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| Tree City Legends |
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producers: dj, natural, anacron, kp
the illustrado, denizen kane
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guests: typical cats
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| year of release: 2002 |
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| How often do you try a new food? Or does it
need you ordering a vegetarian pizza, that has aubergines plastered
all over the surface, for you to try it for the first time?
Is a wrongfully placed order for a coffee the only way for you
to taste it for the first time? What about spoken word, creative,
instrumental, intelligent, non bling bling and blah blah hip
hop? Do we have to trick you into listening to it? Act like
it's the newest so and so and when you realize what it is, it's
already too late? Well think about that before you turn down
another record, simply on pure expectations. Think about that
before you don't listen to Denizen Kane. |
| Who is part of the Typical Cats, and as we
learned on their album, as well as the solo album from also
member Qwel, these cats are rather untypical. What also means
that you can't really throw them all in one pot and it would
fit. They are actually refusing to not do something different.
And exactly that is what's typical about the cats, that you,
each and every time, will be treated to something you will not
have expected. Like on this album with songs like "Drown
(Bless The Dead)", where a women is singing,
while one organ is adding the sole company. On "Lost
Found Legend Of _____" Denizen gets out his
guitar and sings in a somewhat reggae voice. And to even further
take this away from anything reducibly boom bap, this makes
up one forth of the whole EP. |
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| tracklisting |
| 1. Early Burn |
| 2. Only Sleeping |
| 3. Calling Card |
| 4. Two Trains |
| 5. Tree City Legends |
| 6. Micah 6:8 |
| 7. Drown (Bless the Dead) |
| 8. Lost Found Legend Of ___ |
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| Obviously there's also the more
'traditional', meaning the what people will call
hip hop. And the best track on here must be the
groovy wah wahish "Two
Trains". Not only is the KP The
Illustrado beat just straight up dope in all its
musicality, this simply makes the introspective
words stand out further and our attention is spent
in excessive quantities for this song. So we are
rather cool that the beat is allowed to play on
for quite some time after Denizen ceased to talk.
The self portraying, discussing, analyzing and misunderstanding
"Only Sleeping"
is only a little less good, with the Anacron beat
doing everything right to not taste canned. But
we got more trouble with the Typical Cats outing
"Calling Card"
(too live sounding instrumentation) and "Early
Burn" (funky enough, and lyrically
dense, however still lacking seasoning). "Tree
City Legends" juggles the transition
from singing to rapping, while "Micah
6:8" is kept instrumental for a
big part, with the rest being of a friendly drill
sergeant singing while marching. |
| Prejudices are a mo-fo. And the
trouble is that few preconditioned 'naws' can easily
outweigh a vast number of 'hoorays'. Like I tried
to sell you this album, but the short description
of the elements that make it, as well as the elements
that are to be missed from here, is only drawing
out a preset decision. Where are the good arguments?
Where's the one line that has you jump over your
shadow (or hood of your imaginary big car) and try
something new? Does it have to be by accident and
chance? Do you have to have this Christopher Columbus
gene? Where's your will to taste an aubergine that
you've never had before? What does it take for you
to listen to Denizen Cane, who is dope? |
| review:
tadah |
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2000 - 2012.08 by urban smarts | contact |
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