My Gut Reaction/Something Different: Kenna - Land 2 Air Chronicles II: Imitation Is Suicide - Chapter 3 (December 3, 2013)

Finally managing to fulfill one of his promises, Kenna Zemedkun released the third and final entry in his Imitation Is Suicide series in December of 2013. I say “finally” even though it was hardly the dude's fault that all of his other rumored projects and release dates fell by the wayside: that can easily be blamed on his record labels and the music industry as a whole, running with the current trends instead of trying to build an artist from the ground up. So maybe this joint venture with Dim Mak, Steve Aoki's label, will pay off handsomely in the end.

My Gut Reaction/Something Different: Kenna - Land 2 Air Chronicles II: Imitation Is Suicide - Chapter 2 (October 22, 2013)

This is another write-up I had planned on running earlier in the month, but life, as it does, got in the way. Why I elected to run the Earl Sweatshirt review when I had a much shorter one in my back pocket I don't know, but I have a feeling this one won't get quite the same response anyway. Still, my blog, blah blah blah, whatever, go eat your turkey and shut up.

My Gut Reaction / Something DIfferent: Kenna - Land 2 Air Chronicles II: Imitation Is Suicide - Chapter 1 (September 3, 2013)

I'm back.  Sort of.

My Gut Reaction / Something Different: Kenna - Land 2 Air Chronicles I: Chaos and The Darkness (April 26, 2011)

The unclassifiable Kenna (real name Kenna Zemedkun) just cannot catch a break when it comes to the music industry. First, his debut album, New Sacred Cow, which featured wall-to-wall production from “Chase” Chad Hugo (the quieter, less visible half of production team The Neptunes), which tracked well with critics and focus groups, sold a negative amount of copies. Then his eventual follow-up, Make Sure They See My Face, did about the same, even though it included more bones thrown to the mainstream audience (its lead single, “Say Goodbye To Love”, was featured on MTV's The Hills; Pharrell Williams and Justin Timberlake both provided assists). And then the subject of today's post, the three-song EP Land 2 Air Chronicles I: Chaos and The Darkness (the first in a trilogy), which was originally marked for release in February, was pushed back to April after Kenna's hard drive became corrupted and he lost the entire fucking thing.

That last problem is really more of a hardware issue than anything, else, and the man rebounded quickly enough, re-recording the EP and finally unleashing it a few weeks ago. But the issues with his two full-length releases can be chalked up to his record label (Columbia Records for New Sacred Cow, Interscope for his sophomore release, and now Godel for this project) not really knowing how to market him to the masses, since Kenna refuses to stick with a specific musical genre, jumping from New Wave to rock to emo to club-bangers, among others, all within the time it took you to finish this sentence. I believe that anybody who refuses to listen to any genre of music that isn't in their wheelhouse merely because it isn't in their wheelhouse is a fucking moron: there's an entire world of good shit out there, so why should you limit yourself to anything specific? Unfortunately, it would seem that the universe consists primarily of fucking morons, and some of them actually work in the music industry, and those folks are physically unable to wrap their heads around any sort of composition unless they know going into it exactly where within their local record store it will be sitting. Sigh.

Land 2 Air Chronicles I: Chaos and The Darkness will be followed up by two additional volumes, each consisting of another three tracks, later on in 2011. The few articles I've read about this project online all seem to quote the same press release from Kenna's team, discussing the inspiration for the album title and how this entry in the series is the “dark” one. I won't get into any of that shit right now, because I don't feel like wasting virtual ink repeating what someone else has written, but I will say that the album's title is among the most ridiculous I've heard this year. However, I'm willing to let that slide if the music is good, because that is all that matters to me.

Let's take a look at how this year's model stacks up to the Kennas of the past.

1. CHAINS (FEAT. SHIMMY HOFFA)

The lead single (can an EP consisting of only three tracks have a “lead” single?) from Land 2 Air Chronicles I: Chaos and The Darkness is a potent, club-ready idealization of what would happen if the respective spawn of The Neptunes and Crystal Castles decided to hook up. Kenna bounces around the beat while singing about chains that can't be broken, but can “sli-i-i-ide” off (as the song purports to be about breaking free, even just temporarily, from the everyday doldrums of life, or at least that's what the video may lead you to believe), before he jumps into a simple hook that consists mainly of the phrase “bang, bang, bang”, which sounds a bit too peppy when you realize that the lyrics were co-written by Paul Banks, the lead singer from Interpol. Shimmy Hoffa is, apparently, the lame-ass alter-ego of producer Chad Hugo: I never ever thought I would write that “Skateboard P” is a brilliant nickname in contrast, but I'm left with no other choice. Kenna and company manage to conjure up a brick of pure uncut happiness straight from Bolivia. This song is the fucking shit. That is all.

2. KHARMA IS COMING

As if “Chains” wasn't enough of a hint, “Kharma Is Coming” drives the point home that Kenna refuses to reside in a single musical genre, dropping the 1980s New Wave flair he once reveled in in favor of a guitar-driven instrumental laced with some medium-hard drums. He adapts to the task at hand fairly quickly, singing about what every single other artist in existence would sing about when the word “Karma” (or a bastardized spelling of it, anyway) appears in their song's title, although he does manage to make it sound like a serial killer from a slasher flick, even though there isn't anything remotely terrifying about this track...until the distorted vocals toward the end wake you up more than a tiny bottle of 5 Hour Energy ever could. This wasn't bad.

3. WHAT U WANT

Land 2 Air Chronicles I: Chaos and The Darkness ends with a track as disconnected from “Kharma Is Coming” as that song was to “Chains”, but in no way am I implying that is a bad thing. Kenna uses his three verses to describe an anonymous woman looking to have a good time, following her from the time she spends getting ready to go out to the bright, blinding sunlight ever-present during the walk of shame back home. The unexpected piano keys help move the melody along, and the mild, moody electronic drum beat keeps our host in check. The hook is simple, almost too much so, but it still clicks for me, even though I am in no way an anonymous woman looking to have a goot time. I'm sorry to disappoint you. But there are other websites you could visit, if that's what you were really after. (There's also a version of this song floating around online featuring Lupe Fiasco performing all of the verses (using the exact same lyrics) with Kenna restricted to chorus duty only, all taking place over a different beat. I understand that it was originally intended for inclusion on Lupe's Lasers, but was dropped for whatever reason. For the record, I have no idea which version was the original, but having listened to both tracks, I prefer Kenna's attempt personally, but I'm sure a Lupe fan will dispute this in the comments.)

THE LAST WORD: I read a review in which the author highly praised “Chains” but distanced himself from the rest of Land 2 Air Chronicles I: Chaos and The Darkness, feeling that the other two tracks were representative of the poppy crossover attempts that alienated Kenna's fanbase long ago. I feel differently about that for two reasons: (a) “Chains” is the obviously poppy song, and it still sounds really good: with it getting airplay on MTV, wouldn't that be the “crossover” attempt?, and (b) Kenna doesn't have much of a fanbase anyway. Which I wish would fucking change already, as this EP is a brilliant pocket of music which, in a perfect world, would win over a new audience. Kenna reinvents his sound for the second time in his career, proving that he has what it takes to create some fucking entertaining music no matter what kind of restraints are placed upon him (such as a failed hard drive): Malcolm Gladwell was right to profile the man when he did. It's almost criminal that this EP isn't being promoted better than it is (yes, as I mentioned above, the video for “Chains” has been played on MTV, but do you have any idea how fucking early you have to wake up in the morning to catch an actual music video on that failure of a channel?), as Kenna deserves all of the acclaim that he can possibly carry. If you enjoyed New Sacred Cow and Make Sure They See My Face, then you probably already have this one in your possession, but everyone else who is able to look at the world without their hip hop blinders on should also give it a shot. It's only three tracks long, it's super-cheap, and chances are pretty good that you'll actually like it.

-Max

RELATED POSTS:

Catch up on Kenna by clicking here.

Something Different: Kenna - Make Sure They See My Face (October 16, 2007)

It's been over a year since I've attempted to review something that isn't a rap album.  Occasionally, I get bored of hip hop, especially the newer stuff, so I'm going to give this series another shot, and whether it survives is dependent on reader response.  So let me know what you think.

Four years after the release of his debut, New Sacred Cow, Kenna Zemedkun, known simply as Kenna for musical purposes, was finally able to drop his follow-up, Make Sure They See My Face, thanks to his friendship with both halves of production duo The Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo), who eventually signed him to their vanity imprint Star Trak Entertainment after his original deal with Flawless (Fred Durst's record label) fell apart.  

New Sacred Cow was chock-full of Kenna's New Wave sensibilities updated for the new millennium, but as was to be expected with anything that sounds even remotely different, it failed to sell any copies.  The project's lack of success was even documented by Malcolm Gladwell in his best-selling book, The Tipping Point, where it was determined that (surprise, surprise) the musical tastes of those within the industry don't jive with those of the general public: no matter how good the music may be (and New Sacred Cow tested well), the mainstream prefers to be spoon-fed generic crap that sounds just enough like everything else to not be too demanding on the subconscious.

The only trait that New Sacred Cow carried that meshed with pop culture was Chad Hugo's wall-to-wall production, which made the album sound like Depeche Mode as filtered through The Neptunes by way of UNKLE.  Which is probably why I liked it so fucking much.  Undeterred, Kenna repeats a similar formula for Make Sure They See My Face, his long-delayed sophomore effort that throws Pharrell Williams a bone (he also had a hand in naming the album) and even features production work from Kenna himself, although Chad still manages the majority of the project.

Due to the Star Trak connection, Kenna was marketed to a younger audience, specifically those who still watched MTV unironically, but Make Sure They See My Face still failed to connect with the mainstream, with radio airplay eluding our host yet again.  However, critical acclaim helped give the project a much higher profile than New Sacred Cow, and the songs contained within have held up a bit better than its predecessor.

Yeah, I just gave away the ending of my review.  What of it?

1. DAYLIGHT

This was a pretty interesting was to start things off. After nearly a full minute of setting the stage with low ambient sounds, Chad Hugo's drum machine kicks in, and Kenna refuses to look back, as he makes proclamations about love and other catastrophes over an instrumental that is alive and full. You could use this as your alarm clock in the morning and you would feel ready to face the day: it's sonic caffeine. Not bad, Kenna. Not bad at all.

2. OUT OF CONTROL (STATE OF EMOTION)

Kenna enters the clubs with the help of this bombastic Chad Hugo beat, which sounds more soulful than the entirety of the last Clipse album, even though this is all noise and no real heart. Kenna strains his voice in order to be heard over the instrumental, but it's okay: this kind of ode to love and anarchy is intended for dance floors, not quiet dissertations. This wasn't bad, but it's a bit of a letdown when compared to “Daylight”.

3. LOOSE WIRES / BLINK RADIO

The instrumental sounds too closely related to Gwen Stefani's “Yummy”, which makes sense, as Pharrell Williams produced both. With “Loose Wires”, Kenna pulls Make Sure They See My Face out of the 1980s and into the present day, and his vocals make the transition seamlessly, even if some of the lyrics are fairly bland. The skit “Blink Radio” immediately follows, and it is completely and utterly useless, as is to be expected. Why are there skits on this album, anyway?

4. SAY GOODBYE TO LOVE

This was the single (the only one, as far as I know), and it is probably the most commercial song on here, and I only say that because I was once informed by a fellow blogger that MTV played this song during an episode of The Hills. (Not that I watched the show or remotely give a fuck, but can someone explain why Heidi and Spencer are even remotely famous? Who out there really cares about their lives? They just seem like a couple of assholes.) Pharrell provides a club-ready beat that owes a lot more to N.E.R.D.'s previous work than it does to 1980s New Wave/synth pop, and Kenna adjust accordingly, with fun results. Yeah, I just used the word “fun”.

5. SUN RED SKY BLUE

A simple guitar loop pairs up with some hard drums for another excursion onto alternative radio. Like with most New Wave songs, the lyrics are almost beside the point (which is why I don't really touch on them throughout this write-up), but when they appear alongside such a searing bit of musical scenery, they acquire a level of depth that they don't entirely deserve. (Say the title of this song out loud. Right now. I can wait. Sounds kind of stupid, don't you think?) But I loved this song all the same. Can't have music without the actual music part, after all.

6. BAPTIZED IN BLACKLIGHT

This song was merely alright, but I needed a breather, so I'm okay. Chad's low-key rumble of an instrumental, mixed with the noise coming from the factory that manufactures the intolerance to Kenna that most Americans are equipped with, results in a track that simply isn't engaging enough. Kenna's lyrics are also inconsequential, although I'm still liking the voice itself. Moving on...

7. STATIC

Out of all the tracks on Make Sure They See My Face, this is the song I hear most frequently, as it has been included in the easy-listening music package that gets piped in to my day job, which isn't known for its clever choices and indie street cred, by the way. That doesn't mean this song is for an elderly audience, though, as it is quite good. I'm fully convinced that “Static” receives this level of consideration because Kenna's first self-produced effort for the project sounds so fucking relaxing, like Thom Yorke on horse tranquilizers after pairing an entire turkey with a fifth of Jameson and watching the director's cut of The Thin Red Line. Kenna's confusion as to whether he wants to stay or should he go is captured perfectly in this melancholy and haunting track: only the very end, which reminds me of The Steve Miller Band's “Fly Like An Eagle”, is a miscalculation. Otherwise, once again, this is quite good.

8. PHANTOM ALWAYS

This song sounds destined to be played during the end of the final act on any given show on the CW, or maybe even ABC Family. Positioning “Phantom Always” immediately after the equally lethargic (I mean that in a good way) “Static” wasn't the best move, though: it drags the energy of Make Sure They See My Face down tremendously, and this song lacks all of the positive traits that the rest of the project carries by the bucketful. So no, I didn't care for this song. Fun fact: “Phantom Always” features The Social Network's Justin Timberlake on background vocals. They didn't help.

9. FACE THE GUN / GOOD LUCK

My understanding is that “Face The Gun” was a throwaway track leaked by Kenna himself to appease his fans during the time when he was having trouble convincing his label to release Make Sure They See My Face, and it was so well received that they worked it into the final product. Thanks to Chad's instrumental, the song is upbeat and catchy, and it acts as a well-constructed bridge between Kenna albums. “Good Luck”, the interlude that follows, is strange and unnecessary, though: Kenna and his backup give listeners a reprise to the hook on “Loose Wires” that makes that earlier effort sound much more depressing than it originally did.

10. BETTER WISE UP

This sounds like a Radiohead song circa the Kid A / Amnesiac studio sessions. Which isn't a bad thing for me, as I love those albums, but if you're a Pablo Honey or an OK Computer guy, consider yourself warned. I wouldn't be surprised to hear Thom Yorke covering Kenna's disparaging commands that make up this song, as this is tailor-made for his sensibilities. Kenna's impression is pretty good, and Chad's production switches up just before listeners can complain about getting bored. The closest comparison I can come up with for this song is UNKLE's Yorke-featured “Rabbit In Your Headlights”; if you like that song, you'll also like this one.

11. BE STILL

Chad and Pharrell bring the 1980s New Wave aesthetic and the new millennium's club-ready rhetoric respectively, but when Kenna is left to his own devices, such as on “Static” and on this track, he aims to...apparently be considered for a slot on the soundtrack to the next film in the Twilight series. That's not to say this is bad: I enjoyed his emo-rock a great deal. I just prefer the more upbeat songs to this one-sided conversation Kenna has with a lover. If you like acts such as The Postal Service or maybe Jimmy Eat World, this will be right up your alley. If you still like Owl City's “Fireflies”, then you need to get the fuck off my blog.

12. WIDE AWAKE

Chad Hugo proves that he is the guy who handles all of the melodies for the Neptunes, as “Wide Awake” displays a maturity that Pharrell's current output couldn't reach even with a stepladder and a pair of stilts. Kenna and Chad finalize their bid for alternative radio (as no rap station would ever look in their direction) with what sounds like a low-grade Deftones song, and I mean that in the best possible way. This was a pretty fair ending, I think.

The UK also received a bonus track, “Rockaway Life”, which was both written by and features Justin Timberlake. I'm not really sure why the label didn't think that affixing a sticker on the front of Make Sure They See My Face's jewel case that said “Featuring Justin Timberlake” might possibly help Kenna move more units. It seems like a no-brainer to me. Anyway, as of right now, I haven't yet heard that track, so I don't have any opinion on it. If you've heard it, let me know in the comments below.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I remember reading a review of Kenna's Make Sure They See My Face that criticized the artist for finally releasing the album at the exact moment that everyone stopped giving a fuck about him, as if that was somehow Kenna's fault. The hell? Isn't a review supposed to help the reader determine whether an album is worth their time and money? For what it's worth, Make Sure They See My Face is entertaining as hell, and it would slide onto radio station playlists with ease today, if any of them grew a pair. Kenna's lyrics rarely stray from the “love song” path, which make most of his verses sound heavily influenced by The Cure and Depeche Mode. But the music is truly what makes this project work: with the push of a button, listeners can switch back and forth between the clubs and the quieter teen movie moments. Chad Hugo (and, to a much lesser extent, his Neptunes partner Pharrell Williams) crafted these beats with the fingers of a master puppeteer, and Kenna delivers on his promise of giving his fans a natural extension of New Sacred Cow. If you're into this sort of New Wave-new millennium amalgamation, then Make Sure They See My Face is pretty fucking awesome.

BUY OR BURN? Sure, Kenna will never be a platinum-selling artist, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't deserve to be. You should buy this album and give him a shot. Once again, it's entertaining as hell, and it's probably cheap to find these days, too. It's worth it.

BEST TRACKS: “Static”; “Daylight”; “Wide Awake”; “Be Still”; “Better Wise Up”; “Sun Red Sky Blue”; “Face The Gun”; “Say Goodbye To Love”

-Max

RELATED POSTS:

Something Different: Kenna – New Sacred Cow

Something Different: Kenna - New Sacred Cow (June 10, 2003)

Malcolm Gladwell's bestseller Blink, which is a fascinating study into snap judgments, devotes an entire chapter to the early career of Ethiopian musician Kenna Zemedkun, who took the unimaginative moniker of Kenna as his stage name. The chapter focuses on the unequivocal amounts of love and respect he received from his music industry peers during the recording and release of his debut, New Sacred Cow (among the folks giving praise were U2's manager and (shudder) Fred fucking Durst). His video for his first single, "hell bent", garnered a ridiculous amount of airplay on MTV2, back when they played videos and not Wonder Showzen. A lot of comparisons were made to 1980's New Wave in general, and Depeche Mode specifically; Kenna even went on to tour to open for frontman Dave Gahan. College radio loved the shit out of his singles. Kenna had also aligned himself, luckily enough, with one of the hottest hip hop producers in the game, Chad Hugo (of The Neptunes), who went by the nickname "Chase" Chad, as I presume "Bank One" Chad just sounded fucking stupid. Things were looking up for Kenna, and New Sacred Cow should have shipped platinum and won three Grammys, at least; with all of the love he got from within the industry, with people that know and live music on a daily basis, he should at least have had a good shot at success, right?

Wrong. His singles tested poorly at the mainstream radio level, and he couldn't pay anyone, not even Funkmaster Flex, to peddle "hell bent" or "Freetime", the second single. The reasons are numerous: Kenna isn't a rapper, but he has Neptunes beats, so his music couldn't be easily classified (which sounds like a cop-out, since not every artist needs to fall into a specific genre, do they?); the songs weren't catchy enough for the average listener to like within ten seconds (this would be because average listeners are fucking idiots who don't know better; how else would you describe the career of Soulja Boy?); people thought the video for "hell bent" was another animated video by Tool (actually, that was only me, and I eventually caught on when the credits were shown); and so it goes. Essentially, Kenna's career was killed by the fact that people inside the music industry have no idea what regular listeners actually want to listen to. And Kenna's career suffered to such a degree that he just recently dropped his follow-up, Make Sure They See My Face, on Interscope records a few weeks ago, after numerous false starts and delays. The moral of this story? Don't trust consumers: all they want are ringtones (which, ironically, New Sacred Cow could have actually provided many times over, but that's not the point.)

New Sacred Cow was released by Sony subsidiary Flawless in 2003. Flawless was a vanity label that Sony gave to Fred Durst after Limp Bizkit inexplicably sold gajillions of copies of their second LP, Significant Other (you know, the one with "Nookie", or for hip hop fans, the one with that Primo track featuring Method Man). Durst supposedly signed Kenna after hearing a snippet of "Freetime" over the phone. Who knows how true that actually is, but who else is excited that Fred Durst is a nonfactor in today's music industry? Hands? Anyone?

Anyway...

1. WITHIN EARSHOT (INTRO)
Short and sweet. Next!

2. FREETIME
This song is the reason for all of those Depeche Mode comparisons. And I love Depeche Mode, so for me to say that I see where everyone is getting them from is a big step. This track is still great today.

3. MAN FADING
Pretty good. Sorry, but that's all I've got.

4. SUNDAY AFTER YOU

Not only is this track good, but the title is actually pretty good as well. I'm waiting for someone to swipe it for their pretentious art film, and by "someone", I, of course, mean me.

5. VEXED AND GLORIOUS / A BETTER CONTROL
Two separate songs that appear on the same track, supposedly due to a mastering mix-up. "Vexed and Glorious", in my opinion, could get radio airplay today, it's that good. Sure, I'm talking about the radio in my own mind, but still. "A Better Control" is another short song.

6. RED MAN
When I first heard this track, this was the beat I gravitated to, because it sounds the most like a vintage Neptunes/N*E*R*D beat. The instrumental kind of proves that Chad is really the guy in the Neptunes with the production talent, not Pharrell. This track should have been included on The Neptunes Present...Clones instead of those two rock tracks. Since Chad wasn't looking out for him like that, though, Kenna would have to settle for guest spots on Mark Ronson's and Fort Minor's albums.

7. HELL BENT
The video was pretty cool back in the day. I remember not realizing that 'Chase' Chad was Chad Hugo until I hit the Interweb to locate more info on this Kenna guy. Still a pretty melancholy but moving song today, even with the use of obvious Neptunes drums.

8. YENEH ABABA (ROSE)
Kenna's attempt to be a 'piano man', like Billy Joel, Elton John, or even worse, Scott Storch. Good, though.

9. WAR IN ME
Alright, but not great. However, this song reminds me of Depeche Mode's "Behind The Wheel" for some reason, and I love that song, so I have to give this a pass.

10. NEW SACRED COW
What kind of title is that?! "New Sac..." Oh, I see, he named it the same phrase as his album! Clever, that Kenna.

11. I'M GONE
Well, they can't all be winners.

12. SIREN
When "hell bent" hit the MTV2 airwaves, early copies of New Sacred Cow surfaced online. Somehow, "Siren" never leaked; Kenna was able to keep it under wraps until its 2003 release date. He shouldn't have bothered.

13. LOVE/HATE SENSATION
Kind of like Kenna's 'Coldplay' song. Remember, I actually like Coldplay, so this isn't as bad as you may read.

FINAL THOUGHTS: It's not just a Depeche Mode influence; Kenna and Chad reference 1980's New Wave in general, and they do a damn good job at it. So good, in fact, that I would be as bold to say that Depeche Mode's most recent album, Playing The Angel, actually contains influences bitten from New Sacred Cow: namely the tracks "Suffer Well" and "John The Revelator". It's too bad that the people that actually buy albums actively hate music so much; that's the only way I can rationalize Kenna not moving any units while U-God has fucking fan clubs devoted to him. (Still not letting that go.)

BUY OR BURN? New Sacred Cow is a good listen, and if you want to keep good music alive and well, it's worth your purchase, since it'll only set you back like two bucks anyway. If you don't like New Wave, you may still appreciate the beats, but tread with caution. Everyone else, enjoy the damn thing.

BEST TRACKS: "Freetime"; "Red Man"; "hell bent"; "Vexed and Glorious"

-Max