Since forming in 1997 (under the credo 'disturb the equilibrium'), Anti-Pop Consortium have consistently pushed the musical envelope.
Their high-octane brand of radicalised hip hop has tapped into an audience disenchanted with commercial rap and the staid environment of so-called 'keep it real' hip hop.
'Arrhtymia' follows on from 2000's 'Tragic Epilogue' LP on 75 Ark, and once again mixes up high-brow conceptualising with lo-end funk theory.
Taking production cues from experimentalist crews like Autechre and Aphex Twin, producer Earl Blaize applies his aural beat-painting to a fantastically blank canvas, using ping pong balls, car-skids, flashing filaments, cosmic bleep surgery and general sci-fi surrealism to build his stratospheric phunk.
Not that 'Arrythmia's music is abrasive. Blaize is clever enough to introduce stark and sombre elements while retaining a generally euphonious feel. MC's Beans, High Priest, M Sayyid apply the same inventive approach, bringing in exquisite phrasing, intense verbal dexterity and even some bright harmonising. With lyrics as sharp as snake's tongues flicking in and around the beats, these cats pack as much originality and wordplay into a sentence as some manage on a whole LP.
With so much invention going on, the moods of the LP range far and wide. The opening weirdscape sequence confirms their love of experimentalia, but the first track, 'Bubblz', confirms their lust for heavy funk. Lines like 'I'll move crowds like Larry Levan' illustrates a knowledge of the world outside hip hop's grand lineage, but on 'Z ST' the MC's stay loyal to rap's storytelling tradition.
In fact, though the quartet go all out to blur the boundaries of hip hop, they ensure they retain the sacred essence of the style, keeping intact a modicum of funk whilst displaying progressive thinking and an impressive economy of style. There's a lot of alternative hip hop around right now, but nothing can match 'APS' for sheer coherent originality and on-point entertainment.
by Paul Sullivan