Hip-Hop has some of the most creative beats for a genre that focuses mainly on the lyrics. In the club especially, hip-hop becomes all about the beat and production rather than the lyrics. Now that’s an exciting idea for a genre. This is the realm of hangtime. A very creative approach to music by combining the best parts of different genres to create this psychedelic concoction.
Right2Repair is the latest album by hangtime. A 13 track long creative masterpiece that stands out. Its amazing how hangtime is able to mix so many different styles that are so different from each other, effortlessly. The thought process and ideation that goes behind their music is something I wonder about. How do you get such ideas?
This album starts off with a grimy couple of tracks. ‘Broken ones’ and ‘left2maintain’ are dripping with some dirty basslines that can tear up the club. The main vocals are spaced out with some nice reverb and effects. This is accompanied by another vocal without effects layered in to give this track a lot of energy. These are what I would call pick me up tracks. They make you get up and get down!
With ‘how much longer’, the album takes an alternative path. The hip-hop elements are mellowed out and replaced with some nice alternative music style with some very experimental electronic sounds. A very psychedelic track that takes you into hangtime’s intergalactic gentlemen’s club. Probably my personal favorite so far in this album.
Away sounds like a Red Hot Chilli Peppers track. A very drastic change in genres right through the album. High school brings back the electronic vibe of the album. The vocals are again reverberated out into the back giving the sounds prominence. Very eloquent sound design and creative use of noise in this track.
‘Inner Monster’ has the best introduction in this album and gradually builds up. A very psychotic track that should come with an epilepsy warning. The sound design just keeps getting better. Just brilliant! Now ‘way overdue’ is back to the alternative rock vibe. Even though this track might seem like a traditional alternative rock track, the effects used on the vocals, the sound design and overall production begs to differ.
‘PZombie’ intensifies this style of rock and marks the end of the use of this style in this album. Then again, ‘modern warfare’ has a very cinematic introduction fully exhibiting the exceptional sound design and arrangement of the producer. It’s a brilliant track that seems to take you through a journey through a post-apocalyptic alien forest. It sets the vibe for the rest of the album. As you go down the album it becomes more and more evident that this is definitely a concoction of psychedelic experiences translated into sound by hangtime.
You are now an intergalactic bounty hunter scouring the edges of the universe in search of prey. ‘Can you hear me now’ brings back the hip hop elements with powerful basslines. A really catchy hook and easy lyrics make this song stick in your head. ‘This high’ is a fitting end to this album. Distorted and distant vocals coupled with cutting edge sound design make this the most sophisticated track in the album. A psychedelic track that can be the perfect background for fight scenes of Tron Legacy.
Overall Right2Repair is a psychedelic concoction. It is complex in its arrangement, but at the core, very direct and easy to relate to, bridging the gaps between various stylistically choices in a more seamless way that unveils hangtime’s spontaneity as a creator and artist.
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Discovered via http://musosoup.com
