themselves - the no music of aiffs. remixed.
when i heard the why? ep, and the dosh release i was somewhat taken aback at the lack of hip-hop vibes exuded considering everything i had read. but then after listening to this the penny dropped. fear not, the anticon bunch haven't discovered the radio bling bling production button just yet, instead the sounds and the styles are as off the wall as any hip-hop i have never heard. from the beautiful acoustic mellowness that is 'good people check', and, just who on earth is hrvatsaki ? cos this is the best thing i have heard in a long time. then there is the sheer wonder of the catchy 'poison pit' that flows into your psyche and becomes part of your personal soundtrack, through to the straight up weird beats, twisted melodies, layered harmonised/treated vocals of the new track that opens this superb set, to the clipped urban beats/vocal cutups of alias's section.
it's a remix album. but a different one in that this is no big names remixers taking tracks and applying a standard 4/4 beat and a few extra samples, no, that's not the anticon way. instead the folks involved are obviously sympathetic to the originals cause and fragility to the degree that even without hearing the original versions i just know that the proper lp is something very special. for those that aren't aware, the remixers are mainly anticon family members and so understand what should be done to these family treasures.
in fact, there are so many aspects to this album that i haven't taken it off the md player for a week and am now behind schedule with other reviews. oh well my gain ..
ok, i have to admit that i wasn't overly keen on the noisy hood version, but that one track aside this album flows as a complete whole and seriously deserves your attention.
i am so taken with the whole spread of the anticon sound now, the sheer variety and mix of traditional songwriting juxtaposed against some wonderful sonic experimentation, subsequently putting other labels to shame.
tracklist/remix
terror fabulous/themselves
hat set for butler/themselves
mouthful/matth and controller7
good people check/hrvatsaki
poison pit/why?
livetrap/hood
only child explosion/alias
dr. moonorgun please/grapedope
darkskydemo/fog
you devil you/odd nosdam
out in the open/notwist
hat in the wind/electric birds