Customer Reviews

The No Music

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For many people, the Anticon crew area love 'em or hate 'em proposition. These are white b-boys who come across as genuine by keeping it real in reference to their own lives, rather than affecting a pose of simulated hip-hop "realness" and falling into the well-meaning minstrel trap. That's to say, Dose One, like the rest of his crew, laces his lyrics with bookish ephemera, references to now obscure 80s pop culture, wistful doubt, and the sorts of verbal jenga towers that part autodidact/part half-assed educated suburban intellectuals build up in vain attempts to outline the contours of that amorphous, unspeakable "it" which cannot be put into words, any more than 3-D object can be viewed from all sides at once. This is what mediated culture has given us to work with, and, unlike the indie-rockers that trade in similar lyrical currency, hip-hop has empowered Dose to plow through it all with self-assurance and Sisyphesian determination.

Musically, Themselves are similarly both real hip-hop and not. Like DJ Shadow, Jel works up hand-cued grooves with a warm n' worn feel. The similarities end there, howwever. This music explores the full implications of the sonic junkheap aspects of classic breakbeat wobble, and manages to bring the boom-bap simplicity when relief from information overload is needed. Dissonance is a big part of what's happening here, but as transitional passage between overlapping consanant segments, it keeps to the overall tendency toward unlikely connections that ultimately sound as natural as a walk down a noisy city street. There are textures here that seem to come from out of nowhere, both in the context of this music, and in their sheer alienness to anything you've heard before. But it all works, and it frequently bumps, with the occasional nod to Timbaland that's all too rare in an underground hip-hop scene more eager to distance itself from the mainstream than craft creative beats. The contrasts between hi-fi and purposefully lo-fi elements is even more pronounced here than on the cLOUDDEAD cd and this seems appropriate for the sharp-turning kaleidescope of this music. cLOUDDEDd felt like a melancholy haze of opiated reminiscence; "The No Music" is a technicolor plunge back into reality by headz still steeped in aesthetics and poetry.

In order to keep a balance here with all the other reviews (whose opinions I do respect), I'd like to say upfront that this album let me down. This album leaves a very strong sense of incompleteness, sounding like a rough draft to a final copy. Now there are many really tight beats on this album, but it seems once your head gets nodding it stops immedieately because the beat instantly switches up to something else. I would loved to see the final copy to this rough draft of this album; it's potential is very high but leaves you let down. At first I thought I got a bad copy of it since I can't even hear what Dose one is saying. It's not like the Them album where Doseone is clearly heard, but it's very muddy and distorted. I find it hard to agree with those revewiers who said Dose sounds very good on this album, for you can barely hear him. And the production is not good at all, unlike what that other reviewer said about putting other albums to shame in regards to production. did I get a bad copy or something, seriously? This production is the Worst I've heard, not the best. The worst. Now if this is the sort of thing that you like, then you will find this album to be totally sweet. I just feel that someone needs to speak up and balance the reviews on this page, because I bought the album fully trusting these reveiews and was severely let down. I resepect Dose and Jel if this is the sort of thing they were going for, but I just can't like this album. I love Sole, Alias, Deep puddle Dynamics, and Dose, so I'm not new to Anticon. But this album is not as good as the Them album by Themselves. It's decent, but not that good. Be careful.

Very good- you could call it a drum'n'bass clouddead, but that would be oversimplified. thankfully vocals by dose one arent as turkey-on-fire or Betabandish as in the past. he sounds good. jel (producer) did an amazing job at keeping the sound sparse, experimental, and hiphop all at the same time. wouldnt reccommend this for crossover material though-- rap fan wise, this is probably only for all the anticon/forward thinking hiphop people out there.

Probably the most essential album in my collection, along with some Opeths, Metallicas and classical pianos, "The No Music" continues to fascinate me.

The big debate is: do the lyrics/bizarre composition mean anything? If so, then the Anticon crew must be geniuses! If not, then they are pretentious "art snobs". A proposal: maybe it doesn't matter. Enjoy the weirdness for what it is! If it means something to you, great! I mean come on, how can you resist "...they were, teeth clamped, face first you fell into the door you took the doorknob, how they all feel falling, shattered fish bowl, rocks out into your mouth, your eyes were huge..." and the likes? And what's with the recurring theme of people having jobs? Who cares what it means; it's awesome!

The thick production with all the electronic bleeps and creaks is kind of funny along with being mysterious and strange, i.e. "You Devil You". And the cartoon voice! THE CARTOON VOICE! Doseone is an essential vocalist due to both his humor and his creativity.

Best songs: The teeth one (track #2), "Good People Check", "You Devil You" and "Hat in the Wind", excluding the stupid poetic improv introduction.

And yes, Dose, we all want to masturbate in a planetarium.

I discovered Themselves a bit late I guess, but damn! This is the best thing of any genre I've heard in a very long time. And live they cinch the deal. I am blown away, very complex yet catchy. Don't miss them live Doseone is a performer with a stage presence seldom scene. This is the first "new" sound thing i've heard in over a decade.

This is more accessable than clouddead, and more bangin'. I still like clouddead better, but this is highly reccommended for open minded hip-hop fans. The production is loud and dirty, but not like bomb squad loud and dirty, more out there. Dose is in top form, really pushing boundaries both lyrically and with his remarkable flow. "Live trap" is more light-speed and claustrophobic than anything El-p ever did. It is almost a freak show, really awesome.

The reason this album sounds like it was probably recorded in a garage is either because they wanted it that way and that people dont like dose and he doesnt have the cash to have a big studio and crap....i love this album...if u like this u would like them, hemisphere, and circle...hemisphere is pretty hard to find.....i think they dont sell em anymore...doseone and jel are awsome....and u know it...dont you...yes...

I grew up with a huge distaste of rap music in general, having been influenced by a lot of electronic, ambient, experimental, and industrial music. Themselves' album is doesn't fit into any of these labels (why try to label them?) but it really appealed to my tastes and, alongside Swollen Members, Buck 65, and fellow Anticon mates, Sole, they have been breaking down my biases towards the ridiculousness that is gangsta rap and the traditionally boring beats I find so common in almost all hip hop.

I don't pretend to know a lot about rap, but I offer huge kudos to Anticon and artists like Dose One and Jel, who make up Themselves, for pushing the art forward and taking it places no one's ever dreamed of before. To me, that's what music is about. And, at least for me, this album is still totally accessible — but again, I come from different roots than your traditional American rap fan, which seem to be mostly slagging this one.

I suggest checking it out, you'll either love it or hate it.

live trap is the best song ever. doseone is the quickest rapper ever. next to bone thugs-n-harmony, doseone rips it when he speeds things up to mach 7. everyone's ravin' and rantin' about how twista's new cd is sick and how fast he is. he's garbage compared to doseone. you can't even compare doesone with twista cuz twista is in another category. doseone is avantgarde ok? that's it. jel is avantgarde. why? is avantgarde. anything by anticon is avantgarde. this album is amazing. immensely different, very, very strange. you'll love it because it is so deep and it is so useless yet useFUL at the same time. if you are hungry for some underground stuff, or if you're some kind of poet freak, or if you're some kind of gothic dark deep weirdo, which i am all of those and more, you'll love this album. this album is magic. a masterpiece, the beats are lovely, the words are weird. this isn't rap, this isn't hip-hop, this isn't anything but everything at the same time. i'm too excited about this album. EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS ALBUM IS COOL!!!! buy it!!! i highly recommend it. not like ANYTHING you've ever heard of in your life!!! i promise!

Forget meaningless titles and obscure genre placements, this album is amazing no matter what type of music is your normal fix. And as good as the album is, they are even better live. Do whatever it takes, short of killing someone, to see this act.