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MH-235 Busdriver - Fear Of A Black Tangent  With the most cohesive work of his career, Busdriver turns his razor sharp wit on his place in the music industry with his new full-length release, Fear Of A Black Tangent. It is the follow-up to his career establishing release, Temporary Forever. Songs covering small club touring, independent music promotion, and the barrage of uninspired hip-hop releases on the market all contribute to the album's theme of trying to break as a emerging artist. Busdriver has taken a year's worth of material and trimmed it down to thirteen impressive tracks that range from lightning fast Project Blowed style raps to sing-song pop. The album features production by Daedelus, Danger Mouse, Thavius Beck, Omid, and Paris Zax and has guest appearances by fellow Project Blowed MCs Abstract Rude, Ellay Khule, Mikah-9, and 2Mex. |
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| Reviews Summary |
| Outstanding - Urb / Genius - BBC / Experimental and fresh - Hip-Hop Connection / Intoxicating - Straight No Chaser / Decidedly cool and deadly - XLR8R / Treads where most wouldn't dare - DJ / Busdriver straight kills it - Hour / Certainly the best I've heard in a long time - Indigo Flow |
| Busdriver's list of complaints sound like a rehash of Frank Zappa moans of 70's rock transposed to the underground hip-hop rap scene of today. Comparisons with Frank could be extended to Busdriver's pyrotechnic vocals matching any FZ guitar solo for speed and dexterity with equal humor and parody while Frank's one-time best-mate Captain Beefheart could have come up with the left of leftfield "Note Boom" and "Low Flying Winged Books." You'll get the idea if I said "Low Flying Winged Books" sounds like a West Coast rapper meets Ivor Cutler attempting the Who's "Baba O'Riley." So I'd suggest it is best to start with the tracks on the twelve-inch single. It was only after I kept replaying it that I returned to the CD for another go. "Unemployed Black Astronaut," "Happiness('s Unit of Measurement)," and "Avantcore" won me over together with "Cool Band Buzz" and "Wormholes." Whilst there's a team of producers on this album (Daedelus, Danger Mouse, Thavius Beck, Omid, and Paris Zax) there is a strange cohesiveness throughout the thirteen tracks. Emcees Abstract Rude and Ellay Khule join in on "Map Your Psyche" as they break the speed limit with a string quartet backing and a serious baseline. Mikah-9 and 2Mex appear on "Sphinx's Coonery" with special mentions of Hakuna Matata and Dolce & Gabbana. "Befriend the Friendless Friendster" would not have been out of place on Daedelus' Exquisite Corpse album. The backing track is some Tap Dance 30s Marx Brothers racetrack whilst he appeals "let's make friends." Busdriver delivers a vocal jazz, spoken word wit-spit machine tooled lyric freestyle where he more often pushes the accelerator than the brake pedal. So complicated and simple - insular and communal -witty and confrontational - mellow and l'avant hip-hop. I've no real insight what it's about though. The cover hints of the conflicts contained therein. Busdriver's face appears from the dark background with delicate pressed flowers to the fore. Could there be such as thing as essential leftfield hip-hop? Is he destined to be ignored? Do we need reheated Pop? B-b-buy this record. You heard me, go out and buy this unit of measurement and you'll understand (even if it takes a while). - Fly |
1XLP/Out Of Print