There are some records that you can listen to a number of times and hear something different each time. Maybe picking up on the different instruments or a different melody or something else lurking imbetween the different layers of sound. 'Square' is one of those records and a fresh twist in the ongoing white boy rapper re-invents hip hop saga.
BUCK 65 are Canadian and sound more small town in the sticks than trailor park trash. There's little fascination with the ghetto, no bitches, no mention of his homies and no street talk of the type typical in the genre. "It's delivered more in the style of Bob Dylan than Bad Boy Entertainment" to quote their press and is certainly more from a laid back and less in yer' face skool of hip hop while still retaining a presence at the cutting edge.
A lot goes on within the four mixes on this album, there's probably around 20 'different' songs contained on this unmixed. There is no meaningless filler imbetween the 'songs', a good part is instrumental and there is quite a bit of variation in sound and ideas with nothing overused or becoming too familiar. The beats are all live drum sounds that add some warmth and there is more traditional instrumentation than electronic.
There's a sporadic sprinkling of vinyl hiss for extra character and body! Then some shimmering strings and jazz funk bass married to the rhythmic sense of DJ Shadow or David Axelrod with a small dash of Dre. Cookin'
The rap can sometimes drift into sounding like any other white rapper in town but then has moments when it could almost be Johnny Cash in the confessional, singing :" sometimes gun crimes blow my mind, Lord knows I try to close my eyes" with that same sense of desparation and loss. Memories are suddenly evoked of those vast 'logs in the water' scenes from the opening credits of Canada's longest ever running TV series of 'The Beachcombers' .
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The third mix is introduced by a Hitchcock like sounding voice; " Music to be murdered by ......enjoy yourself until the coroner comes..." he announces before the drum breaks and scratching light the charge that slowly smoulders into a teasing drum n' bass section ( Reprazent! ) without ever quite reaching full tilt. Again there's quite a lot of instrumental moments that lend an air of urban soundtrack to proceedings. There's some cool reed organ sounds for all the good church folk to enjoy and some even cooler
Jim Morrison hipster like narratives goin' on. The scratchin is immediate yet cerebral and capable of every permutation and conceivable time pattern/sequence known to human kind!
The final mix has two slightly zany and light hearted raps dealing with the contentious issues of 'what is science' ; " science is breakfast, science is baseball" and 'Food' ; "puts me in a good mood", showing a sunnier side to this MC, and the latter a good sense of rhyme!
A good album, even if like this reviewer, hip hop may not be your thing. Especially good if you have a short attention span and a mind that requires frequent stimulation. A big must for the late night spliffer society then. More Tea.
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