New Gajah EP

Somewhere Between Art Rap and Murder-Core

I still remember the first time I heard Acid Reign and how blown away I was by them.  I had been hearing a buzz about them for a little while, and when I came across their Acidicompositions tape at Amoeba records in Berkeley I snatched it up.  Listening to it on my way down the street  I was instantly struck at the newness of it:  The far-out but low-fi production, the rough-hewn quality, and the completely unheard-of stylings of the two emcees, Beond and Gajah; who by the sound of their voices were probably - and remarkably - still a couple of high school kids.  
The Acid Reign crew have been futurists from the get go.  The same could be said to a point for the entire Project Blowed collective back in the '90's - They worked to push music forward like few others.  The wild lyrical and musical experimentation, the die-hard do-it-yourself aesthetic, the exploration of alternative means to promote and sell the music - all were trademarks of the LA underground at that time.  But Acid Reign seemed to take it all to the next level.  They could see where hip hop needed to go and effectively took it there.  By taking a few basic elements (mics, decks, the occasional instrument) and working with minimal equipment (the 4 track), they managed to produce truly unheard sounds, both musically, stylistically and lyrically - even compared to their P-Blowed compatriots.  
It's been 14 years since I first heard that tape, and it's fortunate indeed that Acid Reign are still around, continuing to push music forward.  You can see their influence stretching out behind them over the industry like the wake from a boat - with every new move you can hear the cats scrambling to keep up.  With Gajah's latest release, the visionary, 4-song "Man the Ship" (a fitting flagship release for the band's new Bandcamp site), it's evident that his focus is still not on what is, but on what's to come.  His flow is still instantly recognizable - the phenomenal articulation, the unique cadences, the tongue-splitting speed - but it's become refined and distilled and ultimately more on-point.  Similarly the production values are higher, which only creates a larger canvas to lay down the representations of his vision.  Each track is unique musically; The stoney jazz of "See In You" shares space with the glitchy, MBox-destroying "Walk".  Waves of beautiful, reverbed feedback float over the beat on "Sponge" while the beat is almost obliterated by the Bochum Welt-like synth abuse on "Sound Blast".  As experimental as this may sound on paper, all the tracks are head-noddingly addictive and kept tightly wound due to Gajah's intense emceeing and lyrics.  Several guests are present in this audio vortex, including Open Mike Eagle, Herrmutt Lobby, Ellul, Shuanise, and Portformat.  DL link can be found below; give them the support they deserve, listen to what's on the horizon.


Man The Ship


Thanks again to Stones for the opportunity to let me post up here - Jack Devo