Reader Review: Hocus Pocus - Place 54 (September 27, 2007)

(Well, here's something different. For today's Reader Review, longtime reader FLX provides a write-up for French rap crew Hocus Pocus and what is, apparently, their second album, Place 54. My guess is that most of you two probably have no idea who these guys are, so you should read through the post and leave some comments for FLX below. Who knows, you may discover something new today.)

Before we get into this, let me say that I'm not a native French speaker. In fact, my French is - pardon my French - quite shitty, probably because of my habit of drawing comics in French class all the time. That didn't stop me from passing a foreign semester at Nantes (just south of the Bretagne, near the Atlantic coast - nice city, by the way) and it didn't stop me from loving the country, my time there and Place 54 by Hocus Pocus. (Oh merde, I just gave away the ending of this review!) So, even though I don't understand every word, I can grasp what the artists are talking about, and thats good enough for me: after all, rap music is still very much about a vibe.


Some quick info about the band: Hocus Pocus are from Nantes aussi, they play all their instruments themselves, and they're fucking superbe!  Kind of like Les French Roots, I suppose. The crew is made up of five musicians, with DJ Greem being the most obvious link to a traditional hip hop group, and rapper 20Syl is the ?uestlove of his party, the musical mastermind behind it all. Place 54 is their second album, which I picked up due to my habit of buying a CD from a local artist from everywhere that I go on holidays, so when I returned to France to visit some friends, I listened to Place 54 in the Virgin Megastore on Champs-Elysées in Paris, and I instantly fell in love with this it.


Here is pourquoi:


1. PLACE 54
The album begins with a title track which provides a loose album concept: Hocus Pocus explains that everything in life is a part of a voyage. The beat is one of the jazziest I have ever heard, making this a great way to start things off.


2. QUITTE À T' AIMER
This is the very best French rap song I have ever heard. Actually, it's one of the best rap songs I've ever heard period. This is 20Syl's slightly bitter ode to his homeland, with all of its pros and cons (pun intended: con means "jackass" in French), over a just heavenly beat that is French to the 10th degree. The vocal sample that works as a chorus is just the icing on the gateau. Petit chanson, je t'aime beaucoup! If you haven't listened to this song yet, you should YouTube it.


3. SMILE (FEAT OMAR)
Not that this is a bad song per sé, but I never liked the idea of sequencing this funky, bouncy, uptempo joint aprês the melancholic, silky pillow that was the previous track. I do like it a lot better when it is played out of context, though.


4. RECYCLÉ (FEAT STRO THE 89TH KEY & FRED WESLEY)
Fantastic beat, great rap performance and cool use of the vocal samples in the chorus aside, there is actually nothing good about this one. Okay, I'm just messing with you: there isn't anything left that could be bad. Another winner.


5. NORMAL (FEAT TAIRIQ KEDA)
A radical changement de tempo after the previous two tracks, this song is all acoustic sweetness and is pretty great, for what it is: rap music to listen to with your girl.


6. VOCAB! PRÉLUDE (FEAT T-LOVE)
T-Love, an American rapper featured in the next song (that probably nobody except her maman previously heard about) is telling us about her experience with French music and her inability to understand it, despite its dopeness (and vice versa for the French). The underlying beat is one of the weaker ones on the album (although I still kind of liked it), so you should skip it.


7. VOCAB! (FEAT T-LOVE & THE PROCUSSIONS)
A very cool protest against unnecessary profanity (that quite contradicts its own introduction, which includes profanities shouted loudly) in rap music today. Love it; the only downside is that the chorus contains all the bad words they don't want to hear (fuck, shit, motherfucker, etc.) in a very prominent fashion, so most people will only hear those and not the "I don't want that" line (which, granted, is spoken in French) in between. This could lead to some uncomfortable moments with other unsuspecting listeners.


8. MR. TOUT LE MONDE
Hocus Pocus spins a tale over another one of those incredibly playful jazzy beats that make you realize that this band consists of actual musicians and not simply a good rapper and a good producer.


9. TOURNÉE
This is the song that I always skip past. It isn't bad, but the start/stop beat and the answering machine chorus just doesn't click with me.


10. MOVE ON (FEAT DAJLA)
And we are back on track! This is one of the best (almost) instrumental hip hop tracks I have ever heard: it can easily be ranked right up there with Dilla, Kno, Flying Lotus and all of the other producers who I'm forgetting at the moment. Merci beaucoup for this one, guys!


11. TOURISTE (FEAT ELODIE RAMA & TRIBECA)
20Syl dreams about visiting multiple foreign places (if I understood the song properly, that is). The beat is subsequently dreamy and just simply nice, as is the voice of the female co-star, although she can't really sing all that great.


12. JE LA SOUL (FEAT TAIRIQ KEDA)
The title features some clever wordplay: "Je la soule" (which translates to “ I make her dizzy”) sounds exactly the same as the phrase "J ai la soul" (“I got that soul”). This is a great song, complete with a funky jazz break in the middle. Put it on and enjoy. Yeah, that's all I got.


13. HISTOIRE D' UNE VHS
20Syl relates a tale about growing up via the metaphor of watching an old video cassette. This was a great, creative concept, and over a beat which is sweet like crême brulée, you get another album highlight.


14. VOYAGE IMMOBILE (FEAT ELODIE RAMA & T-LOVE)
This song is the epitome of jazziness on Place 54. The beat has a gazillion different details popping up (that's just my conservative estimate). It's a warm, wonderful arrangement of instruments and a million miles away of the normal stereotypique boom bap that is rap music. It's also a tribute to the musicians that influenced Hocus Pocus and their music, from Miles Davis to Dilla, making this a absolument fantastic way to end the album.

(Place 54 ends with a bonus unlisted track.)


15. SMILE (ACOUSTIC)
Oh attendez! A bonus track! I would like this song much more if it wasn't placed immediately after the best French rap song ever recorded. Also, this remix is a lot less bouncy and more jazzy than the original, so I prefer this alternate take. So this still makes for a très bien way to finish the album.


FINAL THOUGHTS: If you're from the USA, chances are you never actually dived into French rap. Well, this is le best you never heard, and that's saying a lot, since France has some incredible talent with IAM, NTM, Saian Supa Crew, and the rest. Even with that, though, Hocus Pocus and their Place 54 is something special. This is one of the most beautiful, magnifique musical voyages I have taken to date. It's very, well, French in all its charm and quirkiness, like a Citron DS, tasty like la belle cuisine and elegant like prêt-a-porter femmes. It also makes for perfect traveling music, which was the point, after all.


BUY OR BURN: If you ever come to la grande nation and see it in stores, spend some euros on it, as you will not regret it. Even though CDs are ridiculously expensive in France, you'd be a fucking cretin if you didn't, mon dieu!


BEST TRACKS: "Quitte a T'aimer"; "Place 54"; "Recyclé"; "Normal"; "Mr. Tout Le Monde"; "Move On"; "Histoire D' Une VHS"; "Voyage Immobile"; "Smile (Acoustic)"


-FLX


(Be sure to leave some comments for FLX below. And if you wish to provide running commentary on one of your favorite albums, regardless of the country of origin, hit me at my e-mail in the sidebar, or you can also reach me on Twitter.)