Cannibal Nightmare
* Cannibal Ox: Iron Galaxy (7.0 mb) | The F-Word (8.0 mb) | Pigeon (7.5 mb)
From The Cold Vein : Definitive Jux : DJX07-2
With a claustrophobic, dystopian soundscape by El-P and two amazing MCs, Vordul Mega and Vast Aire, Cannibal Ox burst onto the scene in 2001 and blew hip-hop heads all over the place. The Cold Vein is an absolutely incredible album that, five years down the road, remains untouched, a complete classic. The beats still sound fresh and the rhymes remain as intense and lyrical as they were when they were first dropped.
Not to disparage Can Ox’s gifted MCs Vast Aire and Vordul Megilah, but the production is what really sets The Cold Vein apart from the pack. El-P (of the influential indie hip hop crew Company Flow) masterminds the entire project with gritty, evocative beats whose lo-fi crackle almost obscures the lush texture of the music. El-P keeps the instrument fragments – pieces of piano melodies and horn licks – of his Company Flow work, but constructs layers of analog synths and fuzzy atmospheric textures around the percussion. The entire album sounds like it was recorded in a basement on a four-track (even the vocals have a metallic echo) creating music that perfectly matches the theme and feeling of the rhymes. And the feelings wrapped up in The Cold Vein are complex – Vast and Vordul alternate between depression, aggression, and anger. These emotions stem from their surroundings in the bleak ghettos of the Big Apple. “New York is evil at its core” spits Vast on the opener, “Iron Galaxy,” amid burbling synth arpeggios, chiming background textures, and scratchy horn samples. (Stylus Magazine)
I’ll tell you what, if I had been label honcho El-P, I would’ve just packed up shop after releasing this masterpiece. It seems like it would’ve been hard to keep going after such an amazing full length. Of course, El-P didn’t fold up shop, in fact he stepped up to the plate and released a slew of amazing albums, and for a little while he could do no wrong. Even though Definitive Jux has been a little more hit ‘n’ miss lately, it’s still a label worth exploring and listening to.
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