I'm New Here (10th Anniversary Expanded Edition)

Gil Scott-Heronの遺作『I'm New Here』が発売10周年を記念してワンプレスオンリーの限定エクスパンデッド・エディションとして発売決定!

2011年に62歳で急死したEminemやSnoop Doggなども敬愛するラップの始祖であり、伝説の'黒人吟遊詩人'とも語られるミュージシャン、詩人、作家のGil Scott-Heron。
彼の生前最後のスタジオ・アルバム『I'm New Here』が発売10周年を記念し2枚組の限定エクスパンデッド・エディションとしてリリース。
2005年に初めて同作品の構想を練り始めてから2008年1月にNYで〈XL Recordings〉の創設者Richard Russelによって録音/プロデュースされた本作は、Gil Scott-Heronにとっては前作から実に13年ぶりのアルバムで、今までにはなかったほど限界を超え、本質に迫った重要作品と謳われる。
今回の限定エクスパンデッド・エディションはオリジナルアルバムに加え、Disc2にRichie Havensによる「Handsome Johnny」の未発表カバー曲やGil Scott-Heronの未発表曲「King Henry IV」が収録されている。
また、オリジナルリリース時にデラックスLPのみに収録されていた『I'm New Here』のレコーディング・セッション時に録音された貴重な音源も多数収録。

I’m New Here is a shock. It’s a wallop filled with big nasty beats, a wide range of sonic atmospheres, and more -- sometimes unintentional -- autobiographical intimacy than we’ve heard from Gil Scott-Heron than ever before. Produced by XL Recordings head Richard Russell, I’m New Here is his first record in 16 years. It is a scant 28 minutes and doesn’t need to be a second longer. It's unlike anything he’s previously recorded, though there is metaphoric precedence in his earliest, largely spoken word albums. Its production pushes forcefully at the margins, and Scott-Heron embraces it without a hint of nostalgia. It opens with “On Coming from a Broken Home,” the first of a two-part poem that bookends the album. Over a piano and a sampled string loop (from Kanye West's “Flashing Lights”), he reflects on his upbringing filled with strong female figures and an unconventional structure, with a startling epiphany at the end. It segues immediately into a slamming read of Robert Johnson's “Me and the Devil,” with enormous hip-hop drums, sampled strings, and sonic effects that create a sense of brooding menace as Scott-Heron wails with bracing rawness to hair-raising effect. Just as quickly, the album shifts dramatically. A lone acoustic guitar introduces the Bill Callahan-penned title track. Scott-Heron recites the verse but sings its refrain: “No matter how far wrong gone/You can always turn around.” It feels like he’s speaking into a mirror with a dawning awareness of who -- and what -- he's become as he accepts it. He now owns this song. A Burial-like wall of effects over a cello loop introduces “Your Soul and Mine.” It’s Scott-Heron's unflinching look at death, and the way it feeds, yet ends with a warrior’s words: "So if you see the vulture coming/Flying circles in your mind/Remember there is no escaping/For he will follow close behind/Only promise me a battle/For your soul, and mine." It’s not all darkness, however. A reading of Bobby "Blue" Bland's “I’ll Take Care of You,” features Gil's soulful piano with a small string section. He sings it tenderly, in a now-raspier but still deeply expressive voice; it stands out sonically, but belongs here because of its intimacy. “New York Is Killing Me,” based on a John Lee Hooker blues, has been reinvented with almost entirely new lyrics and arrangement. Singers from the Harlem Gospel Choir; handclaps, bass drums, cymbals, synths, and guitar are treated spatially by Russell; Scott-Heron's lead vocal roars from the center. “The Crutch” is a burning atmospheric poem about a junkie’s life. Scott-Heron doesn’t distance himself from his subject; it isn’t mere observation, but an empathic elegy, and Russell’s suffocatingly close production brings it home. Forty years after his debut, I’m New Here contains the artful immediacy that distinguishes Scott-Heron’s best art. The modern production adds immeasurably to that quality, underscores his continued relevance in reflecting the times, and opens his work to a new generation of listeners while giving older ones a righteous jolt. [XL is also offering a limited editon of 300 copies with seven bonus tracks. These include unreleased material from the album's sessions, as well as new versions of "Winter In America" and "Home Is Where The Hatred Is."] ~ Thom Jurek

世界中のラッパーに多大なる影響を与えたことは言わずもがな、いまなお伝説を刻み続ける詩人が13年ぶりに放つメッセージ。レーベル主宰者のリチャード・ラッセルがみずから深く関与したこのXL移籍作は、ジャズ・サンプルやフリー・フォークをベースにしたエレクトロニックなビートが、力強いポエトリー・リーディングやブルージーな歌声と共鳴し合う新境地に。なかでも注目は、カニエ・ウェスト"Flashing Lights"のトラックを用いて痛烈な詞を突き刺す"On Coming From A Broken Home"。これは現代のヒップホップに対する彼なりのオマージュである。デビューから30年経ったいまも変わらない彼の姿勢が現在の社会や音楽シーンにどういった影響をもたらすか、興味は尽きないところである。
bounce (C)藤井大樹