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| Illogic rhymes his way to the 'concept album' tune, following in the footsteps of his debut, Unforseen Shadows. Soul, folk and hymn samples never sounded so good. |
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There are more than enough hip hop emcees to go around. They are cheap currency, such that when you've heard one, more often than not another sounds like a crude pressing of the first. Illogic joins us in this sea of mediocrity (with MC and producer, Blueprint, providing the beats), memorably claiming on 2001's Got Lyrics? EP that he "is the paragon of emcee, eating crew after crew of the empty minded."
Celestial Clockwork is, in some fashion a 'concept album,' following in the footsteps of Illogic's skillful debut Unforseen Shadows (2000), but slightly eschewing the superbly joyful Got Lyrics? in favour of darker schemes. The album runs a gamut in terms of abstract poetics, stories and lyrical flexing; the complexity ranges widely, however, and you can be sure to find new treasures with each listen. It seems that one of Illogic's featured themes, "change is the only constant," is fitting for the broad strokes he uses.
The apex, "My World," demonstrates how effective the combination of Blueprint's solid, typically quirky production mixed with Illogic's abstract-yet-intelligible rhymes can be. "First Trimester" pushes into a more linear storytelling of abortion, with the outlines of Illogic's poetics still prominent ("He thinks: Here I sit, a child, embracing a child with child"). Equally, "Stand" presents us with an ambiguous argument between wayward father and angry son, to which the father is incredulous: "The child that I've created is debating the food that I've got on my plate? / have you had the chance to taste the seasoning sprinkled about my thinking and reasoning."
Like a real life tale, the father's ending has a markedly ineffectual response to the son's accusations, "check the content: you're a man, I'm a man / go find a woman and a piece of land / leave me to stand." Blueprint's production in "Stand" climaxes at all the right moments, providing a musical underlining to the arguments presented by each party.
Gloom is further explored in "Live to Die" - a short questioning of the appropriateness of a meaningless life in the face of death, backed, if somewhat unsurprisingly, by an organ (as a touchstone, fans of Got Lyrics? will remember Blueprint's bagpipe coup in "Pure Form"). This contrasts sharply with the piano-saturated "I Wish He Would Make Me," where Illogic explores the rededication of his faith. The least successful track is "Hollow Shell (Cash Clutch)," which suffers from an over-quirky beat which doesn't quite feel rich enough to provide adequate backing for the emcee's lines.
Illogic's delivery is itself chameleonic. In one breath he is Illogic, in another, evokes the atmosphere of Quannum MC, Lateef. In another, A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip, and yet another Kool Keith (aka Dr Octagon, Dr Dooom, etc.). Illogic's scaly shape can always be discerned, however, and this is one of his many strengths.
These differing levels of lyrical complexity provide an album that explores themes of life, death, procreation, faith and love, alongside wordplay and rhyming revelry. Musically, Blueprint scores highly. He demonstrates an implicit understanding of his relationship with the emcee, and with the tone of each piece. Soul, folk and hymn samples never sounded so good.
Illogic might be worried about "falling flat on my abstract," but he certainly doesn't do this in Celestial Clockwork. |
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| Stuart Reeves - 8/10 |
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Name:
Mike
| Date:
15/07/08 | Reply
Nice review. One of the genuinely original albums in what you correctly term a "sea of mediocrity".
As an aside, the "ambiguous argument between wayward father and angry son" seems to be lifted straight out of Slug's motif of verbal patricide. Indeed, Slug features on this track, although his voice camouflages eerily well with Illogic's similar tone. I would certainly assert that the theme of this song is Slug's fractious relationship with his own father, also seen in Atmosphere's songs "Yesterday" and "", to name but two.
Incidentally, I'd recommend that anyone who likes this sound immediately checks out all of Atmosphere's (Slug's band) albums for an equally original, thoughtful, existential brand of indie hip hop.
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Name:
Mike
| Date:
15/07/08 | Reply
To clarify, the track with Slug I was talking about is "Stand".
The second Atmosphere track which I neglected to name was "Little Man". Apologies.
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