Correct Techniques

Moniker youth

'I KNOW THE planet you're from, but do you really know the planet I'm from? If I ever told you, you would laugh ... motherfucker!" Wood Harris asserts on Saul Williams's brilliant "Penny for a Thought" backed with "Purple Pigeons" (Ozone Music, www.saulwilliams.com). "Penny for a Thought" begins with some electrified boom bap, then morphs into tech-step while Williams rips on trifling-ass MCs. "Purple Pigeons," though, is a revelation, as Williams and guest MC Harris sauté mad verses over the illest guitar loop, bringing to reality the black rock portended by Mos Def's "Rock and Roll" and Outkast's Stankonia. Look for Williams's Amethyst Rock Star and Mos Def's Jack Johnson project to up the ante.

I got this big box of upcoming Mush Records releases that I've been digging into for the past month. Highlights? The cLOUDDEAD 10-inch series (Mush, www.dirtyloop.com), the latest salvo from the Anticon camp, which is full of dark, spaced-out atmospherics sparked by Odd Nostrum's production and Dose One's off-kilter, Slick Rick-derived MC crooning. Several people have argued that this isn't even hip-hop, but on some other, unclassifiable shit. But I'm going to claim it for the home team, "hip-hop cheerleader" that I am. Other Mush records that may or may not be hip-hop: Nickodemus's Earth EP, four salty peanuts full of rare grooves flipped into club favorites. Fat Jon the Ample Soul Physician's instrumental Stasis EP is more dub than dance, sporting free-flowing rhythms that are easy on the ears and a perfect template for an amateur MC's cadence.

Enough about Mush ... let's talk about Diagnol Ryme Garganchula 2.0 (Anti-Pop, www.anti-pop.com), the latest EP from Anti-Pop Consortium under the moniker "Tri-Pinnacle." You know the science: frustrated hyperintellectual spoken word-influenced raps spit over neo-new wave spiced with raw drum-machine tracks. If you like it, then pick up High Priest's "Ghost Machine" backed with "Stimulus Stimulator," two instrumental joints from Anti-Pop's upcoming full-length adventure into the next shit, Sonics for the Youth.

Prefer traditional rap to avant-garde rap? Well, there're several current singles that sport stronger A-sides than B-sides, which makes them incomplete, if not exactly a bad purchase. Among them are T-Love's "Witch Bitch?" backed with "Q.M.S. (Queen Mood Swing)" (Ninja Tune, www.ninjatune.net), the Epitome's "Maximum Adrenaline" backed with "Earthquake" (Stones Throw, www.stonesthrow.com), and Declaime's "Move It" backed with "Don't Trip," "Asylum Walk," and "These Days" (Groove Attack, www.grooveattack.com). The latter two sport beats by the ubiquitous Madlib, whom I have the feeling I'll be referring to in the next few columns, so get used to it. On the other hand, a few records that have better beats than raps include the Bad Seed's "Uhhnnh" backed with "Would You Luh Me" and "War and Peace" (J. Grand Productions), and the Prunes' "Rockin' the Mic" backed with "Enemy of the Crate." The former is laced with sounds from Nottz; the latter is another moody downtempo effort from a team best known for its work on the Mo'Wax label a few years ago.

Though I've purposefully neglected radio fare, there's no denying a recent double-A 12-inch from the Lyricist Lounge 2 compilation (Rawkus, www.rawkus.com). One side, "Let's Grow," from Royce Da 5'9", is another ego trip from Eminem's former partner in crime. The other, Cocoa Brovaz' "Get Up," is an effectively low-key party cut sparked by surprisingly innovative stop-start rhythms from DJ Hi-Tek. Is the duo formerly known as Smif-N-Wessun an early candidate for comeback of the year?

I've got two more records for your perusal. The first, Lexicon's "Come Up (featuring 4-Zone)" backed with "Nikehead" (Spy Tech Records, www.spytechrecords.com) is a standout, thanks to DJ Cheapshot's sampladelic, hard-edged production. Styles of Beyond's deck technician is rapidly developing his own variation on the world-famous L.A. indie-rap sound – don't sleep. Meanwhile, two So-Cal vets, Evidence from Dilated Peoples and Joey Chavez, provide crucial assists on newcomer Amad Jamal's "Renaissance" backed with "S2Finish" and "Rhetoric" (ABB Records, www.abbrecords.com). Jamal holds his own with lines like "What I create stimulates more than zones which are erogenous." In other words, shop wisely.

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