News & Reviews

November. 2nd, 2007
I'm such a schmuck. I accidently erased a couple of good reviews about the record and my "undo typing" option is disabled so you're just going to have to believe me that the HSO rocks harder than the Beatles. Anyway, we felt the need to update the news and let everyone know that another album is starting to brew. It has taken so long for Jeck and Co. to get their act together because good music takes time and a little bit of money. The first few songs have already been recorded.Hopefully that will be the snowball that triggers the avalanche. So with that in mind, happy travels and peace to all!!! - Jeck

"The faction of artists in hip-hop that realize "keeping it real" has nothing to do with your rim size is growing. Rap is an autobiographical art form, and High Street Orchestra MC Jeck seems to understand that all too well. After a stately piano intro (played by Jeck himself), "Opening Statements" gets the album going with horns and strings rebounding off the drum lick from Massive Attack's "Teardrop," as Jeck lays out his manifesto with a nimble delivery, astute wordplay and deft sense of humor. This contagious sense of serious Wackiness seems to be the main thrust of this record. Things may be dire, as when Jeck gets robbed in "Bad Luck" ("Have you ever been mugged by a bunch of fucking thugs who just wanted you ass for money or drugs / And you couldn't identify them to the Colonial Pantry guy, your roommate or the police / Just because you can't see?"), but the MC's own blindness is a part of his story, not just a tool used to elicit a response.
Another prime, although more lighthearted, example of this comes on "Beastmaster" ("Sex Machine! / My eyes are scarred and I'm large"); Jeck is an MC first, and anything else is merely window dressing. With a hype verse from Harsh, and a light bouncy track from local beat maestro Tim Bailey, "Beastmasters" might be the most fun you can have with local hip-hop right now. This is the first recorded effort from this local collective and, aside from the freestyled "Friday Flow," it fires on all cylinders, rarely missing a beat. Hip-hop in the C-U has a new underground hero."
- Brand T. Washington (The HUB)

"It’s a different approach, and the group’s use of live instruments sets them apart from the facets of hip hop obsessed with beat machines. Initiative should be encouraged and creativity applauded, and with some fine-tuning, When Eggs Go Rotten could turn out to be a bona fide standard among hip-hop heads and general music lovers alike." - Buzz Magazine

"It will engage you and make you think about the possibilities of hip-hop as a musical style. It will challenge you to listen and not just hear." - Chris Earnhart (openingbands.com)

"What this is, is an inclusive album with most of the players jockeying for a place in the professional hip-hop scene - what this isn't, is it isn't just another blanket album aimed at kids with sports jackets in the suburbs, and I think that's what I admire about it." - Joe Pence (openingbands.com)