Search - Anticon :: We Ain't Fessin

Three tracks that you will tear your mind apart

Alan Pounds | Minneapolis, MN | 02/04/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This 18-minute EP released by the Anticon label serves as a dazzling introduction to their skewed view of hip-hop, and at the same time will wow loyal fans of the collective. The artists on Anticon are simply a different breed. They aren't just students of hip-hop which some try so desperately try to preserve. They are students of pop culture as a whole, which translates into something the uninitiated may find horrifically bad. Sadly, some will pass them off as underground hip-hop's Captain Beefheart. I will admit, I'm not a huge fan of the newer Anticon releases. I too find some of them a bit pretentious and frankly, unlistenable (examples: Dose One's "Ha" [2005], Pedestrian's "Unindian Songs Vol. 1" [2004], cLOUDDEAD's "Ten" [2004]). With that said, people should know that the earlier released records on Anticon are far better (in my opinion). They ride the line between abstract experimentalism and hip-hop in a groundbreaking fashion. That sentiment is also present on Anticon's "More From June / We Ain't Fessin' (Double Quotes)".



The album opener, Deep Puddle Dynamics' (Alias, Dose One, Slug, Sole) "More From June" featuring Eyedea and produced by DJ Mayonnaise and John Herndon, is a killer on it's own. It's simply one of the most chopped up original sounding beats you'll hear. The track creeps in with the accessibility of Slug and Eyedea's flows, then slowly creeps into darker territory with Dose One and the rest of the collective. "We Ain't Fessin' (Double Quotes)" is a remake of the original version (originally titled "We Ain't Fessin'") taken from the "Anticon Giga Single" (2001). It certainly is a complete overhaul. It's lengthy track that is far disconnected, and at times more reminiscent of cLOUDDEAD (it is mainly Dose One and Why?). It's fairly uneasy to listen to, but completely admirable at the same time. The album closes out with some inventive production from Jel and Sixtoo on "Pitty Party People" which sounds relatively normal, and crisp, with plenty of stellar rhymes to match, making it a worthwhile discovery.



The CD is also one of the coolest CDs you'll find. It's a clear CD. There's only 18-minutes of music on there, so you can only see the silver written area about an inch and a half from the center. Otherwise, it's a fairly typical looking Anticon CD, with a red ant printed over the clear section. It was quite literally the main reason I bought the album, aside from the curiosity of what Anticon will bring us next."