Passage – The Forcefield Kids (Anticon, 2004)
(This originally appeared in Canned Magazine)
Everything from Anticon has an undeniably cohesive style. This release from Passage (Restiform Bodies) has that feel and a little style on top. The Northeasterner transplanted himself to Oakland a few years ago and has since been involved with Anticon: spreading the gospel of oddity. Again, Anticon doesn’t specialize in hip-hop. The collective specializes in exploding the boundaries of said genre. Passage doesn’t necessarily rap, he sings and strums a guitar a good part of the time. Although the guitar playing is accompanied with myriad burps, gurgles and hums of electronics, one can most certainly hear the folky influence in the music. The album itself flows well. With any hip-hop or electronic recording a test for competence is the ability of the producer to meld each track together to create a seamless breadth of work. The Forcefield Kids possesses a singular vision of sonic textures, thanks to Passage. While this slab does not sound specifically derivative of one artist/group the closest relation may be Beans and his first solo full length Tomorrow Right Now. Sometimes the boom-bap doesn’t sound like rap, but more like electronic punk. The album starts off with an unsettling instrumental and proceeds to offer similar sonic settings throughout. Often times Passage does not rap, but sings portions of the verse only to explode with section of raps (“Lost in Boston with a head full of Zanex”). When verses are understandable they’re interesting, but occasionally between the raps and bizarre production a track becomes trying (“Put together/Play/Red Ferrari calendar blob”). This is an amalgam of sounds, only for the advanced listener, but certainly an apt introduction to Anticon for the uninitiated.
Tracklisting:
01 – Forcefield Intro
02 – In the Bio Burbs
03 – Creature in the Classroom
04 – The Pins in the Bowels of Charmed Design,
05 – Old Aunt Mary
06 – Free Luvv, From Left Field
07 – Whine Money
08 – The Unstrung Harp
09 – The Kiss Ass Karaoke
10 – Put Together, Play, Red Ferrari Calendar Blob
11 – Jail 4 Lil’ Geniuses
12 – Duck’n'cover
13 – 19911
14 – The Unspectacular Whiteboy Slave Song
15 – Spring ‘97
16 – Suffragette
17 – Reagan’s Chest
18 – All the News That’s Fit to Pint
19 – Scarefilm
20 – Poem to the Hospital
21 – Pail of Air
