Grant, is an almost incredible pop song that just happens to feature some rap vocals. A string composition every bit as much as it as a hip-hop production, the song shows Buck’s ever-growing understanding of pop composition. And, again, I’m not crazy about the guest vocals, but everything else here is spot on.
If this really was the most beautiful hip-hop album ever made it would probably be, well, more of a hip-hop record. What we end up with is a pop/rap hybrid that doesn’t often enough capitalize on Buck’s strengths. Yeah, the production is deep and impressively complex at times, but that’s been the case with buck since Man Overboard was released over a decade ago. The scratches are amazing and Buck’s vocals (if no one else’s) are always fantastic. In the end, this is probably Buck’s favorite Buck album. This because he got to collaborate with all his heroes and, one would have to guess, make the record that he felt would also appeal to fans of all those folks. To me, a longtime underground hip-hop and Buck 65 fan, it falls somewhere towards the bottom of the Buck 65 catalog, far below Vertex, This Right Here, Man Overboard and Language Arts, nestled somewhere around Secret House Against the World and Situation. An amazingly produced and solid record, but not much of a winner by classic-era Buck standards. If nothing else, download “She Said Yes,” “Zombie Night,” “Paper Airplane” and “Gee Whiz” and you’ll have a solid EP.
68/100
