Dan Le Sac VS Scroobius Pip: Angles
Friday, 09 May 2008 14:38
Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip consider the different angles of life
Sunday Best, out May 12th.
In a nutshell…
Just a band? Don't be so sure.
What's it all about?
While a raft of tracks have leaked since the commandments of Thou Shalt Always Kill announced the arrival of Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip on the scene, doubts remained whether such promise could permeate an entire album. Those days are gone as the pair release their outstanding debut on May 12th.
It opens with an electrifying rant from Pip about the loss of creativity in favour of focus group-influenced manufactured careers before the stuttering backdrop of The Beat That My Heart Skipped.
The countrified lollop of Development staggers in before Pip spins a tale of creative angst and his intricate wordplay and so-bold-it-hurts use of symmetric syllable make you realise that in terms of lyrical and aural ability, he's the Essex equivalent of Jay-Z, though Dan Le Sac's normally faultless production lags a little towards the close.
Recent single Look for the Woman is the poppiest thing they've ever produced but no less impressive for it, with its content perfectly capturing the pain and confusion of a relationship breaking down, and as Pip dissects the concept of beauty on the moving Tommy and the stagnant state of UK hip-hop on the Dizzee Rascal sampling Fixed, it's clear that Thou Shalt Always Kill was just a glimpse at his heart-stopping talent for encapsulating profundity in potent, powerful rhymes.
Dan Le Sac has polished his production for the polemic of Letter from God to Man, adding a jerky edge to Radiohead's Planet Telex while Magician's Assistant shies away from condescension to provide a multi-faceted look at the impact of self harm.
Who's it by?
Deserving of praise for the awe-inspiring slice of social commentary that was breakthrough Thou Shalt Always Kill, the Essex duo of producer Dan Le Sac and MC/poet Scroobius Pip merit further respect for not taking the Kate Nash route of rush-releasing an album after a big hit, instead building an increasingly rabid following through a year of solid gigging and honing their burgeoning repertoire. With the backing of Radio 1's Zane Lowe and XFM's John Kennedy - though NME have remained quiet, having been dissed by Pip on Thou Shalt... - the pair release their debut album, its title taken from by the record's stunning highpoint.
To read the inthenews.co.uk interview with Scroobius Pip, click here
As an example...
"Thou shalt not take the names of Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer, Johnny Hartman, Desmond Decker, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix or Syd Barrett in vain/Thou shalt not think any male over the age of 30 that plays with a child that is not their own is a paedophile - Some people are just nice/Thou shalt not read NME/Thou shalt not stop liking a band just 'cos they've become popular/Thou shalt not question Stephen Fry." - Commandments for the modern age on Thou Shalt Always Kill
"Curtains closed, lights went up, there was no encore/Everybody left their seats and headed for the door/Unbeknownst to them they had witnessed Tommy Cooper's death/He had given his all, until he had nothing left/Now please note, at the moment this entertainer died/Even with a room full of people, not one person cried/Much less they rose to their feet and they laughed and clapped/Now tell me one f*****g thing that's more beautiful than that." - The death of a legend as a metaphor for beauty on Tommy
"But as you said before/This just affects you/It's your life, your body/And you can choose what you do/And if one day you can't rein it in/And of your last breath you are the only witness/Then so be it, 'cos it's your last breath/And it's nobody else's business." - A sobering look at suicide on Magician's Assistant
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
While Dan's beats could presumably find an audience across the pond, Pip's lyrics are too vitriolic, clever and, well, British to have much of an impact outside of the East Coast. Should NME get off their high horse and appreciate the talent of the pair, it's in the once-great magazine's awards that they could receive deserved silverware.
What the others say
"A collection of songs that bristle with social and cultural commentary and a furious DIY ethic that places them both at the vanguard of the revitalised spoken-word scene and, thanks largely to Dan, at the forefront of a new, urgent, hip-hop." - Warren Howard, Independent
"Pip is at his best when he allows his slamming past to shine though. He seems more comfortable when his flow comes across more like poetry rather then that of a more conventional MC and it's on songs like those… is he most affecting and does he seem to have the most gravitas." - Thrill Pier
So is it any good?
Oh, and how.
It's the title track that truly showcases the invigorating potential of these two, with Pip spitting an engrossing look at racial discontent and teenage alienation through multiple narrators as Dan's threatening beat grows ever more intense before a denouement that leaves you speechless and torn between hitting play again instantly and having a lie-down, so swiftly does the track take your breath away.
Dan's production is a very real British counterpart to the intelligence and subtlety of Danger Mouse while Pip is the first entertainer since Bill Hicks to make the listener think: "He's right about everything."
Put away your reservations about hip-hop and the spoken word scene to discover one of the most exciting and inspiring acts in music.
As he reels off a list of much-loved groups that are apparently "just a band" on Thou Shalt Always Kill, Pip concludes the inventory with "the next big thing".
Well, it's these two and maybe he's just being modest.
9/10
Lewis Bazley
Agree with this review? Have a different opinion? Let us know your thoughts (without being too abusive to our poor reviewers please) and we'll post the best ones on the site.
Write your comments below: