Alias – Collected Remixes (Anticon, 2007)
(This originally appeared in the Cleveland Free Times)
Hollis, Maine hasn’t given the world a great batch of hip-hop, but Alias weighs in from the Anticon stable with an album that both represents his concept of what rap has become as well as what his label works to push forward. In keeping with the unconscious decision of Anticon a few years ago to further embrace indie and electronic styles, Collected Remixes moves deftly between genres and works to include the personalities present on the original tracks. On “Alienation”, Alias works with percussive noises that recall vintage De La Soul, but adds the unobtrusive vocal piece lent by Lali Puna. Somber hip-hop, evoking slow mornings comes in the form of “Clue” from a Lunz project where Alias allows the drum programming to take over the track. The final two selections on this slab are from Anticon related acts and end the affair on a promising note. “Karmic Retribution/Funny Stick”, a Sixtoo composition, represents the strictly hip-hop life of Anticon backpackers and hints at the organizational skill of the writer and the re-mixer. An Alias and Tarsier track concludes the album with a quiet intro and a representation of where Anticon seems to be going in the future. Collected Remixes sits firmly in the Anticon cannon and as a misfit amongst remix albums that take on the personality solely of the producer. If rap fans are looking for a strictly boom-bap soundtrack, look elsewhere; here, influences are rampant and evident, taking cues from much more than hip-hop and electronica.
