It’s So Easy When It’s Simplified

Edan (featuring Dagha) “Rock and Roll” – Several hip hop producers (not to mention mash-up artists) have flirted with the textures of psychedelic rock in the past, but for one reason or another, it seems that whenever people go for a full-on hip hop/rock hybrid, they nearly always use super-obvious heavy metal sounds. Edan commits to the hard psych aesthetic, fusing Nuggets-style rock to hardcore rap in a way that is often remarkably seamless and unforced. “Rock and Roll” is most similar to some of DJ Shadow’s work on Entroducing and the first UNKLE album, but Edan’s music is bolder and brighter, with power chords that hit like wrecking balls and aggressive raps that practically scream “I AM A HUGE FAN OF THE WU-TANG CLAN.” (Hey, so am I! No harm, no foul.) (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Decomposure “Whose Side Are You On?” – Decomposure pull off a peculiar stylistic tightrope walk on this track, as he produces a corny late 90s alt-rock sort of song (it specifically reminds me of Ben Folds Five and Third Eye Blind) with a glitchy, cut-up style that’s almost like a hyperactive version of Matmos or Aphex Twin. It’s an interesting and surprisingly effective way to produce a song that would probably sound right at home on a mainstream pop station if it had been recorded with a conventional pop-rock arrangement. However, judging by the artist’s notes about the song, it seems that he is overly apologetic about his strong pop inclinations, and that his production approach has less to do with subversion and more to do with trying to make the songs work for him on a very borecore ideological level. Making matters worse, the lyrics critique the American media and its consumers with a very offputting level of smug condescension. I find this very troubling, particularly because I essentially agree with him on a political level, but I am very uneasy with his rather elitist tone, both in the lyrics and in his essays about his work. It’s ironic that a song that chastises people for seeing the world in simplified terms would also seem to neglect a lot of the complexity in the lives of the people that he is critiquing. A rather sensible point is lost by being delivered in a way not too far removed from a typical mall-goth “you’re all sheep!” sneer. The good news is that Decomposure is only 22 years old, and that’s it likely that the populism at the heart of his songwriting and basic political beliefs will catch up with his rhetoric before too long. (Click here for the official Decomposure site.)