I have to start this review by noting M.Sayyid and Earl Blaize's abscence on this release. High Priest and Beans foot the Antipop's bill here, which in no way dissappoints, but shows a noticeable difference in the directions this group is moving. And possibly indicates Blaize n' Sayyid are working on their own concoction to bomb the Hiphop World with....?
Matthew Shipp is a great musician for these MCs to collaborate with. Shipp's band packs a tight backbone-consisting of upright bass, drums, vibes, trumpet and flute. Shipp's piano progressions switch from sounding Far-Eastern-ish to 40s-50s swing-ish, but when Priest gets out the Moog synth on 'SVP'(trk5) it makes for a wild journey. Shipp punches out a repetitive, eerie but catchy, pattern on the ivories while Priest creates a bassline out of crooked drops and squirts, eventually meshing into a beautiful harmony. 'Staph'(trk 2) is reminiscent of the Roots earlier Illadelph style, and Beans breaks it down, staying right in time with the kick drum.
This(10 trk,60min.)album truly serves as a fat hold-over installment for any Antipop Consortium fan who can't wait till March for Beans solo album to pop, and if you're reading this after such time; this album is worth buying for the affore-mentioned 'SVP' and 'Coda'trk6 alone. 'Coda' is one of the best Priest songs I've heard to date(and I own many,mind you, 12" incld). I don't believe Shipp even contributes on this track, so it's full force, pure produced Antipop. Look for the rest of the crew's solo efforts, too. These are the pioneers of the soundtrack to the inevitible crumbling of the now-present-bling-culture that seems to infest every aspect of Hollywood(and the Music Industry).