#13: Blktop Project>Blktop Project>This is not smooth jazz, but my dad might like it anyway

Artist : Blktop Project
Album : Blktop Project (1st Domestic LP)
Release : 06.12.07
Year Founded : 2002
Label Name : Galaxia
Catalog # : 25
Packaging Type : Single-Disc Digipak
Members : Ray Barbee, Tommy Guerrero, Matt Rodriguez, Doug Scharin, Chuck Treece
Runtime : 24:48
Area Tour Dates : None at time of publication
Sound Season : Summer
iTunes Worthy Tracks : Blkwater Blues, From Here to Where, Last Call
Sounds Like : Six Parts Seven Casually Smashed to Pieces
Rating : B


The Premise: Three pro skateboarders meet a zany scientist who builds them a way old-school board (I mean, like, 9 inches wide with mad concave, no nose and a huge tail) that also is a time machine, which the guys use to travel back to the 70s to record soundtracks for blaxsploitation films ("Beans for Breakfast"), and maybe some porno ("Rained Out").

Seriously though, Barbee, Guerrero and Rodriguez are all skateboarders who moonlight heavily as musicians and who actually do have quite a bit of talent and are rather prolific to boot. If the eighties were their true heyday for skating, then now is their heyday for music.

As much as this is a collaborative effort, it sounds very much like Guerrero's solo albums minus the samples and generated beats. The songs are bass heavy and groove-based and frighteningly smooth — serious lounging by poolside kind of music. If the music was a layer cake, the bass would be the cake parts and the drums would be the frosting in between with whipped cream guitar dolloped on top.

Though some folks can make a solid album from 8 tracks, this is more like a long EP (which may actually be the case). My other gripe is that this album could have benefited greatly from some more adventurous production. All of the sounds almost sit in the same field, making for a relatively flat listening experience. There is so much opportunity for creating textural boundaries which goes unrealized except perhaps for when foreign elements such as electronics or trumpet are thrown into the mix, such as on "Blkwater Blues."

For an album that was created as a sort of aside to a magazine-sponsored skateboarding tour (see notes on the back cover), it still hits most of its marks, especially for mood. Its shortness almost precludes it from attaining its full potential, but it is an able outing nevertheless and a more focused and fully-formed version would be a welcome development.