Restiform Bodies
TV Loves You Back
Engineered and mixed by Eli Crews at New, Improved Recording in Oakland, CA | Recorded by Restiform Bodies and Nathan Fritz at home and at Ex’pression College for Digital Arts in Emeryville, CA | Mastered by Mike Wells at Mike Wells Mastering | Produced by Restiform Bodies
The first minute-and-a-half of Restiform Bodies’ most recent LP, TV Loves You Back, sounds on par with the last decade of hip-hop albums; slow bass thumps, background crowd cheers and ominous keyboard strokes bring to mind a brooding lyricist entering a boxing ring, raring for a verbal sparring match. A steady groove and vocals eerily similar to rap pioneer Q-Tip suggest an oft-traveled path ahead.
Cue to 1:27 on “Black Friday” and all familiarity comes to a screeching halt with a whiplash of rewinding, vinyl-scratching fury. Synth and effect wrangler Telephone Jim Jesus amps up the tempo tenfold, throwing the audience into a whirlpool of fanfare horn blowing and multi-textured beats.
It’s no mistake, either. In an age when the iPhone and Facebook can Twitter-sync each and every movement of the techno-savvy, the Oakland-based trio takes note with a refreshing sense of self-awareness and a keen eye for detail. The electro-stomping “A Pimp-like God” drops cellular bleeps and bloops in between air-raid siren synths, a fusion of contemporary technologic trend and funky dance floor fervor that bucks harder than a 12 gauge.
The group’s cultural commentary is smart, offering much more than the tired agenda of rap’s usual ego-bolstering rhymes – though the obligatory self-aggrandizing lyrics are still present, clever metaphors and allusions make the three MCs “more absorbent than the leading brand” – taking aim at easily targeted culture icons (Joan and Melissa Rivers), high-fashion designer handbags (Fendi and Prada) and spin-off semi-celebs in songs like “Bobby Trendy Addendum.”
It’s a welcome kick in the face to the 21st century’s consumer generation – a joke the listener is in on from the start. As much as today’s youths love their HDTV simulcast, musicians like Restiform Bodies are needed to remind us that the feeling isn’t mutual. (Anticon Records)
-Mike Isaac
Source: PerfomerMag
