GRIM

by Choyce

https://millerhighlife.bandcamp.com/releases

They say that you are what you eat. Cheap Wine however, is a declaration that it’s what you drink that matters. Coming off 2014’s Mindset, Choyce has obviously re-oriented his focus on other parts of music this time around. Taking a more calculated, concise approach to the creation of his music; He reminds us that Jazz is something beautifully fused with hip-hop. This album, albeit calmer than the previous project, is much more ambitious in what it attempts to convey. The pictures this LP seeks to paint in just a mere 26 minutes are definitely thought provoking; but the question at hand is if those ideas make it to the canvas. 

Cheap Wine is a diligent display of Choyce’s detail, and we get our first taste of this immediately. The stage is all set with the “Intro” track, LITERALLY, we find ourselves in the middle of the soft applause of a jazz lounge. Choyce coats himself in the noise and welcomes us, thanking everyone for “coming out tonight.” The intro track is our first preview into the use of Gross Beat across this entire LP. Sprinkled atop the shuffling saxophone is a garnish of record scratching and hesitation giving us a general impression of the sound design of this tape. What it truly ushers in though, is the beginning of the emotional front we establish by “Hey” shining a light on the motif in it’s entirety. The impression I continuously got was that this is Christian having his attention captured by this woman, and “Ok, if Christian can prove he cares about a girl, he can walk away from something shaky.” He broke it down to me in the first verse descriptively until everything went downhill and he “moved on”. By the time I finished gawking over the first verse, the automation had caught my attention, so I could still hear the panning throughout. …And then the hook starts. I’m not going to lie, the hook on this thing is pretty sour. The phrase “it started off” ascending from the depths of this song don’t do it much justice. The tune of it had me entirely thrown off, and the more it repeated the more I was sure something was spoiling the concoction. It doesn’t end there though, “Fell Out” being the only other song with stark screeching laid a top of the mix; something that doesn’t necessarily mesh to begin with. This track actually has some nice sounding piano held back only by the simplicity of each individual part besides that. The same gross beat stuttering that can be found all throughout this project has nothing to magnify here. Fell Out is a jab at sorrow for sure, but the only thing overshadowing the emotion of this is the lack of anything actually musically prevalent. Fell Out sounds much more like fell apart here. The singing on this track tanks it completely, voiding the emotional front, although it technically does fulfill it’s purpose and direction. This had to have been my least favorite song on this LP. 

All is far from lost though, because following “Hey” we get “Where’d You Go (feat. w dirty)” and I must say that Wes’ bass line is comforting in the ear. This song is warm, complimented by the perfect snare, and paced nicely. Wes really elevates this bad boy to the next level; Saving the hook with a layer of deep, natural vibrato, he flaunts that pretty boy voice of his in the background. The rapping is flowy, fits the airy, dreamlike strumming of the background and really creates a nice groove here. The drums don’t dominate and even have that jazzy brief snare that locks down the “fusion” of this record. “You’re killing me/Fuck it you’re a drug/Putting holes inside my brain/but make my body feel so numb.” serves as a fantastic bridge, even into the alternating bassy change-up on the end of this record. “Watchu Got?” walks away with the best drum award on this entire album. The snare is oh so crispy and placed well in the ear, only to be (unfortunately) rivaled by the roughness of the vocal quality. The gross beat feels as if it could’ve been used more on the drums, and more frequently. Something about this beat feels off-putting excluding the percussion, and I can’t decide if it’s the change up or the hook this time. “Hurt More” is ecclectic in every sense of the word here, doing a good job of breaking up the sound. But this one was just off the mark for me. Hurt More sounds more like an idea or an interlude that never fully came together underneath a very nice saxophone sample (on the second half) and some intricate scratching. I was almost fooled by this song when it started, until the “SOMETIMES!/SOMETIMES!/I FALL OUT OF LOVE AT LEAST THREE TIMES A DAY” came and it became all became a MIDI sampling dream following that. The saxophone is probably the best part of the track, definitely feel like it should’ve been one entire part rather than two. 

After the emotional “Hey” and “Where’d You Go?” our romantic arc leads us into the “Interlude” which serves as the break point. Choyce steps outside for some fresh air with this one, letting the musicians do their thing. We’re whisked away to synth land, and we actually establish some nice cohesion in the calmness of the synths and keyboards working together here. Things begin to ebb a bit as the amateurish piano combs over it all, with that stagnant pattern repeating all through this, but I say it’s only a 50/50 split on the quality of the interlude. This track immediately put me in the mind of the Zanarkand Ruins track from the “X-2 OST”, which can only be good. I can NOT stress enough that the piano is painfully amateur sounding, but dammit, there’s some potential gold to be saved from the mine on this one. “Back in the Day” feels like a step on the negative side. The jungle-y, SNES era bass sounds super sweet. In addition to the propelling hi-hats, the meaning behind the lyrics are actually very thought-provoking and one of the positive sides of this record. The way Choyce progresses through ideas in his verses has absolutely improved. “That’s more than you get from half of these people who live on their phone and don’t talk/It’s a shame ain’t it/ It’s a shame ain’t it/gotta play the game if you wanna be a game changer.” Among criticism of the butterfingered police and the ADHD anti-social society wrought forth by technology and mobile phones, Choyce lets us know that he just wants to live his life simply and that “reallydudehethinkshefeelsalright!” I’d say the meaning isn’t enough to save the actual music of this track from feeling thin and underdeveloped;  which caused me to lean on this track. I understand that it’s supposed to sound empty, but this one is just a bit bare, as the bass can’t do it alone. There’s lines like “back in the day it was hARrrrrd” that flaunt the bit of tone deafness in Choyce’s ear. I wish the lyrics for [the verses on] this were placed on something a bit more secure in it’s foundation. 

“Used To” is the champion of this album. Absolutely nailing the “Cheap Wine” feeling is a sample of Amon Tobin’s Easy Muffin that makes up the background in it’s entirety. The percussion progresses and I found myself enthralled by Christian calling out for affection on this track. The chords added over the sample are nice and thick without drowning it out whatsoever, and the kicks fit SO snugly in between the harmony of everything else. The vocals are very thin and lacking a (needed) overdub and bit more musicality and flavor. The lyrics aren’t too shabby however, and that snare calls forth your attention so subtly at the front of the pattern. This was my personal favorite on the project. 

So now that we’ve taken a journey though the bumpy romantic life of Christian, we have Frank Sinatra ushering us out with a symbolic sample from Frank Sinatra’s Finale: Before the Music Ends from his “Past, Present, Future” trilogy tape in the “Outro”. Choyce uses Sinatra over top some drums that lead into Sinatra breaking down “In years to come/I may forget if I lost or If I won/But I’ll always remember how much fun it was.” And here’s where our emotional journey comes full circle; as Choyce as reached his enlightment on this relationship, letting go of what could of been had and focusing on how magnificent what he actually took was. Great choice of sample here, taking us into the major scale and creating a happier sound than everything else that was recieved on this album. Feels very much like a farewell, as well as nod to Fat Jon’s existence with the filtered pitched up vocals automating alongside the piano. Cheap wine will make you more ill than the name brand can, for sure. But what you lose in quality, you make up for in quantity, and the intoxication has trickled through the music on this one. First of all, the production on this album is great, but a lot of what it produces isn’t. So much so that what it attempts to convey takes a backseat to what’s right in front of your face. This album is missing strong grooves, there’s a lot of tone deaf/musically underdeveloped singing, and the note and chord choice is on the bland side or just doesn’t mesh well. The saxophone appearances are nailed nearly everytime it shows up, but it can’t stop the cheap wine from leaking, soaking into the clarity of this project. There’s some good samples here, some fantastic percussion there, and some very solid  verses holding certain songs together; However meat and potatoes are only so filling without the sides. Cheap Wine didn’t taste too bad, showed us a sweet yet sour romance, and got the job done; but the plate of food it came with was just a little too bare.

Choyce’s music can be found here, and his blog can be found here. Thanks for reading!

http://www.thchoyce.com/

RATING: 6.0/10 FAVORITES: Where’d You Go? (feat. w dirty), Used To, Outro DISLIKES: Fell Out, Back in the Day, Hurt More