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| I can't hide the fact that this album - Dabrye's second after debut One/Three - got me into a veritable frenzy of excitement as I copped the beats on the train one evening. |
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Dabrye (the entertainingly-surnamed Tadd Mullinix) carefully presents Two/Three as the second in a hip hop trilogy. So is it the musical equivalent of The Empire Strikes Back or The Temple of Doom? Thankfully, the former. Mullinix collects together a rather impressive series of emcees to vocalise over his ice-cold and high-precision production. Whilst said emcees cut strong presence on the album, though, the main focus is all on Dabrye's detailed production aesthetic. So that's what we'll start with.
Comparisons with electronic trailblazers like El-P, Scott Herren and Anti-Pop Consortium aside, Dabrye very much has his own style that is clearly and consistently articulated on this album. The crowded synthetic whirl of the opener, 'The Stand' is a case in point, as are the numerous instrumentals expertly interspersed in amongst the other tracks. Dabrye effortlessly creates contrasting and fascinating textures throughout. There's claustrophobia to be found in the near beatless maniacal microcomputer blooping (yes, how reviewerly of me) of 'Special' and the mechanical churning of 'Encoded Flow'. There's the floating ambience of 'Air' and 'Bloop'; elsewhere we find hard-hitting crunching beats of 'Pressure' and the preposterous synthetic bounce of 'Nite Eats Day'. For the vast majority of the album, the production sits in a symbiotic relationship with the emcee, but at the same time provides ear-pleasing variety, all framed within a carefully maintained and innovative electro, "glitch"-hop fashion.
The emcee roster bulges with potential - MF Doom, Vast Aire, Wildchild, Kadence... the list goes on. That potential is mostly realised, with Wildchild's rapid lyrical flow proving that "pure soul is portable" as he flips from one rhyme to the next. Doom provides the same cryptic consistence found under any of his monikers, and Kadence offers some solid lyrics in his abstract storytelling mastery represented by 'Encoded Flow' and 'Reconsider'. There is some entertainingly ambiguous braggadocio work from Guilty Simpson (with El-P sound-alike Paradime) as he "parts clouds", with his final line "I want it all and the universe is not enough" putting into humourous relief the preceding verbal violence. Vast Aire, however, sounds distinctly uncomfortable during his unimaginative spell on 'That's What's Up' and 'Game Over' sticks out with the disturbingly primitive thuggery from Jay Dee and Phat Kat. Good moments strongly outweigh these minor slip-ups, though.
This is an album for all. Underground but not out of touch with reality. Underground but not self-obsessed. Heartily recommended. |
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| Stuart Reeves - 9/10 |
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