| Instrumental hip-hop has become the new head music of our time. Removal of charismatic, attention grabbing emcees has forced the listener's ear to attend to newfound subtleties in the form. Well beyond the province of the beat there can now exist landscapes more typically found in the genre's grad school cousin, progressive electronic. So why is it that the majority of instrumental hip-hop albums fail to be interesting for any extended period of time? Perhaps it's because there was never any need to alter the formula that 90's trip-hop has already devised. In addition, maybe the emcee isn't so expendable after all: in today's wonderland, nearly anyone who can tap their toes and learn some programs can be a producer. The rapper is what personalizes what otherwise might just be another bedroom exercise in amateurism. The Opus certainly put their best foot forward to alter any bias against this increasingly popular and of course still evolving sub-genre. They are more successful than most at maintaining momentum for an entire disc's worth of nearly unchanging digitized vinyl breakbeats and spooky sample. Certainly one could envision a head full of hash and some Playstation game being the appropriate backdrop for this adventure. Unfortunately, the irony is that the most singularly discernable moment of brilliance on this entire disc is perhaps the sole appearance of a transient emcee. On a record surprisingly short on guest presence, Lord 360's elegant dissertation on the track "Isis" is truly a standout. Another point of interest occurs when the team forgoes the relentless bounce of the beat for the ambient exploration that is the disc's final cut "The Addiction". Sounding more like the Caretaker than Shadow, it leaves me wishing their were fewer rules to this hip-hop game. I suppose, however, that instrumental hip-hop without the ever steady breaks is just progressive electronic, which brings us full circle doesn't it? - Signal to Noise |
2XLP/Out Of Print