- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Alternative PressRJD2 possesses the rare ability to transform moldy samples into fresh-as-tomorrow compositions. [Jun 2004, p.110]
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RJ's solo work transcends hip-hop boundaries, and at its peak moments, is better described as much closer to soul.
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BlenderA hip-hop Blood On The Tracks. [#27, p.143]
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Favours The Song over ambient abstraction and real-time playing over rejigged samples.
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Entertainment WeeklyRJ... lets his softer side show to touching effect. [18 Jun 2004, p.84]
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FilterA fluid record packed with full songs. [#10, p.88]
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Unfortunately, few of these tracks wield the same impact as his tried-and-true hip-hop productions, and more often than not, feel like attempts at being everything to everyone.
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But even on those tracks that don't make the cut as RJ stand-outs almost everywhere you care to look there are stylish touches and subtleties waiting to be discovered with each subsequent listen.
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Since We Last Spoke continually subverts expectations of what an Rjd2 album is about, yet the songs all stick together in a cohesive way, and the album still somehow bears the distinct personality stamp of the RJ we already knew, even as some of it diverges wildly from the path he's been on so far.
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Q MagazineTerrifying, but in a good way. The bar is raised. [Jun 2004, p.105]
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The order of the songs in the end seems carefully chosen, not unlike a play or movie where the emotional resonance from each piece is meant to build you up, bring you down, and build anticipation through each movement towards the climactic ending.
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Since We Last Spoke is more sonic retreat than bold reinvention, an intriguing, if not entirely triumphant, tip of the hat to the sound and spirit of the Year of the Dragon.
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SpinA Kleenex-grabbing, chain-smoking, staring-out-the-window, in-bed-for-days breakup record. [Jun 2004, p.106]
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Much in the way Pete Rock or Kanye West reinterpret classic 70s soul for a new generation, Since We Last Spoke is RJD2’s trip through the AM dial 30 years ago, the songs of the period experienced anew.
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Since We Last Spoke finds RJD2 sounding like some blessed creature who's able to tune in every radio station in the world, past and present, and mix them together into a cohesive whole.
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What makes Since We Last Spoke such an indisputably groundbreaking record is Rjd2's ability to create such an intricate pastiche of diverse musical styles that it seems like a wholly new genre in and of itself.
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UncutSolid song structure replaces ambient abstraction... ranges across Latino jazz, stadium rock, soul and pastoral glitch. [Jun 2004, p.86]
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RJ and his sampler wander the record crates of shared memory, and come up with progressive rock and Northern soul songs that have little to do with anybody's idea of revival.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 14 out of 16
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Mixed: 1 out of 16
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Negative: 1 out of 16
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Jul 27, 2012RJ certainly changes things up on this album
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pelicianeMar 7, 2006
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marcushJan 7, 2006Better than the first album.