Nearly a decade into the Anticon label's lifespan as one of the great imprints of underground hip-hop, producer and label co-founder
Pedestrian finally released his first solo album, the compelling and occasionally bizarre Unindian Songs, Vol. 1. A collage-like set where even the conventional songs are regularly interrupted by atmospheric doodles, spoken word digressions and out-of-left-field change-ups, Unindian Songs, Vol. 1 is in part fascinating because of the way it makes
Pedestrian's contributions to previous Anticon releases so much more obvious: as a producer, he's clearly enamored of vintage 808 beats and is equally fond of finding ways to subvert them. Note the way that "O Silent Bed" is built on a truly slamming minimalist electronic beat that
the Neptunes would get into a fistfight with
Timbaland over, a banging setup that
Pedestrian gleefully messes with by inserting seemingly random starts and stops and overlaying the whole thing with one of the album's most unstinting calls to action. Other highlights include the fascinating two-part "Lifelong Liquidation Sale," the near-psychedelic atmospherics of "Jane 2: Electric Boogaloo" and the wound-up sarcasm of the bitterly ironic dance parody "The Toss and Turn," both the album's funniest and catchiest track. Unindian Songs, Vol. 1 is a dense work both musically and lyrically (a tongue-in-cheek section of notes and suggested further reading follows the lyrics in the liner notes), but patient listeners will find close attention amply rewarded. ~ Stewart Mason