Listening to "I Did It," the rhymes of Soulati and D. Wolff over the jazzy
beats coming fast and furious, you might be tempted to think you're about
to hear yet another fusion of jazz & hip-hip such as Madlib's recent foray
into the Blue Note vaults. But then Iranian-born globetrotter Aram and his
Bay Area super humans (not as well known as the Fantastic Four, but just
wait) take a reggae-based turn on the title track, complete with stinging
Santana-style guitar solo. Then it's another crank of the wheel for
"Elegua" and suddenly it's downtempo Latin jazz and the lovely vocals of
Gloria Rivera flowing out of the speakers. More rapping and guitar solos
follow on "Elastic" and then it's bouncy instrumental time courtesy of "Le
Chat Noir, " burbling synths over reverbed guitar, snappy percussion and
just a dash of funky horns. Toss all the previous tracks of together like
ingredients for a musical salad and out comes "Sem Contencao (The Rhythm
Will Conquer)," the album's last original track before it concludes with an
extended, adventurous remix of "The Spot" and a well-chosen cover of Bebel
Gilberto's "Mais Feliz," smokily sung by Cuban-born Aurea Fernandez.
Aram
has escaped the trap a lot of artist/producers fall into and brought in a
talented group of players, singers, and arrangers to flesh out his vision.
But this blessing (like so many) is also a bit of a curse: Even at just a
shade over 40 minutes, it's hard to imagine someone being in the mood to
listen to the entire record at one sitting (ADD sufferers notwithstanding.)
It may, however, be perfect fodder for iTunes singles or shuffle play in
general, as the individual pieces are all well-crafted and fun listening.
In fact, if Aram, Adam, Greg, Christian and rest of the crew pick just a
couple of these genres and work within in them, the next record should be
outstanding.
