The massive critical acclaim over past couple years of both Rjd2 and DJ Shadow has lead to an increasing acceptance of instrumental LP’s. With the doors now open, more and more producers are walking through them and applying for the job as your new hero whom you can obsess over at your favorite record shop or message board. The latest resume comes via the fledging Chocolate Industries and Ghislain Poirier.
You may have trouble pronouncing the name, but listening to the music is effortless. Eleven tracks breeze by in 35 minutes, filling your ears with sounds that “walk the line of sparse bombastic hip hop raga and minimal techno along the lines of Theo Parrish and Basic Channel.” Ghislain certainly takes you for a walk; whether it be a drunken stroll home when you are just sloppy as hell (“Civil Disobedience Ver.1”), a bad acid trip in an unfamiliar place (“De Lart De La Fellation”), or just a hearty walk with a purpose (“Astheure”).
A couple emcees stop by to help Ghislain make his case. Rising star and Chi-town native Divese represents well on “Conflicts” and fellow Montreal native Seba drops his funky linguistics on “Grey Space” and “Carquoise.” My French is a little rusty so I couldn’t tell you what the hell he is saying, but the language allows for tremendous delivery.
Experimental and forward thinking as always, Chocolate Industries is continuing to develop their reputation as a label who puts out whatever they feel is dope, catering to whatever crowd that wants to listen. “Beats As Politics” is heavily abstract and often wavers between hip-hop, ambience and what could be the sounds of outer space. This album is not traditional hip-hop, which is the strongest point, and only those well-rounded listeners should enter Ghislain’s realm.
AD LOADING...
5.5/10
