The wait for part three of the
Dabrye trilogy was more than twice the length of the wait for part two. Scattered collaborations, remixes, and a 12" excepted,
Tadd Mullinix devoted more of the decade-plus break between
Dabrye albums to other sectors of underground music, including electro-industrial through three(!) pummeling
Charles Manier full-lengths alone. The stature of the
Dabrye catalog concurrently spiraled upward.
Mullinix's hip-hop alter ego was placed within a lineage that included
DJ Shadow and
J Dilla, at least as far as the estimable L.A. beat scene was concerned. Taking all that into account,
Mullinix could've been forgiven for snaring higher-profile guest verses and treading into commercial waters, or maybe incorporating some grand sonic flourishes or recurring verbal assertions. The beatmaker makes it clear through the first track -- in which understated knocking drums, accented with warped FX and animated soundclash chatter, are laid out for a blue-collar Midwesterner on the mike -- that there will be none of that. Fronted by
Guilty Simpson, "Tunnel Vision" likewise reflects
Mullinix' approach in title and content, "Never affected by the new sellers," and it establishes the tone for a steady, rock-solid album involving a cross-generational, predominantly Detroit-bred cast of rappers, from
Phat Kat to Nolan the Ninja, as well as East Coasters
Ghostface Killah and
Roc Marciano and West Coasters
Georgia Anne Muldrow and
Dudley Perkins. All the MCs from east of California sound at ease yet ready to scrap, or in the case of Doom on the humorously bellicose "Lil Mufukuz," inclined to administer corporal punishment like
Luther Ingram's mother. The guests' few lapses into routine swashbuckling are counterbalanced by
Mullinix' knack for mixing immediacy and nuance. Although there are ominous qualities to some of the tracks -- blunt drums, clanging noises, refracted and probing synthesizers evoking not-so-fun houses and slasher flicks -- this is brighter than
Two/Three. Sweet and synthetic woodwinds and strings, sublime piano loops, and other delightful wrinkles are more common than the creep-out components. Some cuts, including a batch during the latter half hour, groove unlike anything else
Mullinix has released. "First Law of Nature Rock Day" in particular sounds based in a private-pressing synth funk truffle.
Mullinix leaves the hype to a flattering
Dilla line sampled from his own "Game Over." When that level of approval is in reserve, there's no need for self-promotion. ~ Andy Kellman