Jhelli Beam

Jhelli Beam
Studio album by
Busdriver
ReleasedJune 9, 2009 (2009-06-09)
GenreHip hop
Length50:41
LabelAnti-
Producer
Busdriver chronology
RoadKillOvercoat
(2007) 		Jhelli Beam
(2009) 		Beaus$Eros
(2012)
Singles from Jhelli Beam
  1. "Me-Time (With the Pulmonary Palimpsest)"
    Released: 2009 (2009)

Jhelli Beam is the sixth studio album by American rapper Busdriver. It was released on Anti- in 2009.[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic74/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Robert Christgau(1-star Honorable Mention)[4]
HipHopDX3.0/5[5]
NME[6]
The Phoenix[7]
Pitchfork6.2/10[8]
PopMatters[9]
Spin[10]
URB[11]
XLR8R7/10[12]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 74, based on 12 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[2]

Alan Ranta of PopMatters gave the album 8 stars out of 10, saying: "It is too intelligent and challenging to the status quo for the mainstream media to truly embrace, and Anti- seems to be lacking a little on the side of their hip-hop promotion department."[9] Mosi Reeves of Spin gave the album 3.5 stars out of 5, writing: "Extraordinarily irrational and willfully convoluted, Jhelli Beam is avant-rap as quantum physics."[10]

The opening track, "Split Seconds (Between Nannies and Swamis)", was described by Thomas Quinlan of URB as "Busdriver's simplest, most accessible rap jam, eschewing the bursts of rapid rap flows that usually accompany his slower style, and only occasionally bringing in a bit of sing-song."[11] He gave the album 4 stars out of 5, stating: "While there's some experimentation with new ideas here, Jhelli Beam is familiar enough to leave Busdriver fans more than satisfied."[11]

Track listing

No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Split Seconds (Between Nannies and Swamis)"Nosaj Thing4:16
2."Me-Time (With the Pulmonary Palimpsest)"Omid2:36
3."Handfuls of Sky"
5:08
4."Scoliosis Jones"Daedelus2:36
5."Least Favorite Rapper" (featuring Nocando)Free the Robots3:23
6."Quebec and Back"Nobody4:07
7."Do the Wop"Daedelus3:02
8."World Agape"Greg Saunier2:16
9."Manchuria" (featuring Myka 9)Nobody3:48
10."Unsafe Sextet/Gilded Hearts of Booklovers"Omid5:11
11."Happy Insider" (featuring Nick Thorburn)
  • Daedelus
  • Busdriver
3:29
12."I've Always Known"Busdriver2:37
13."Fishy Face" (featuring John Dieterich)Daedelus5:09
14."Sorry Fuckers" (bonus track)Busdriver3:03
Total length:50:41

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

  • Busdriver – vocals, production (3, 11, 12, 14)
  • Nosaj Thing – production (1)
  • Omid – production (2, 10)
  • Nobody – production (3, 6, 9)
  • AntiMC – glockenspiel (3), electric guitar (4), bass guitar (8)
  • Shawn Lee – string arrangement (3)
  • Everton Nelson – violin (3)
  • Warren Zielenski – violin (3)
  • John Metcalfe – viola (3)
  • Ian Burge – cello (3)
  • Daedelus – production (4, 7, 11, 13)
  • Nocando – vocals (5)
  • Free the Robots – production (5)
  • Greg Saunier – production (8)
  • Myka 9 – vocals (9)
  • Leticia – additional instrumentation (10)
  • Create(!) – additional instrumentation (10)
  • Nick Thorburn – vocals (11)
  • John Dieterich – guitar (13), bass guitar (13), soundscape (13)
  • Trevor Hernandez – artwork, design
  • Bryan Sheffield – photography

References

  1. ^ "Jhelli Beam". Anti-. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Jhelli Beam by Busdriver". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  3. ^ Bush, John. "Jhelli Beam - Busdriver". AllMusic. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
  4. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Busdriver". Christgau's Consumer Guide. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  5. ^ Noz, Andrew (June 13, 2009). "Busdriver - Jhelli Beam". HipHopDX. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  6. ^ Doran, John (July 9, 2009). "Album review: Busdriver - 'Jhelli Beam'". NME. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  7. ^ Faraone, Chris (June 2, 2009). "Busdriver - Jhelli Beam". The Phoenix. Archived from the original on April 14, 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  8. ^ Cohen, Ian (June 12, 2009). "Busdriver: Jhelli Beam". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  9. ^ a b Ranta, Alan (June 7, 2009). "Busdriver: Jhelli Beam". PopMatters. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  10. ^ a b Reeves, Mosi (June 2, 2009). "Busdriver, 'Jhelli Beam' (Anti-)". Spin. Archived from the original on June 18, 2009. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  11. ^ a b c Quinlan, Thomas (June 15, 2009). "Busdriver :: Jhelli Beam". URB. Archived from the original on June 21, 2009. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  12. ^ Maharaj, Zoneil (June 10, 2009). "Busdriver: Jhelli Beam". XLR8R. Archived from the original on September 21, 2015. Retrieved April 2, 2016.

Further reading