Busdriver - Fear Of A Black Tangent (Big Dada)

Not all his own work of course. Fear Of A Black Tangent may feature Busdriver's name out on front, but this record is a teamster's effort. As part of the Freestyle Fellowship, Busdriver is able to call on the soundscaping skills of other hip-hop mentalists including Paris Zax, Omid, Danger Mouse, Thavius Back, and Mush Records collaborator Daedalus. Its possible to prise apart the flix 'n' trix of each producer, but all are in simpatico with Busdriver's rhymestyle that is just a tongue-tie away from free association.

And what may that be, you may ask? FOABT isn't a moon-eyed answer record to Public Enemy's Fear Of A Black Planet, more of a deranged, but deceptively focused, postscript - Busdriver is on record as saying this record would be "loosely playing with racial politics".

And you can discern a little history from: "I am the world's first black astronaut / To walk the moon / From my air balloon," (Unemployed Black Astronaut). In place of breathless confrontation, Busdriver opts for the space cadet button, a vintage utility of afro-American music for social commentary at-one-remove. Still, there are barbs hidden among the verbal undergrowth - witness: "My course hair means I'm into petty theft / Right?" (from Lefty's Lament).

Busdriver's last extended set (Cosmic Cleavage) was one that grasped for the big time, and Fear Of A Black Tangent is preoccupied with the fallout from his brush with the star-making machinery of the biz - "We mapped your psyche / We know what you do before you do / Packaged it nicely/ And sold it to you".

Despite the glut of subject content, Fear Of A Black Tangent really flies when the rapidity of Busdriver's lyrical flow matches the virtual improvisation of the loops, or kicks back on the thrill of pure sound. As hip-hop psychedelics go, there's little better than Low Flying Winged Books, where Thavius Back soundtracks a tick-tock drum lick wrapped up in good old tape reverse and Busdriver's multi-tracked, disorientated vocals.

Hip-hop's improv ambitions have been obvious ever since Stetsasonic were talkin' all that jazz since - ahem - back in the day. Busdriver is happy to credit free-jazzer Jon Hendricks with prime inspiration. More surprisingly, Busdriver lists unlikely Alt types such as Blonde Redhead and Belle & Sebastian as part of his listening pleasures. The rich sound palette is indicative of this eclecticism too, from the astral travelling of Omid's Reheated Pop, through to the Tex Avery capery of the Paris Zax assisted Avantcore.

Defiantly indie and selectively subversive, Fear Of A Black Tangent's frisky loops reveal a maverick rap talent. All in all a little self-consciously kooky to fight the power with. And despite the range of his raps, Busdriver is just a little too boys' own to form part of a genuine revolutionary generation. Still, for those looking for to get their kicks on hip-hop's margins, Fear Of A Black Tangent will doubtless suffice.

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