Music Writer?

DOA wants new music review writers, and I thinks I shall try my hand at it. (If any other music geek out there would like to do the same, check out www.adequacy.net, its Rochester based, and nerdishly updated daily.)

My plan is to post the review I'm going to send the editor of DOA as a sample of what I'm capable of. That is, mebbe you all could give me some grammer/english/structure pointers? Before I send in some complete peice of geek rambling, I'd like to refine it a tad. I have 3 reviews I've written. This one is somthing I just typed up about Bizzart. The other two are buried in the archives somewhere... (The Evan Anthem, and As I Lay Dying) I might look over those two, if I end up not liking this one. We'll see. I think, with a little work here and there, this one could work well. But its definitley 5 in the morning soo...

Let me know what you think of...


Bizzart: Ear Drung
Sounds Are Active, 2004

The very nature of experimental music makes it hit or miss. Some artists manage to create other worldly soundscapes and intelligent statements through experimental means, while others drag in the mud of pretentious avant-sound disasters. I appreciate the brave and rebellious souls who push boundaries and buttons, and are willing to take musical risks in order to create something original, while I curse the day some artists recorded their selfish indulgences.
That’s why reactions to Bizzart’s newest album Ear Drung will probably be of the "love it" or "hate it" variety. With no respect for preconceived notions of musical form, hip-hop, or complimentary sounds, Bizzart successfully tore me a new one. Using every strange sound source available, Accident, who produced the entire album, has created a noise filled hip-hop album that is so challenging, it becomes enjoyable. Sound abuse would be a good word to describe Accidents approach to creating tracks. As vinyl, synthesizers, guitar, and other instruments collide inside a dryer set on overdrive to create the static filled, radioactive terrain of Ear Drung.
The opener “Illuminate/ Ear Drung” draws layers of shriveling, synth lines on top of shrill synth squeals and other indescribable mysteries. Once the layers begin to spill over, and the beat drops, Bizzart lets a shout of “Illuminate!” and begins to rattle off a fevered, high pitched verse. Yes, the music is bizarre on the record, but it only serves as a precursor to Bizzart’s “martian-being-strangeled” style of what is usually called rapping. He also has a flow unlike anything I’ve ever heard, making him seem sometimes like he is rattling off what he wrote, with no regard to the beat. He rarely rhymes, and at times shrieks, sings, and talks normally. He does absolutely everything in his might to destroy hip-hop, rapping, and aural decency, while keeping a beat that you can bob your head to. Usually.
“Protocol” sports a clean beat, with chimes and piano creating a nice atmosphere behind Bizzart’s clear vocals until a live free-jazz combo tears into the studio and rips apart the set while Accident manipulates the chaos with disruptive delay effects. Surprises are scattered throughout the album, as synthesized bullets ricochet across the un-easy terrain of “Pink Summer in Hell”, (which is one of the few songs with a discernable chorus) and guest rappers drop in from all over the place (Galaxalag of Soul-Junk, Zane of the Tunnel Rats, and Freedom80, namely.). Bizzart drops his best verse on “Infinite Zero”, which also features Zane spitting an amazing verse, making it one of the best songs on the record.
Indeed, the album seems to come to a head on the last two tracks as Bizzart unleashes some of his best verses, and Accident breaks open Pandora’s box as wave upon wave of noise-hop chaos ensues. Accident then switches gears on the closer “Negative Gravity/ Hummingbird Feeder” as atmospheric strings and fading wood chimes play over a small minimalist beat to compliment Bizzart and Freedom80 as they lay out the most affecting verses on the album. The song is subtle, making the lyrics the centerpiece, as words echo, and play backwards at times, yet still, somehow remain discernable.
Ear Drung is immensely complicated, overwhelmed with whole worlds of sounds, ensuring that most listeners will hear only noise and chaos. Bizzart’s vocals further complicate, and challenge the listener until one is left in completely unfamiliar territory. While it is uncomfortable and even un-pleasant at times, Ear Drung delivers un-conventional hip-hop at its finest.