Of all the gleefully idiosyncratic MCs to burst from
the US in recent years, LA’s Busdriver possesses
surely one of the most preposterous deliveries, coming
on like the Scatman John of alt-hop with his jelly-octaved
tenor and latex-lipped linguistics (conveniently, his
name is actually John). Cosmic Cleavage, his
first effort for Big Dada, displays a particularly pronounced
jazz/bebop influence in keeping with the tradition of
the label’s parent, Ninja Tune; clipped, squawking
trumpet loops and boomingly resonant double bass lines
abound, and the mood veers between the sort of prolix
playfulness previously endemic in his work with Radioinactive
and Daedelus as The Weather (Nagging Nimbus,
Kev’s Blistering Computer Tan…),
and a more foreboding, uncertain mood, at which points
one can almost sense producer Daddy Kev wrenching Busdriver
from the wheel and steering the record off sharp left
in his own avant-jazz gear
As has been noted elsewhere, any comparison with Doseone,
beyond ostensible stylistic resemblance, misses the
mark; Busdriver’s lyrical concerns remain largely
unrefracted by the sort of relentless abstract imagery
and periodically impenetrable surrealist melancholy
the Anticon mainstay trades in; plainly speaking, once
you get the measure of his breathless bleatings, it’s
fairly easy to gauge what this fellow is on about (one
of the many perverse pleasures of Dose
being, to quote a less desirable American orator, that
sense he conveys of the known unknown). At under half
an hour, Cosmic Cleavage is laudably snipped
short of overkill, and the finale of the album is arguably
it’s most diverting phase; an unsettling, discordant
melange of loose jazz instrumentation recalling the
eye of a moderately tempestuous Sun Ra storm, with nary
a peep to be heard from the principle vocal protagonist.
Such worthy restraint, along with the adroit selection
of musical associates that adorn Cosmic Cleavage
make it worthy of inspection for followers of Big Dada’s
more outré output, who will surely be encouraged,
having been left stranded so cruelly by cLOUDDEAD,
that the label has hitched a ride with Busdriver.
John Stevens
4.1/5 |
