Let's start with a broad, sweeping statement shall we? How about: "this is the album of the year."
With our colours nailed firmly to hip hop's mighty mast, welcome to Cannibal Ox's world. It ain't pretty, but it's mesmerising.
Cannibal Ox are two MCs - Vast Aire and Vodul Megilah - straight out of Harlem, NYC. Another essential fact is that 'The Cold Vein' is produced by El-P, beat wizard behind now-defunct avant hoppers Company Flow.
And 'The Cold Vein' is a brilliant album on a number of levels.
A clumsy critic could split hip hop lps into two camps - those that adhere to the norm, reinforcing the status quo. And those that try to sound avant guard but end up unlistenable. (Company Flow's debut 'Funcrusher Plus' certainly adhered to the latter.)
'The Cold Vein' however, defies such compartmentalisation. It's melodic yet challenging, listenable yet saying something. 'The F-Word' is a love song for F-sake. It's swooping and heart wrenching, each verse referencing Vast Aire's different ex-girlfriends. How many unlistenable sub-Autechre avant-rappers can boast that? How many jiggy big name say-nothing rap 'stars' can boast this kind of lyrical complexity? This is next level having-cake-and-eating-it type sh...
Another level where 'The Cold Vein' excels is in El-P's production. Pitched somewhere between Brian Eno (circa 'Music For Films') and Future Sound Of London (circa 'Lifeforms'), it oozes twisted funk and caustic cinematic soundscapes. It's enchanting: just as you attempt to pin it down, it slimes away down another sonic alley.
And while it ain't pretty, Cannibal Ox keep it real. This is the soundtrack to the real New York. Oh you thought Jay-Z's Moet-sipping, ghetto fabulous, cash-obsessed materialism was the real deal? Get your head out of MTV, wake up and smell the project piss. This is poor New York keeping it real. This is the world Cannibal Ox are soundtracking: not by killing or stealing, but by the inherently positive move of catharsis by rhymes.
Their post-poetry sprays out like a monotone Kool Keith as Dr Octagon minus the pseudoscience or like Anti-Pop Consortium with a tangible point to make. It's the icing on the cake.
Whatever. This will not be your album of the year if you like your music kept in the background, to be tinny and vacuous, politically neutered or mindlessly 'avin it on the dancefloor.
This will be your album of the year if you like your music fizzling with the essence of life and struggle, to be challenging and rewarding, complex yet listenable, with balls, guts, heart and soul.
OK: rant over. Come on feel the noise, if you think you're hard enough.
