Strong Medicine I first discoverd Dalek back in 2002 when they were supporting Tomahawk with EX-Girl (what a lucky boy I was) and while the idiots in the crowd were taking issue with the MC’s weight my jaw hit the floor, Huge beats, accompanied by layers of ambient noise with MC Dalek’s furious, intelligent delivery not heard since Chuck D’s heyday with Public Enemy. This encompasses the entire 60+ minutes of the latest LP ‘Absence’. It takes influences from The Velvet Underground, Faust, Neu!, My Bloody Valentine, Public Enemy, DJ Shadow etc. Although it doesnt quite match their awesome live performance (Saw them again last month at Supersonic where they were the highlight)It’s still a powerful listen and a must for anyone into abstract Hip Hop or experimental music. 50 cent fans probably should steer clear of this, its strong medicine and not for all tastes.
It an almost impossible job to categorise dalek (which was probably their intention anyway) but it doesn’t make describing their music very easy (but then what do you expect from an album put out by Mad Mike Patton’s Ipecac label?). Yes it will be filed under hip-hop in the record stores, but this is as far away from LL Cool J and Eric B & Rakim as it’s possible to get without being a black metal band. Although to be honest some of the drones and ear-drum rupturing scree that make up the music is not a million miles away from what groups like Darkthrone were doing back in the day, or maybe something like My Bloody Valentine. The words are muddy and buried in the mix (like early Tricky perhaps) and there is nothing so conventional as a chorus, but what you can detect without the aid of a lyric sheet is that they ain’t concercerning Christal, blunts or hoes. The drums are BIG and the use of turntables and samples are effective, but this is not party music, and is lightyears from the sort of shenanigans that used to go down in Bronx block parties in the Seventies and Eighties. This is hip-hop for the new Millenium: a post 9/11 sound that addresses the issues of the black man that seems to have been forgotten by most of their contemporaries. For people with their ears and eyes open only. Black-Eyed Peas fans need not apply.
I do agree that this is not easy listening and you need to put the work in for it to pay off. A simple statement could be something along the likes of Chuck D (Public Enemy) rapping over something from Godflesh or Nine Inch Nails but it’s often more challenging than that.2 tracks stick out; Asylum which is VERY heavy & aggressive and boasts some of the best scratches that I have ever heard on any Hip Hop track, and Opiate The Masses which boast a savage anti-religion stance and again more great sampling.The rapping is good (although slightly one dimensional) and all the DJ work is of high standard. Yes, I would have liked some more sampled guitar work but it’s a minor quibble.The theme to these ears is urban decay. Walk through any subway at midnight or any run down estate with this on your I-Pod or MP3 player to get a real feel of the unease that this music suggests!!
Strong Medicine I first discoverd Dalek back in 2002 when they were supporting Tomahawk with EX-Girl (what a lucky boy I was) and while the idiots in the crowd were taking issue with the MC’s weight my jaw hit the floor, Huge beats, accompanied by layers of ambient noise with MC Dalek’s furious, intelligent delivery not heard since Chuck D’s heyday with Public Enemy. This encompasses the entire 60+ minutes of the latest LP ‘Absence’. It takes influences from The Velvet Underground, Faust, Neu!, My Bloody Valentine, Public Enemy, DJ Shadow etc. Although it doesnt quite match their awesome live performance (Saw them again last month at Supersonic where they were the highlight)It’s still a powerful listen and a must for anyone into abstract Hip Hop or experimental music. 50 cent fans probably should steer clear of this, its strong medicine and not for all tastes.
It an almost impossible job to categorise dalek (which was probably their intention anyway) but it doesn’t make describing their music very easy (but then what do you expect from an album put out by Mad Mike Patton’s Ipecac label?). Yes it will be filed under hip-hop in the record stores, but this is as far away from LL Cool J and Eric B & Rakim as it’s possible to get without being a black metal band. Although to be honest some of the drones and ear-drum rupturing scree that make up the music is not a million miles away from what groups like Darkthrone were doing back in the day, or maybe something like My Bloody Valentine. The words are muddy and buried in the mix (like early Tricky perhaps) and there is nothing so conventional as a chorus, but what you can detect without the aid of a lyric sheet is that they ain’t concercerning Christal, blunts or hoes. The drums are BIG and the use of turntables and samples are effective, but this is not party music, and is lightyears from the sort of shenanigans that used to go down in Bronx block parties in the Seventies and Eighties. This is hip-hop for the new Millenium: a post 9/11 sound that addresses the issues of the black man that seems to have been forgotten by most of their contemporaries. For people with their ears and eyes open only. Black-Eyed Peas fans need not apply.
I do agree that this is not easy listening and you need to put the work in for it to pay off. A simple statement could be something along the likes of Chuck D (Public Enemy) rapping over something from Godflesh or Nine Inch Nails but it’s often more challenging than that.2 tracks stick out; Asylum which is VERY heavy & aggressive and boasts some of the best scratches that I have ever heard on any Hip Hop track, and Opiate The Masses which boast a savage anti-religion stance and again more great sampling.The rapping is good (although slightly one dimensional) and all the DJ work is of high standard. Yes, I would have liked some more sampled guitar work but it’s a minor quibble.The theme to these ears is urban decay. Walk through any subway at midnight or any run down estate with this on your I-Pod or MP3 player to get a real feel of the unease that this music suggests!!