Play With Toys

Play With Toys

Track Listings
1. Intro
2. 2000 B.C.
3. Brand New Day
4. Not Over You
5. Better Days
6. Ode to My Favorite Bear
7. Hair
8. Evening News
9. I Try
10. Play With Toys
11. Outro

Play With Toys
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Get the EMIGRE version, not the IMAGO version...if you can find it!
  • basehead review
  • A lazy, laid back classic
  • three and 78/100th of a star...
  • Unknown, Under-rated, Under Appreciated
 Play With Toys
Basehead
Manufacturer: Imago Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
Experimental RapExperimental Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
Pop RapPop Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
Pop RockPop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Rap & Hip-Hop | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ExperimentalExperimental | Rap & Hip-Hop | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:
  1. Not in Kansas Anymore
  2. The Clarence Greenwood Recordings

ASIN: B0000040PB
Release Date: 1996-07-23

Tracks:

  1. Intro
  2. 2000 BC
  3. Brand New Day
  4. Not Over You
  5. Better Days
  6. Ode To My Favorite Beer
  7. Hair
  8. Evening News
  9. I Try
  10. Play With Toys
  11. Outro

Amazon.com

The freaky brainchild of Michael Ivey, Basehead's music is deep semiotics disguised as slacker hip-hop. On his debut album, Ivey mumbles through songs about heartbreak, the meaning of life, and beer (several years before Beck, mind you) over a foundation of funky backbeats, one-note guitar grooves and scratchy lo-fi samples. Cleverly constructed skits woven throughout the songs add musical texture and layers of meaning: a changing radio dial mood-swings "Not Over You" from pretty and melancholic to comical, while the conversation that bookENDs "Ode to My Favorite Beer" turns it into a simultaneous examination of love, alcoholism and the creative process. Being African-American in Washington, D.C. has apparently given Ivey much to think about, as this album illustrates. --Suzanne McElfresh

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Get the EMIGRE version, not the IMAGO version...if you can find it!.......2006-10-25

Get the original, deleted version of this album on Emigre Records. It was released months (maybe a year?) earlier on the Emigre label (a record label started by a font/typeface graphic design magazine of all things!) The original version of the album had samples that were deemed illegal by The Powers That Be, and several tracks had to be revamped a bit, one or two of them were changed VERY noticeably. Plus, the design and packaging was way better on the Emigre version, too. You can tell the difference immediately if you pull out the booklet: the Emigre version is on matte/rough paper with a different foldout...and the Imago one is glossy and slick to the touch. Don't get me wrong, the Imago version still rules...but...I prefer the original version, the way Mr. Ivey intended it. Oh, plus--do yerself a favor and pick up the "2000 B.C." CDsingle: the two 'remixes' (actually an alternate version and a cool live-ish funk version) are great, as is the bonus track "Can It Be?" Sweet stuff.

4 out of 5 stars basehead review.......2004-02-29

One reviewer was right on in pointing out that this album came out years before Beck blew up. For those of you that haven't heard this yet, this album is filled with relaxed breakbeats, jangly guitars and singing about breaking up, drinking, bad hair, and the hope of a brand new day. The intro and outro tracks are funny as hell, and the samples are as much a part of the music as the vocals. They aren't thrown in just to spice up the music, they tell part of the story. This is a very easy album to get into, and I do believe that fans of any genre can listen to this and appreciate it. It's a shame that this album is relatively obscure, almost NEVER getting any radio play other than on the occasional college station. Help this talented man out and buy this album. I heard that he's a religious man now, but who knows...maybe with enough interest, he'll convert back to the dark side of Basehead.

5 out of 5 stars A lazy, laid back classic.......2002-12-25

Take with maximum pharms, folks. This understated masterpiece is like the first "Friday;" massively blissed out, unassuming, and takes the world by storm. There has not been a CD like it since. Off-Kilter vocals, gently strummed guitars, and hillarious sample all drift in and out of consciousness. Thing is, this CD is a decade old, and every time I hear it, I am left thinking that it is still fresher than most of the music being released today. Dieu merci for the small labels.

3 out of 5 stars three and 78/100th of a star..........2002-07-06

Basehead is a hip hop band that always avoided the cliches. "Alive" musicans,a decidedly laid back groove and a wry sense of humor sets this band (and cd) apart from most others. Play With Toys has got crooked soul and originality in spades. It makes you wish that more hip hop artists had the ability to ween themselves off of the formula that it takes to become Big Time(hey...the artistry is what counts).As is,few have heard of this band but I'd rank this album (and it's less compelling follow up Not In Kansas Anymore) among the best hip hop/rap albums I've ever heard. The second side (sorry,I had the cassette first) is weaker than the first but who cares. This is a fine album. The masses may believe that Ja Rules but anyone who loves music knows that Basehead was better...One of the best hip hop albums to date.

5 out of 5 stars Unknown, Under-rated, Under Appreciated.......2001-09-15

The first time I bought this album... it was on audio cassette. I had no idea who Basehead were... I was just browsing through a record store looking for something NEW (which in corporate music america is sometimes so hard to do) and I saw this cassette jacket with a beer bottle on front. I liked the song titles, so I bought it.

The first track, the first time I listened to it... was really weird. Sounded like some crappy country band singing some stupid song.. and I was just about to toss the cassette out my window when I started listening to the words... and realized it was rather funny.

Then, when track two opened up with jazzy beat and somber, almost spoken lyrics,... I loved it. I have listened to this album hundreds of times... it is one of the most underrated pieces of urban music of its time. Everybody who I knew, after I introduced them to Basehead, became instant fans also. Where is this band?? They are intense, and I can't believe that they are not more popular.
Play With Toys
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		Play With Toys
    Basehead
    Manufacturer: Imago Records
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    GeneralGeneral | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
    Experimental RapExperimental Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
    Pop RapPop Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
    Similar Items:
    1. Not in Kansas Anymore
    2. Not in Kansas Anymore
    3. Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)

    ASIN: B00000DUHZ
    Release Date: 1992-05-12

    Tracks:

    1. Intro
    2. 2000 B.C.
    3. Brand New Day
    4. Not Over You
    5. Better Days
    6. Ode to My Favorite Bear
    7. Hair
    8. Evening News
    9. I Try
    10. Play With Toys
    11. Outro
    Hang Down Bunny
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      		Hang Down Bunny
      Flintlock & Batmonk
      Manufacturer: Flintlock & Batmonk
      ProductGroup: Music
      Binding: Audio CD

      GeneralGeneral | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
      ElectronicaElectronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
      ASIN: B000CA85ZK
      Release Date: 2003-10-28

      Tracks:

      1. Rabbit Bites
      2. Meat Snack
      3. Obeah Man
      4. Water Play
      5. Hang Down Bunny
      6. America (Trad.)
      7. Waiting for Johnny Bastard
      8. Purple Swirlies
      Play With Toys (The Original 1991 Emigre Release)
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        		Play With Toys (The Original 1991 Emigre Release)
        Basehead
        Manufacturer: Emigre Music
        ProductGroup: Music
        Binding: Audio CD

        GeneralGeneral | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
        ASIN: B000NQ6FA0

        Product Description

        "Grahamcrackers, y'all ready? All right then, let's get busy." This is the original Emigre Music release of Basehead's classic debut album "Play With Toys". This version is different from the Imago version released one year later in much larger quantities: it features the original versions of all songs with the uncleared samples that later had to be removed over threat of lawsuits. Other differences: The Emigre version is printed on matte paperstock, not glossy, and features an amber-colored CD tray. The top of the CD has concentric red rings with no text whatsoever on it. TRACKLISTING: 1. Intro - 1:02. 2. 2000 B.C. - 4:15. 3. Brand New Day - 4:27. 4. Not Over You - 4:38. 5. Better Days - 3:09. 6. Ode to my Favourite Beer - 3:42. 7. Hair - 3:48. 8. Evening News - 4:32. 9. I Try - 3:53. 10. Play With Toys - 4:03. 11. Outro - 2:57. Musicians: Michael Ivey Guitar, Vocals and other stuff. Brian Hendrix Live drums. Bruce 'Kool Aid' Gardner - Live drums on "2000 BC". Paul 'DJ Unique' Howard - scratches. Bob Dewald - Bass on "Play With Toys". Marco Delmar - feedback solo on "Play With Toys".

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