Pixel Love
label: worker bee

producers: cills, give.
guests: dj kingone
year of release: 2002

website: cillsisfake.com
As frustrating it is for the artist, sometimes it's good to take your time with a review. Listen to the record. Put it aside. Get back to the record. Listen again. And with that a more solid opinion will form on the album, or single, or tape, or compilation. At times the opinion might even shift, from unimpressed to enjoying it. Such was the case here. While during the first two three spins of the album, a more or less unimpressed state formed. Sometime after that, it clicked, the album, the opinion, everything just clicked, and the state changed to thoroughly digging "Pixel Love". The album by the used to be called Logic. Now he's Cills, he's a worker bee, he comes through on here.

tracklisting
1. Start
2. Birds That Fall From Skies
3. Dead Man
4. Anvil Theories
5. One
6. Twilight Mood
7. Caterpillar Eyes
8. Count
9. Willing To Break
10. Two
11. Traffic
12. Beauty
13. Pixel Love
Mainly with relaxed compositions on continuously efficient production. That is easy to accept, as opposed to some of the lyrics, that might just be a little too left side at times. Or simply brash, like on "Dead Man" where he remarks "you're a dead man die, we need more space" on the hook. But he discusses some serious evil doers, over a fitting harsh and Electro static production. The left side approach is due to him 'spitting poems', as he says on "Twilight Mood", one of the many songs that are carrying us with a gentle strut. Another one of those songs is "Birds That Fall From Skies". And Give picks up the production duties, combining many sounds like it's a live band. Thus a horn is not used to be looped, but to do a little solo. Not just Give is able to do such bliss though, as on the previously mentioned "Twilight Mood", Cills creates the same musical sunset, with a guitar rising, percussion added, vibes captured. More Give production is on "Willing To Break", that even contains a certain pacific coast aesthetic. "Beauty" works as a possible sibling, while with the title track "Pixel Love", the emotions get overbearing, with the claim being "every pixel is above every man who doesn't love". But the song could be a smash hit for all the right reasons. Be it the lyrics that portray someone else or the unabandoning beat by Give that even features a Santana like guitar solo.
But it's Cills who carries both the rhyming and production duties most of the times. As he does on the more demanding "Anvil Theories" and the thoroughly sad "Caterpillar Eyes". The title does suggest the strong poetic lines he's saying. With his poetry however being less mushy and more a painting with words. His approach to singing can be heard on "Count", a reflecting on living life track. And his message is to bear the burden, accept the hand of cards you are given, and play poker as you see fitting. On "Traffic", work life is discussed along with the monetary strive. And then not to forget, there's the hidden track, where Cills does a short verse of 'if I had', while earlier on having talked about what he could have talked about, as well as talking about how he appreciates the attention and support received.
If you are not willing to follow Cills every word, this album offers you enough music to get lost in. You can even be lured by the sometimes sing song flow, letting the melodic voice be another instrument on the tracks. However, Cills says too much, to not at least put up with his words from time to time. And even if you are not into poetry in general, there will be some pieces out there that just get to you. Cills is a likely candidate to have written one or two of 'em, and he's reciting them on here.
review: tadah
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