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Circus vs. Andre Afram Asmar, "Gawd Bless the Faceless Cowards"
A rare misfire from Mush stalwarts.
Mush
How the mighty have fallen. Not that Andre Afram Asmar might really be considered mighty, but his last record for Mush was a beautiful mashup of hip-hop and middle eastern instrumentals that worked on any number of levels and preserved a sense of genuine respect for all of the sounds it culled. Enter Circus, the MC who manages to take AAA's production and run it into the ground with half-witted rhymes and a deadpan vocal delivery that recalls a suburban, middle-aged businessperson reciting a 'rap' in some corporate skill-building seminar. The album has a loose theme that revolves around alien abduction, conspiracy theories, and the Bush administration's war-waging in the middle east. Unfortunately, the serious themes and stupid themes are given just about equal billing, but its all played in a straight-faced way to render none of it funny or effective. The beats and samples that Circus drowns out might be worthwhile on their own, but it's impossible to separate the voice from the songs. I'll never quite understand how people who have an ear for quality music and deft MCs can listen to something like Gawd Bless the Faceless Cowards and feel that it's adequate or even fun to listen to. Inane rhymes delivered flatly over beats and samples about UFOs might make for a fun party record amongst friends, but only really close friends who aren't too critical, or who are really drunk. Someone got in the car with me when this record was on and the first question he asked was 'is this a demo someone sent you?' No, but maybe if someone had heard the demo first, they could have steered it somewhere productive. As it is, steer clear.
How the mighty have fallen. Not that Andre Afram Asmar might really be considered mighty, but his last record for Mush was a beautiful mashup of hip-hop and middle eastern instrumentals that worked on any number of levels and preserved a sense of genuine respect for all of the sounds it culled. Enter Circus, the MC who manages to take AAA's production and run it into the ground with half-witted rhymes and a deadpan vocal delivery that recalls a suburban, middle-aged businessperson reciting a 'rap' in some corporate skill-building seminar. The album has a loose theme that revolves around alien abduction, conspiracy theories, and the Bush administration's war-waging in the middle east. Unfortunately, the serious themes and stupid themes are given just about equal billing, but its all played in a straight-faced way to render none of it funny or effective. The beats and samples that Circus drowns out might be worthwhile on their own, but it's impossible to separate the voice from the songs. I'll never quite understand how people who have an ear for quality music and deft MCs can listen to something like Gawd Bless the Faceless Cowards and feel that it's adequate or even fun to listen to. Inane rhymes delivered flatly over beats and samples about UFOs might make for a fun party record amongst friends, but only really close friends who aren't too critical, or who are really drunk. Someone got in the car with me when this record was on and the first question he asked was 'is this a demo someone sent you?' No, but maybe if someone had heard the demo first, they could have steered it somewhere productive. As it is, steer clear.samples:
