Elephunk

Elephunk is one sick album.
Context: I went to pick up some music on Sunday night to pull myself out of the funk that I found myself in. (Never underestimate the power of a school to instil pure, primal terror into a teacher) I was specifically looking for the Elephunk album due to all the really great things that I read about it as well as the sampling of tracks that I managed to listen to at tower. While browsing through the various CDs at Sembawang, I pulled out a Berlinda Carlisle collection CD (which we were sorely lacking) a Jim Brickman greatest hits CD (sadly lacking from my collection as well…especially since it contained a song that I sang to S at our wedding) and the Elephunk album.

We popped the Berlinda Carlisle CD straight into the car and listened to her on the way home, which actually made me feel slightly better, and I ripped the other two into my computer. Then I went to school and spent Monday listening to Elephunk…which totally blew me away.

The two tracks that I actually knew about “Where is the Love” and “Shut Up” were pretty good but the tracks that really shine are “Hands up” and “Let’s get retarded”. I know the latter actually sounds, well, quite retarded, but the first 30 seconds…wow… The beat creeps up on you and then kicks into gear, sending your mind into the mental equivalent of flooring the accelerator in a V8 car. “Hands up” is a song that really defines funk. “The APL Song” is an interesting mix of the old and new, the tribal and the urban, the hut and the ghetto. All in all, one of the great albums that I would leave in my CD player if S was more into hip hop…till then, definitely one of my favourite CD purchases this year.