Dr. Octagon

The Return of Dr. Octagon

(OCD International, 2006)

Sporadically surfacing, Keith Thornton (a.k.a. Kool Keith) releases an album with a bizarre title or concept, receives his praise and then soon after disappears for a time. The impetus for the Dr. Octagon character, only one of Thornton’s many guises which also includes the Black Elvis, may well be somehow tied to a traumatic childhood experience – and that conjecture is really just as crazy as the character. Dr. Octagon himself is a less than savory sort, but oddly enough on his second recorded effort decides to include a track about the environment being destroyed and an explanation of how human beings are very similar to ants. Regardless of the eco-friendly subject matter being broached, Doc Oc is accompanied by production from three German minds that make up One Watt Sun. The raps lean against robotic, eighties beats that occasionally incorporate a bit of strings or a dusty jazz sample. Musical setting aside, Doc Oc continues unleashing his share of surprising and warped lyrics. He mocks those who aim to emulate Al Green or Tracy Chapman, then shifts focus and begins a short narrative about obtaining a truck to make some obscure delivery. The Return of Dr. Octagon is everything that one might expect from the mind of Kool Keith and also probably a bit more than what is expected from most hip-hop that currently passes for creative.

Passage

The Forcefield Kids

(Anticon, 2004)

Everything from Anticon has an undeniably cohesive style. This release from Passage (Restiform Bodies) has that feel and a little style on top. The Northeasterner transplanted himself to Oakland a few years ago and has since been involved with Anticon: spreading the gospel of oddity. Again, Anticon doesn’t specialize in hip-hop. The collective specializes in exploding the boundaries of said genre. Passage doesn’t necessarily rap, he sings and strums a guitar a good part of the time. Although the guitar playing is accompanied with myriad burps, gurgles and hums of electronics, one can most certainly hear the folky influence in the music. The album itself flows well. With any hip-hop or electronic recording a test for competence is the ability of the producer to meld each track together to create a seamless breadth of work. The Forcefield Kids possesses a singular vision of sonic textures, thanks to Passage. While this slab does not sound specifically derivative of one artist/group the closest relation may be Beans and his first solo full length Tomorrow Right Now. Sometimes the boom-bap doesn’t sound like rap, but more like electronic punk. The album starts off with an unsettling instrumental and proceeds to offer similar sonic settings throughout. Often times Passage does not rap, but sings portions of the verse only to explode with section of raps (“Lost in Boston with a head full of Zanex”). When verses are understandable they’re interesting, but occasionally between the raps and bizarre production a track becomes trying (“Put together/Play/Red Ferrari calendar blob”). This is an amalgam of sounds, only for the advanced listener, but certainly an apt introduction to Anticon for the uninitiated.