Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants - Metaform

Orizio

Anyone check out this album? Pretty incredible, and an absolute must for fans of DJ Shadow, Portishead, RJD2 etc.

Fan of the genre or not, most seem to agree with the idea that Hip-Hop is in an ever worsening artistic slump, with originality and innovation in particular disapearing amongst a genre increasingly clouded by copycats with confidence crises. Whether or not you believe this to be true, there is at least one area of Hip-Hop that is still going strong, the oft overlooked instrumental subgenre. Beatmakers, free from the pressures of making MC’s happy, have used instrumental LPs to develop and put their beats centre stage, and do something alien in much of Hip-Hop today and experiment. This year alone, we have been blessed with exceptional quality from the likes of Flying Lotus, Ayatollah, Clutchy Hopkins, Dert, Blue Sky Black Death and others, and now with Metaform’s debut, the standard for instrumental Hip-Hop for this year, if not for this decade, has been set.

So whats makes an exceptional instrurmental album? Firstly, without vocals and lyrics, the attention of the listener is almost completely on the beats, beats that have to go beyond background noise. Metaform - a practically unknown LA producer - has the beats, as evidenced immediately in the opening tracks. ‘Urban Velvet’ has the kind of delecious hollow snares Dilla once specialised in, and the kind of wailing vocals that reminds one of Massive Attack in their pomp. Moroever, the track isn’t basic, mixing piano and trumpet together in a wonderfully organic and spontaneous manner, and despite the layers the track is never cluttered or difficult on the ear. ‘Sunday’ shows a simpler side, and is a delight for those who love their beats atmospheric, with eerie reverberating vocals announcing the track before it moves into some frantic drum ‘n bass, once again with drums that bang. Indeed ‘Sunday’ is an example of another quality in ‘Standing…’, how well the album and tracks are paced. In between the brutal sounds of ‘Sunday’ and ‘Heavan Can Wait’, is the slower more consistent ‘The Telephone’ interlude. Indeed, the whole album is filled with these little 1 minute tracks, allowing the listener to catch their breath and also allowing Metaform to show off a more soulful ‘happier’ sound like on ‘Let Your Hair Down Girl’ or the mellow ‘ Lamenting Break’. Finally, the interplay between music and vocal sample is generally perfect, the music slowing down, the vocals coming in and the two building up to a typically frantic crescendo.

The making of a top quality instrumental album lies not just in the beats and how well it has been paced but also in variety, something ‘Standing…’ has in abundance. Too often beatmakers follow a set pattern, a cut up soul sample plays for a few seconds, then the drums and bass kick in and the track plays out, switching only partially for the chorus. Moroever, the drums and bass tend to be the same track after track (unfortunately, its clear many Hip-Hop producers neither realise how important bass is, or how good a dope bass line sounds). The habit for too many is to put layer upon layer to create one homogeneous sound, rather then giving every part of the beat proper attention and its own prominence. Metaform - unlike unerground mainstays like 9th Wonder - uses the latter style, giving him greater ability to change tempo and sound over both album and track. Its this ability to switch up that makes ‘Standing…’ superior to any Hip-Hop your going to hear this year beatwise. ‘Pch’ and ‘Sunday’ are essentially drum n bass tracks, ‘Deep Concentration’ kicks off with some gorgeous guitar, ‘I Feel Good’ exhibits hand drums with some more guitars, while piano samples anchor some of the albums finest moments, particurly on ‘Heavan Can Wait’. I’ve barely mntioned half the tracks thorughout this review, but the album rarely becomes formulaic, or too reliant on one sound or tempo.

However, this album is not flawless. As the title suggests, Metaform is not trying to create something new, but build on what has already been done. Simply enough, although the production is exceptional throughout, this album doesn’t do anything new. Its not going to have an impact of an Entroducing (even if it may be better produced), nor will it create a new scene and sound like Massive Attack and Bristol Trip-Hop. ‘Standing…’ is a masterpiece not in terms of innovation, but in its sheer billiance in bringing together different genres, styles and vibes while keeping the integrity of the album strong. ‘Standing…’ will ultimately be an album that will never recieve the fanfare it deserves, but for the lovers of flawless beat making it will be an album respected and adored.

Rating: 5/5

Link.