Kicking off my sporadic analysis of the 20 records wot Fact reckons are the most anticipated of this calendar year, at number one (sans bullet): Kode9 & The Spaceape's second full-length.Now it might just be the fact that he too is a supplanted weegie, but I've always really enjoyed Kode9's stuff- seeing him spin a year or two back with Flying Lotus was a particular treat. He clearly knows his stuff theory/production-wise (if that's your bag) but also knows his way around a good banger.
I can't say the same about The Spaceape unfortunately, who I've always suspected owes his success more to his ability to whisper very earnestly than to MC proper. Por lo general, hushed stoner paranoia can yield some interesting lyrical results (see Tricky, et al.) but unfortunately the Spaceape's lyrics have a tendency to sound more teenage than tortured.
See for example, 'Am I' which opens with the execrable 'I am a killer with a gun shooting rounds of inspiration?' and toddles along in pretty much the same vein for the rest of the track. It's not all bad, but those kind of moments lead to a grimace that tends to only wane during the instrumental sections- like the brilliant title track.
Overall, it's not a wholly disappointing experience, but I am left with the nagging wonder of what Kode9 might be able to do if he could just let his style roam across an album without having to worry about buffeting a vocalist.
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