As far removed from Puffy's (un) hip pop as Dave Brubecks' 'Take 5' was from the free jazz sounds of Albert Ayler et al, is this anti hip hop. Pure Anti Pop.
Hailing from NYC (where else?) on the ever leftfield Ozone imprint (check Sonic Sum) comes 'Tragic Epilogue'. It's packed with the usual tales of the burdens and contradictions of modern life. But then real life ain't ghetto fabulous day-to-day. This is hip hop at it's most abstract and the four piece drop monotone complex raps situated saner than Dr Octagon and smarter than Company Flow. Keep it real? Keep it raw.
The whole LP is produced, in differing amounts, by differing band members, but it retains a sense of whole. In places it's hard work, but always manages to keep the flow going. 'Nude Paper' is an anthem only in the most offworld of senses, with its 'my body/your body/nobody/anybody...' rhymes booming back attcha.
Between the rhymes and beats are shards of sound as likely to be sampled from Sun Ra and Basic Channel as 60's stereo LPs. One thing is for sure; this isn't a Tragic Epilogue, but a brave new chapter. Test yourself.
