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| Track list: 1. Iron Galaxy 2. Ox Out the Cage 3. Atom 4. A B-Boy’s Alpha 5. Raspberry Fields 6. Straight Off the D.I.C. 7. Vein 8. The F-Word 9. Stress Rap 10. Battle for Asgard 11. Real Earth 12. Ridiculoid 13. Painkillers 14. Pigeon 15. Scream Phoenix Running time: 73 minutes Released: 2001 |
Complete change of pace now. Hip-hop. I received this as a gift at some point and held onto it because I seem to recall it having a really distinct voice, and a powerful presence... one that made an impression. I listened to some hip-hop when I was younger, then drifted completely away from it as it slid into glorification of violence and toxic masculinity more than because the beat, voice and backing combinations no longer worked for me.
That first sentence belies good intentions to get some momentum behind these listens again, yet another couple of weeks have slid by since I managed to make the time. In truth time is not the problem, energy and the right mood is. I think I need to just fight through that though... hence doing this post now when I would rather be listening to elegiac dirges than punchy pointed verse.
There is a darkness, but a nice musicality with it, in the backing track to opener Iron Galaxy, an almost DJ Shadow-like pulse and groove to it. Getting it out there early - this format won't do this album justice because of the difficulty focusing on two sets of words at the same time, like keeping track of two conversations in a crowded bar. What strikes me though is the immediacy and accessibility of the composition as a whole. Whilst we go straight into the deep end of really heavy verse and it's all low, slow and threat, the tunes are completely supportive of that and yet at the same time interesting and approachable. There's no barrier to entry, no wall of crass commercialism to bounce off, no over-sexualised, women-as-property video image appearing in my head. The lyrics may contain these things somewhere, but it is not the fist impression or immediately obvious. This feels darker, more serious but, paradoxically, becomes more immediate, appreciable and enjoyable for that seriousness. It is hard core not lowest common denominator, but easier to get than the shallower trashy offerings of others.
There are some nice horns in the background, giving the sound of a more relaxed view of a city at night. The tension that of a pot boiler... a noir film. It fits - those same tensions are explored in the explicit lyrics. The delivery is interesting, but its the compositions that keep me hooked. Who says you can't rap over interesting music rather than transparent beats? Not these guys, for sure.
There is definitely a danger here... violence implicit and explicit throughout. Threats and nastiness. It jars a little but it doesn't come across as glamourised or trivial, not used idly. The tracks that make that the focus feel weaker somehow, but still not the turn off that I might have expected. Mostly this comes down to the fantastic arrangements, vital beats and tension-strewn top ends. Snappy electronica. I could almost see myself listening to this as an instrumental album in places. I think if the lyric was removed you might notice the empty spaces in there, but you might also end up with a smooth if grungy electronica; a little overlong, I suspect, but serviceable.
A couple of distractions pulled me out of the zone created by those grooves and I find myself on the outside bouncing off Vein. It just goes to show how fickle or fragile our relationship with music can be in the moment. I have been skipping past several tracks I love in recent days, searching for things more suited to mood. Yet if you give the tracks a chance to start they can suck you in... the ambience of The F-Word drag me back in forcefully, the backing here is amazing and synergises with the accents of the MCs in a perfect storm. I am less enamoured of the actual lyrics but the sounds - the sounds are great.
My mind has blanked. Words failing me. Thoughts not establishing themselves. 73 minutes of this is a lot of album, constantly switched on. I am, what... two thirds through now? No, less. I feel a little like I have been bludgeoned. The easy access I spoke about earlier? That seems to have shut down and we are into deeper, darker water now. There is less going on in the arrangements, more focus on really punchy, incessant rap. It's not fast per se, it doesn't stop to breathe - only giving space in the brief changes between tracks - and the voices are hard, edgy and grounded.
I find myself tuning in and out more, my ears pricking up for moments rather than tracks. The opening of Ridiculoid provides an interesting contrast to what came before it, but once the pattern for the number is set, the interest wanes a little and I let the (here genuinely quick) vocal delivery wash over me, my head a blur of... something? It's all too muddled to describe, so I blank it. I should note I don't count this against the quality of the offering. If anything the relentlessness that has forced that shut down is a mark in its favour. It doesn't pull punches, and I am starting to feel punch-drunk.
It is midday on a Sunday in early September, I've done nothing strenuous for 2 days and I feel beaten up.
Painkillers ends in an odd way. Beeps like a countdown timer, then an instrumental outro, long after the MCs have stopped. Its nice enough but it feels out of place on this album, a window and some space in what has been a very tight, full on experience. The opening to the following track, Pigeon, carries that sense to it too, and even after the vocal begins there is more air here. Apt. The voices have softened, the tone of the piece more optimistic, as characterised by some longer horn notes and the time between verses. Even my beat up ears are able to actually enjoy this. In places it is stripped right back - bass, drums and voice, in others you get the top end that gives that airiness and openness. I am not sure I would classify it as best in show, but Pigeon feels like exactly the right thing at the right time, an antidote of sorts to what came before. It kinda feels like it should be the closer, but there is one more to go.
Spacey.
What's that? Well, there is a Vangelis-like tinge to the electronic, space-like sounds that begin out final track (how's that for a random tag combo). That sense doesn't survive the opening of the lyric but it does fill me with a little mirth and give the track a lightness that means that whilst it is definitely tenser, more compact than Pigeon, it doesn't destroy that sense of openness created by its predecessor. I'm not so keen on the repetition of the track title, Scream Phoenix, in the vocal, and it feels like it should shut down after 3 minutes rather than run the extra 2 of instrumental that we have tacked on here.
Closing thoughts on this one are that it is probably the best hip-hop album I have ever heard, not that that is saying much. It is engaging, it is brutal, it is interesting. I prefer, though, to engage in smaller doses. An hour and 13 with no break is too much for me. I suspect the impact is lost a bit as a change up in a shuffle, but the impact here was too big to be truly enjoyable by the end.
That first sentence belies good intentions to get some momentum behind these listens again, yet another couple of weeks have slid by since I managed to make the time. In truth time is not the problem, energy and the right mood is. I think I need to just fight through that though... hence doing this post now when I would rather be listening to elegiac dirges than punchy pointed verse.
There is a darkness, but a nice musicality with it, in the backing track to opener Iron Galaxy, an almost DJ Shadow-like pulse and groove to it. Getting it out there early - this format won't do this album justice because of the difficulty focusing on two sets of words at the same time, like keeping track of two conversations in a crowded bar. What strikes me though is the immediacy and accessibility of the composition as a whole. Whilst we go straight into the deep end of really heavy verse and it's all low, slow and threat, the tunes are completely supportive of that and yet at the same time interesting and approachable. There's no barrier to entry, no wall of crass commercialism to bounce off, no over-sexualised, women-as-property video image appearing in my head. The lyrics may contain these things somewhere, but it is not the fist impression or immediately obvious. This feels darker, more serious but, paradoxically, becomes more immediate, appreciable and enjoyable for that seriousness. It is hard core not lowest common denominator, but easier to get than the shallower trashy offerings of others.
There are some nice horns in the background, giving the sound of a more relaxed view of a city at night. The tension that of a pot boiler... a noir film. It fits - those same tensions are explored in the explicit lyrics. The delivery is interesting, but its the compositions that keep me hooked. Who says you can't rap over interesting music rather than transparent beats? Not these guys, for sure.
There is definitely a danger here... violence implicit and explicit throughout. Threats and nastiness. It jars a little but it doesn't come across as glamourised or trivial, not used idly. The tracks that make that the focus feel weaker somehow, but still not the turn off that I might have expected. Mostly this comes down to the fantastic arrangements, vital beats and tension-strewn top ends. Snappy electronica. I could almost see myself listening to this as an instrumental album in places. I think if the lyric was removed you might notice the empty spaces in there, but you might also end up with a smooth if grungy electronica; a little overlong, I suspect, but serviceable.
A couple of distractions pulled me out of the zone created by those grooves and I find myself on the outside bouncing off Vein. It just goes to show how fickle or fragile our relationship with music can be in the moment. I have been skipping past several tracks I love in recent days, searching for things more suited to mood. Yet if you give the tracks a chance to start they can suck you in... the ambience of The F-Word drag me back in forcefully, the backing here is amazing and synergises with the accents of the MCs in a perfect storm. I am less enamoured of the actual lyrics but the sounds - the sounds are great.
My mind has blanked. Words failing me. Thoughts not establishing themselves. 73 minutes of this is a lot of album, constantly switched on. I am, what... two thirds through now? No, less. I feel a little like I have been bludgeoned. The easy access I spoke about earlier? That seems to have shut down and we are into deeper, darker water now. There is less going on in the arrangements, more focus on really punchy, incessant rap. It's not fast per se, it doesn't stop to breathe - only giving space in the brief changes between tracks - and the voices are hard, edgy and grounded.
I find myself tuning in and out more, my ears pricking up for moments rather than tracks. The opening of Ridiculoid provides an interesting contrast to what came before it, but once the pattern for the number is set, the interest wanes a little and I let the (here genuinely quick) vocal delivery wash over me, my head a blur of... something? It's all too muddled to describe, so I blank it. I should note I don't count this against the quality of the offering. If anything the relentlessness that has forced that shut down is a mark in its favour. It doesn't pull punches, and I am starting to feel punch-drunk.
It is midday on a Sunday in early September, I've done nothing strenuous for 2 days and I feel beaten up.
Painkillers ends in an odd way. Beeps like a countdown timer, then an instrumental outro, long after the MCs have stopped. Its nice enough but it feels out of place on this album, a window and some space in what has been a very tight, full on experience. The opening to the following track, Pigeon, carries that sense to it too, and even after the vocal begins there is more air here. Apt. The voices have softened, the tone of the piece more optimistic, as characterised by some longer horn notes and the time between verses. Even my beat up ears are able to actually enjoy this. In places it is stripped right back - bass, drums and voice, in others you get the top end that gives that airiness and openness. I am not sure I would classify it as best in show, but Pigeon feels like exactly the right thing at the right time, an antidote of sorts to what came before. It kinda feels like it should be the closer, but there is one more to go.
Spacey.
What's that? Well, there is a Vangelis-like tinge to the electronic, space-like sounds that begin out final track (how's that for a random tag combo). That sense doesn't survive the opening of the lyric but it does fill me with a little mirth and give the track a lightness that means that whilst it is definitely tenser, more compact than Pigeon, it doesn't destroy that sense of openness created by its predecessor. I'm not so keen on the repetition of the track title, Scream Phoenix, in the vocal, and it feels like it should shut down after 3 minutes rather than run the extra 2 of instrumental that we have tacked on here.
Closing thoughts on this one are that it is probably the best hip-hop album I have ever heard, not that that is saying much. It is engaging, it is brutal, it is interesting. I prefer, though, to engage in smaller doses. An hour and 13 with no break is too much for me. I suspect the impact is lost a bit as a change up in a shuffle, but the impact here was too big to be truly enjoyable by the end.
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