These guys came up in a conversation with Orion about rap. I realized I had only ever heard Blazing Arrow, which I don't think I knew what to make of at the time.
Appropriately, I have no idea what to make of this. The subject matter is distinctly un-traditional, the production is unpredictable, and (especially) the song structures are unlike much anything I've heard in hip hop. And its crazy long, just about the only thing it does that's in line with rap tradition. It's just a lot to take in, but my interest is distinctly piqued. I suspect that it will bear fruit for many listens 4/5
Edit 6/24/10: I was worried I was getting lazy, not finding more to say here, but on a 2nd listen, I'm going to give myself a break on this. Things start reasonable enough, but then the track 4-8 sequence features: the straight narrative Deception, the wholly unique wordplay methods of A to G, the utterly hallucinogenic narrative of Cliff Hanger, the statement of purpose of Shallow Days and the bizarre woman as god/nature/timeless force spoken word of Ego Trip. Its a sequence that is completely heterogeneous in style, adventurous to the point of oblivion, and it totally disrupts any (especially first-listen!) attempt to lump the album at all.
Then there's songs like Cliff Hanger and Dream Seasons that combine hypnotic production, fade-outs and an album-spanning "Nia!" sample that serves to lull you and generally make you lose track of track breaks and your overall orientation in the album. Its a sincerely bewildering journey, the first "psychedelic rap" album I can think of. Its still probably a 4, but I thought it deserved a more thorough explanation of why its so hard to explain.
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