Wu-Tang Presents...Chamber Music: A Review

On June 30, 2009, RZA released a little-noticed album called Wu-Tang Presents...Chamber Music on Koch Records. Far from a collection of outtakes, bizarrely enough, the project seems to be the kind of album Wu-Tang fans have clamored for since perhaps 2000's The W.

...Chamber Music is a minor masterpiece in the epic Wu-Tang catalog. It is a mellow, understated affair; there are no rousing anchor pieces like M.E.T.H.O.D. M.A.N. from their debut or Uzi (Pinky Ring) from Iron Flag; but it is nearly as well and densely crafted as earlier work. ...Chamber Music feels like a small intimate set of sessions were held simply for the love of music, sessions including not just the Clansmen but other rappers as well. And it is refreshing to hear the normally insular group open their album to others, notably those who share their mid-nineties sensibilities: multisyllabic lyricists like AZ, Masta Ace and Kool G. Rap and aggressive hardcore rhymers like M.O.P. and Mobb Deep's Havoc.

The beats are not as hard-hitting as many of those of his earlier work, as RZA, along with M.O.P.'s Lil Fame have created a 70's funk-based tapestry, rather than RZA's earlier gritty and haunting soundscapes. It is however hard-hitting boom-bap, the likes of which was not seen on 8 Diagrams. The beats also display the same rich instrumentality that is RZA's trademark, each song full of booming horns, organs, trumpets and drums, the recording made richer by the use of a live backing band.

The album is spliced with eerie interludes full of esoteric musings, but these skits, numbering nine in all, make you wish there was more music, since the songs here are some of their best since 2000. Pairing Raekwon with M.O.P. and Kool G. Rap on Ill Figures or or Raekwon, Cormega and Sean Price on Radiant Jewels or Ghostface Killah, AZ, and Inspectah Deck on Harbor Masters, produce superb results as to be expected. And even though none of these rappers are Wu-Tang, they effortlessly stitch themselves into the beat and subject matter until you might mistake them for one of the hundreds of Wu-affiliates.

The Clansmen are, as usual, in rare form, with Inspectah Deck arguably impressing the most on Sound the Horns, Harbor Masters or Kill Too Hard, recalling past triumphs. Still ...Chamber Music is not a proper Wu-Tang follow-up. It's too short for one thing at eight songs; and one could only wish that all of the Wu-Tang Clansmen were included here: notably absent are Method Man and GZA, along with the less high-profile Masta Killa. But it's a welcome glimpse into the limitless potential of the Wu in a hip-hop scene in which they have sadly been lacking for far too long.

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