|
|
| |
10: |
timeless/perfect |
| |
9 to 9.9: |
significant past 10 years
|
| |
8 to 8.9: |
significant past 5 years
|
| |
7 to 7.9: |
memorable |
| |
6 to 6.9: |
standard playlife |
| |
5 to 5.9: |
good for now |
| |
4 to 4.9: |
will get a few playthroughs
|
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3 to 3.9: |
won't intentionally listen to this
|
| |
2 to 2.9: |
strongly avoid it |
| |
1 to 1.9: |
no reason to ever listen to this
|
| |
0.1 to 0.9: |
rage-inducing |
| |
0: |
no merit whatsoever. | | |
|
|
 Polyphonic
the Verbose
"A.D.A." (CD)
released in 2006
Label: Audio 8
http://www.container473.com/
In
Alduous Huxley’s classic dystopian tale Brave New World
a young man tries to get in touch with his humanity through
inflicting pain on himself, only to involve himself in a media
driven orgy. In 1984—often taught in conjunction with
Huxley’s novel in many American high schools—George Orwell
tells the story of Winston Smith as he attempts to come to
terms with his natural impulses, weighed down by an oppressive
government. And then there is Guy Montague, the hero of Ray
Bradburry’s Fahrenheit 451, who rejects the media
driven society he lives in and embraces the forbidden art form
of books as an expression of humanity in opposition to yet
another oppressive government.
These dystopian worlds
inform the aesthetic of hip-hop producer Polyphonic the
Verbose’s debut solo album, A.D.A. (or: “Abstract Date
Ark”). Across 14 tracks, Mr. The Verbose slices beats, synths,
and anachronistic video game-esque sounds—among other odds and
ends—to compile a stifling, oppressive and dark representation
of future times.
Unfortunately, the overt inclusion of
samples about indoctrination and lyrics about ‘big brother,’
tend to bog down an album that finds Polyphonic particularly
adept at producing powerful, foreboding soundscapes. The
thunderous, echoing dub of “Rumors of War,” for example, does
more for the record’s overall atmosphere than the breathlessly
paranoid rhymes (provided by Raistlin, See, and Alexpathetic)
on “Machine With Sealed Inputs.” Where as “Rumors…” produces
its menacing tone with its big sound and Jeremy Horwitz’s warm
electric piano, “Machine…” opens with effective glitchy
beeps-and-bloops but falters increasingly as the lyrics
progress. By the song’s final third, the rhymes are reduced to
a soggy political manifesto, reminiscent of Aesop Rock’s
“9-5ers Anthem,” but without the same dreary punch: “I don’t
know what to do anymore / guess I’ll get up go to the store /
buy some things that I don’t need.”
This isn’t to say
that all of the MC performances on the album are weak. In
fact, the majority of them are quite strong. Rodney B and
Benjamin Lamar flow smoothly over a dizzyingly hip flute loop,
and Psalm One delivers a particularly inspired turn over the
delicious, awkward samples of “Out To Lunch.” Perhaps even the
performance on “Machine With Sealed Inputs” might stand well
on its own. Unfortunately, the performances don’t always serve
the album, weighing songs down in their own politics as often
as lifting them to new heights.
In reality, this album
isn’t about the MC’s as much as it is about the production.
Throughout the album, Polyphonic’s musical vision shines
consistently, infusing hip-hop beats with glitchy electronics
and the sweet, thick dub thunderstorm. Unfortunately, the
album weighs itself down with its concept. The dystopia that
Polyphonic the Verbose seems to be inventing is—like literary
dystopia’s have become over time—stagnant, drawing on samples
that are too cliché to be kitschy, not to mention the preachy
soapboxing that interferes with the album’s brilliantly
constructed atmosphere. Sadly, it is only slight hyperbole to
say that some conceptual refinement and subtlety could have
gone a long way toward making A.D.A. an indisputable
masterpiece.
South—south-west, south, south-east,
east…
-30-
Review
written on 2006/09/07 by James
Brubaker
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