As complicated as it is to release a solid debut album, one may argue that it is equally as challenging for an artists second offering not to be dubbed a sophomore slump. Is there then more pressure to release a sophomore effort that captivates the original fans, but at the same time tries to get new fans who may have past over the first time around? The thing I love most about hip-hop is the amount of debating that can take place over the most mundane details such as these. In this case, there might not be as many debates over which of their first two full length albums are better, but Time Machine fans need not be disappointed after they spin their second album, Life Is Expensive.

I’ll start off by scoring this album at 7.5 out of 10 and explain the draw backs first, because there are so few of them. For starters, it is a bit of a short listen, just under forty minutes. Now, I’m not saying forty minutes is a cup cake of an album, but it just didn’t fill me up and to borrow an analogy from Ed Lover, I had a tall glass of Time Machine lemonade and I needed to drink from it.

When I arrived at the fourth track on the album, “We’re Making a Video,” I needed to knock brownie points off for the hook because it doesn’t let you forget the name of the song. Upon first listen it reminded me a lot like the child sung chorus of “D.A.N.C.E.” from the French production duo, Justice. Before I arrived at the fourth track, I had to go through the second track, “(If You Know What) I Mean,” which had additional vocals by Maya Jupiter who reminded of the Sri-Lankan M.I.A. And this is the same M.I.A. I find extremely irritating, yet so catchy. No knock on Maya or TM for this, however I need to skip this track prematurely once the repetition of “I mean. . .I mean” starts.

Now that I got all the negatives out in the open, I will let all the positives reign supreme. DJ Mekalek is a master at his craft, plain and simple. What Mekalek does on the boards can be described as innovative, original, and novel. I really can’t think of one producer that he reminds me of, even if it’s only a small sample. I recommend playing this album through a good audio source because stock speakers in a Hyundai did it no favors. Once I came home, I threw it in my DVD player and played it through my home theater and that’s when I appreciated how Mek uses drums and snares, vocal samples, scratches, fades, and horns. Mekalek also makes me check the artwork on the album cover once “Here Comes That Sound” comes on. I didn’t know whether to nod my head up and down, or go find one of my old man’s Led Zeppelin greatest hits t-shirts with the late John Bonham drumming away on the front. It is refreshing to here drums in hip-hop used in this way. Mekalek makes it sound so simple and unforced and not since the Roots have I really heard a nice meld between traditional hip-hop production methods and a drum-heavy rock sound. The main difference here is ?uestlove is no where to be found, it’s all DJ Mekalek.

The remaining two thirds of Time Machine are not forgotten. Jet Set Jay, formerly JaySonic, and Biscuit, formerly Comel, play off each other with the charisma and magnetism of MCs of the yesteryear. Both have bouts with wit and seriousness throughout this album, whether it be a satirical story about someone finding their dream car only to have it explode in “The Unfortunate Twist,” or speaking on the real-life every day problems of our world in the title track, “Life is Expensive.” This album also has a nice balance of guests. The biggest surprise to me was one half of the legends Nice & Smooth, Greg Nice on “The Unfortunate Twist.” The past few years I’ve heard Greg Nice on a few Beatnuts tracks, mostly club bangers that cause me to hop up and down. This track isn’t quite club banger but Greg Nice’s appearance fits perfectly. During the hook he tells the listener to “Do the twist baby, hey hey!” and “Who would have known it would come to this? Do the twist!” Once the listener hears Biscuit and Jet Set Jay recite sad stories, Greg N-I comes in and cheers every one up with his usual high energy sound. Jahpan from Providence, RI’s Fedd Hill stops in as well as Cool Calm Pete and Shawn Jackson. Mekalek hands over the producing on two tracks to Stoerok, one of which is “Mountains”, which is one of my personal favorites.

If you were scoring at home, that was two references to indie-rock and one to classic rock and roll while other critics have referred to them as “Dance-Hop.” TM makes a nice effort at incorporating new sounds yet still make music that can appeal to the masses and keep it true hip-hop.