"Look Mom… No Hands", is where Vast Aire, best known for his work alongside fellow emcee Vordul as Cannibal Ox, cuts free and makes a solo joint.
At first glance, it's a dope proposition: production from leading heads like Madlib, RJD2, Ayatollah, Da Beatminerz and Jake One plus guests like Sadat X, MF Doom, Vordul, Camu Tao - how can it not be the bomb?
Well, let's see. The opening track "Intro (His Majesty's Laughter") suggests Aire is going to head in the direction of Cannibal Ox's "Cold Vein" classic, as he spouts sick verses through a dense, cacophonous murk. Then the sky clears, each producer takes their turn to step up and offer beats, and a diverse and ultimately unfocused backdrop emerges.
Without the opaque veil of El-P's production clouding his voice, Vast Aire is able to stand out more and, as it happens, this is not t his benefit. Not because he's a bad emcee there are many standout moments but because He's a limited emcee, and it shows against such a scattershot soundtrack.
Though he sounds surprisingly good on the quirky jazz-walk "Da Superfriendz", excellent on punchy numbers like the title track, and just about perfect on apocalyptic cuts like "WHYSDASKYBLUE?" (produced by Cryptic), his gravely voice with it's psychotic undertones – sounds self-conscious and cumbersome against soulful tracks like "Viewtiful Flow" and "Elixir".
Lyrically, he comes across as shallow, showing himself capable of visceral punch on the darker cuts but providing too many vapid moments for comfort elsewhere. It would be unfair to say that "Look Mom…" is a bad album. It merely lacks coherence and consistency.
By the half way mark we realise that, versatile as Vast Aire believes he is (and at times can be), he still has a way to go before he can emerge properly from the realm of the abstract.
