Resurgam by Alias
Brendon Whitney AKA Alias is a bit of a beat genius. He got his first drum machine at the age of 16 and never looked back. In the early 90's he met an MC named Sole and they quickly became friends and hip hop collaborators. Alias made the beats and Sole did the rapping. With a few other friends they went on to start Anticon records, which singlehandedly turned my world of hip hop upside down.
On Alias' 5th album Resurgam the hip hop has been diluted and even though the beats are big, which I love, they work with the music which has become increasingly ambient and expansive but also structured in traditional songwriting. In the past Alias has relied on mostly electronic elements to construct songs but he has broadened his sound on this record with pianos, guitars, and layers of other instruments. On the song Autumnal Ego the structure is simplified to a vocal part and a piano part which is astounding. The album starts out great with New To A Few and keeps going strong with the Well Water Black, but my favorite two tracks on the album are Resurgam and Autumnal Ego. I could listen to these all day long. This just may be my favorite Alias album.
8.5/10 By Chris L.
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