Distortion and effects are not all that's required to make that perfect "blip-hop" track. It takes a fundamental understanding of how samples and drums work with each other. Kicks and snare must align into a cohesive pattern. Hats, open or closed, blips, effects, minor samples and the rest are just icing on the cake. Where some others fail to capture the ear in this ever popular genre, Polyphonic the Verbose succeeds.

First off, I’m not sure if you would call Polyphonic’s work blip-hop, jazz-hop, trip-hop, mushroom-hop, or electronic-hop. In the end these names are just labels people use to catergorize genres. The name “Polyphonic” makes me think back to early polyphonic ringtones which makes even more sense when you hear all the added electronic samples he uses. It doesn’t really matter though ‘cause it’s still deeply entrenched in hip-hop. The rudimentary drums are still there.

The very first track on Polyphonic’s newest (and aptly titled) effort Abstrack Data Ark is called “Container Life #473.” This track makes it abundantly clear that hip-hop elements are in play as you are immediately hit with harsh kicks and snares in pattern over a sample. This is hip-hop, but that being said, Polyphonic’s beats have extra bells and whistles (quite literally.) His style is one of growing popularity, heavily reliant on computerized sounds, tempo changes and distortion.

An example of this Prefuse 73-like style is a track called “Commuters Dream of Luke Skywalker,” which is computerized anarchy-turned-beautiful. Chopped drums lead over echoes and major 8 bit noises. Imagine sampling R2D2 and putting that through a distortion effect.

While the patterns are complex, they aren’t impossible to follow, and there are some notable vocal appearances by local Chicago rappers including Rhymesayer’s Psalm One. Probably the best vocal track is Moving On featuring Nico B and Benjamin Lamar. A happy-go-lucky track about retrospection over awkward horn and wind instruments sets the tone.

Even fans of the old-school will like track “Land Rovers in the Video” featuring MartyMar which sounds like Run DMC meets Mark Farina. With all the tempo changes and variety of analog and digital samples, Polyphonic’s work could easily make a dope live set. Being placed in such a defined genre it’s hard to sound original. Most “trip-hop” (again with the labels) reminds one of another track by another producer. Polyphonic has somehow found his own style, his own twist on something that was a twist on something else. Epileptics beware A.D.A. is definitely a strong outing.

- Nick McClure