"Untitled Unmastered" Review

Few hip-hop artists in recent years have received higher praise than King Kunta himself, Kendrick Lamar.

The Compton emcee’s major label debut “Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City” cemented him as one of the most insightful voices in his genre, while his follow-up, last year’s “To Pimp a Butterfly,” offered what might be pop music’s most impactful examination of racial injustice in America since Public Enemy in their prime.

Now, less than a year later and with some twitter encouragement from Lebron James, Lamar’s record label Top Dog Entertainment has created a compilation of 8 unreleased tracks from the recording sessions of “To Pimp a Butterfly,” called “Untitled Unmastered.”

When details about this project first began to leak, they inspired some knee-jerk apprehension. Eight unnamed tracks accumulating to a fleeting runtime of 34 minutes, each one lacking studio polish?

The only recent success to come out of this method of album construction is Radiohead’s “Amnesiac” in 2001, a record comprised entirely of runoff from their prophetic “Kid A” the year prior. “Amnesiac” is a decent album, to be certain, but still only the coolest / most deluded of Radiohead fanboys would place it on the same pedestal as its predecessor.

So the initial fear that “Untitled Unmastered” would be the audio equivalent of table scraps is kind of justified. But, fortunately, with this record Lamar has managed to raise the bar for what’s expected from afterthought albums, in that it’s noticeably better than Thom Yorke mumbling over dour-ass techno for 45 minutes.

Kendrick kicks things off with a thunderous verse on “Untitled 01”, breathlessly spazzing out apocalyptic imagery over chaotic minimalism. Breakbeats and strings will leave listeners head-nodding their way through Revelations, while Kendrick paints a vivid picture of a world gone awry.

No birds chirping or flying, no dogs barking

The tallest building plummet, cracking, and crumbling

It’s the end of the world as we know it, and not even the dogs and birds feel fine.

No momentum is lost on the next track, which as you may have guessed is “Untitled 02.”

“Get God on the phone!,” Lamar demands over the production’s drones and sputters. Appropriate, since his flow on the second half of this song is downright otherworldly, as he takes a break from reminding us that the end is nigh to get out some much-deserved braggadocio. With anti-materialism undertones to boot.

“Untitled 05” is yet another highlight of this compilation, one that’s self-destructive themes and dark, jazzy tones have “To Pimp a Butterfly” written all over them. It’s exclusion from that album is almost baffling actually.

The track clashes tonally with the very next, “Untitled 06,” a lighthearted love-ballad featuring vocals from one-hit-wonder and, if you ask the right hip-hop fan, southern rap innovator CeeLo Green.

 “Untitled 07” is the album’s most ambitious moment, stretching over 8 minutes long and split into three distinct stylistic sections. Egypt Daoud, the 5 year old son of instrumental-smith Swizz Beatz, has a production credit on this track, showing clear evidence that the dope-beat-making gene does in fact exist. Science needs to get off its ass and isolate it pronto.

Finally, the album culminates with “Untitled 08,” which may be the most danceable track Lamar has ever made, featuring disco rhythms that will uptown funk you up.

The album begins with the apocalypse, then builds its way up to channeling “Off the Wall” era Michael Jackson. Go figure.

The only lull in this compilation occurs around “Untitled 03,” where the production lacks soul and Kendrick’s lyrics border on stereotyping, as he describes advice given to him by Asians and Native Americans, who of course just want a peace of mind and a piece of land respectively.

At a brisk 34 minutes, “Untitled Unmastered” can’t help but feel like a minor, ancillary work to “To Pimp a Butterfly.” However, it does have enough choice cuts and compelling moments to justify its existence, if only as a behind-the-scenes document of an artist at his creative peak.

Kendrick could have easily kept these songs to himself, releasing them on subsequent albums when a decent placeholder was necessary. Instead, he’s emptied his song book, given his fans a solid accompanying work, and ensured that his next official release will be completely from scratch.

4/5

Art, Sweat, and Tears: A profile of Theatre Director Dan Stone

As I begin to set up for the interview I’ve been attempting to schedule for almost two weeks, LBCC Theatre Director Dan Stone swivels away from me in his office chair towards his computer, using what is barely two minutes of preparation time as an opportunity to work on his upcoming play. On top of being the sole writer of “I Got Guns”, said upcoming play slated for a June release, Dan is currently overseeing the casting of three additional theatre works, as well as performing his duties as a teacher, advisor, father, and husband. Yet somehow he still found time to give an interview to a lowly reporter such as myself, and although in less the a half an hour he will be expressing frustration towards his bloated list of obligations, for now he’s calm, collected, and diligent. Finding solace in his work.

Stone has been in charge of LBCC’s theatre department since 2010, after former director Brian Newberg was let go due to budget cuts in 2009. In his time as theatre director, Dan’s managed to greatly expand the curriculum, incorporating elements of less-showcased theatre forms like Commedia dell’arte, and fusing the department with the community theatre program he founded in 2003, Sanctuary Stage.

According to Stone, the origin of Sanctuary Stage came from the directors growing interest in local communities.

“I wanted to write about people we know, like my neighbors or people who live in our own town.” Said Stone.

Though now his preferences lean toward playwright giants like Samuel Beckett and Bertolt Brecht, the initial spark that ignited Stone’s love for theatre was noticeably less heady, as a 16-year-old Dan was left starry-eyed by a live “Conan the Barbarian” performance at Universal Studios.

“I was so fascinated by the fact that they had these fire-breathing dragons, and swordfights, and all this cool stuff happening on stage,” Stone recalls.

Dan’s early aspirations were in visual art and television, working in Southern California as a news director and producer for channels like NBC, CBS, and PBS before leaving in search of a more creatively stimulating career. He found his outlet in theatre work and hasn’t looked back since.

“My favorite thing to do is to create new plays.”

Dan cites his proudest moment as a play he directed during his time at Humboldt State University entitled “Streethawker.” It was a collaborative work with Nigerian playwright JohnADEkoje, who netted a Lorraine Hansberry playwriting award and a Brother Thomas Fellowship Award for his effort.

“It was a mix of folk myth and John’s own personal experiences living in Nigeria,” Stone said. “It was very successful, filled with music, filled with spectacle, an original play.”

Spectacle seems to be a frequent goal of Stone’s, if his online portfolio is any indicator. Every page is stuffed with examples of some of his more extravagant stage prop creations, including a functional replica of the giant man-eating plant from “Little Shop of Horrors.”

Though of course Dan cant’ take all the credit. Much of Stone’s work is the result of his frequent collaboration with his wife, performance art teacher and co-founder of Sanctuary Stage Tinamarie Ivey.

“We went to graduate school together, started a theater company, taught at schools together and basically have been collaborating partners for 20 years.” Said Ivey. “Were partners in every sense of the word, and the experience working together at LBCC is just another extension of that.”

“What fascinates me is Tinamarie’s ability to talk to people. I’m an introvert, and Tinamarie is very extroverted, so we work because were opposites in that way,” said Stone.

Eventually the discussion drifted toward the topic of his current workload, where he emphasizes how strenuous his job can sometimes be.

‘I’m at LBCC a lot. I get hear at 7:45 in the morning, and if were in the middle of a show, I’m not leaving until 9 o’clock at night, and then I do the same thing next day” said Stone, later adding, “We are under staffed. Severely. There’s really just myself, Technical Director Richard Elvin, and Tinamarie. Usually a theatre department will have about six people on staff, because you have directors, lighting directors, costume designors, acting teachers, all this stuff. But really it’s just us.”

Unlike many university theatre programs that are funded through the school system, LBCC’s funding comes largely from ticket sales.

“When I got here and took over I really wanted to stop doing plays like “Cinderella”, and instead try to expose audiences to weird or experimental stuff,” said Stone. “But I still have to walk this fine line between artistic prowess and what’s going to sell a ticket.”

But, he does it all for his students. A fact he makes clear.

“My goal has been to provide my theatre majors with a well-rounded and informed education that will allow my students to transfer successfully to a BFA or conservatory program,” said Stone. “I want my students to experience Brecht, or Beckett, or experimental theatre which will help them achieve that.”

At a Glance:

Theatre Director Dan Stone

dan.stone@linnbenton.edu

Founder of community theatre Santuary Stage

Attended Humboldt State University

Directed "Streethawker"
Took over LBCC theatre department in 2010

Spouse: Tinamarie Ivey

iveyt@linnbenton.edu