Are You An Axolotl

text

A changing of channels and then a spacey electronic voice sings ah-ahs of love, delving into the syncopated moments that define the majority of this album. A selection of auction rap follows, with a generous smattering and splattering of pingy computer blinks and stretchchchchchchchched out voices. And yet are the current proponents of hip-hop checking any of this out? Or are their claims of wanting to "take it to the next level" levelling off, petering out, kaput. Is the only mic they pick up in a gay bar?

It's far more melodic and introspective than the usual crop of contenders and pretenders in the hip-hop game, which, of course, could preclude it from being defined as such. The tenth track, "Professor Glick", deals with a conversation about turtles between a retarded person and a young boy; it erupts thereafter into a steady rain of beats and crackling tones, faster than any turtle. And that ebbs nicely into the situation of seeing "axolotl" for the first time. It's difficult to identify, to pronounce, to pigeonhole - much like this record.