Dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip: The Logic of Chance
Dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip: The Logic of Chance
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Sunday, 21, Mar 2010 04:33
By Rob Wheatley.
Sunday Best, out now
In a nutshell.
The second album from the UK lit-hop duo, proving they are so much more than a one hit wonder
What's it all about?
Following on from Angles, its electronica-backed spoken word musings on everything you can possibly think of. The great thing being you've actually probably thought about most of the things they discuss.
Who's it by?
Dan le sac (aka Dan Stephens) is the man who provides the beats while Scroobius Pip (aka David Meads) is the one providing the poetry. You've most likely heard the single Thou Shalt Always Kill which was an internet sensation filled with pop culture references.
They're favourites of the Soccer AM crew, and entirely lovely blokes by all accounts. They just happen to make some incredible music which defies all genres as they go along.
As an example.
"Tops crop, skirts stop at the top of their thighs and the boy's've got that hungry look in their eyes/They wanna be grown up and have respect you see, but they're acting uneducated sexually/I ain't sayin be celibate, go out and have your fun. But there's plenty you can do without impregnation/And there ain't nothing wrong at all with having children. Just build yourself a little before you try to build them/And get better." - Get Better.
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
No chance at all. Whether it'll even make the Mercury prize is debateable. It should, but who knows.
What the others say
"Although Pip and sac make music which is far from esoteric it's still a little too abrasive for mainstream pop fans. It's a shame because there's little question the pair deserve a bigger audience and have proven again on The Logic of Chance that intelligence and fun in UK hip hop don't have to be mutually exclusive." - Lou Thomas, bbc.co.uk
"When they appeared in 2007 with festival anthem Thou Shalt Always Kill, some dismissed Le Sac and Pip as a novelty act. Their angular but approachable second album indicates that they'll actually be around for a good while." - Thomas H Green, the Telegraph
So is it any good?
Brilliant, is closer to the mark. There's just no-one else out there like these two, and that's a real shame. They really sum up the mood of the nation at times, and sometimes just have real fun with their music.
Whilst it's easy to think that Scroobius Pip is the star of the show, this is the album which sees dan le sac jump to the forefront. His beats are hypnotic and always different. Opening with a drum and bass smasher in Sick Tonight is a bold move from someone who's always been a bit minimalist, and each track is something different and The Beat gives him a chance to really strut his stuff, as Scroobius takes a back seat to some excellent electronica. "This one ain't about the words, it's all about the beat".
Of course, Scroobius Pip is brilliant too. He even has a little poke at his famous beard on Last Train Home breaking into a little Amy Winehouse sing-along. He's obviously a changed man this time around, though and attempting to be a bit more positive. Yes, there's times when he doesn't like the world around him, but he only highlights how to make life better.
There's not a track that matches the easy brilliance of Thou Shalt Always Kill here, but Cauliflower is probably the most poppy song they've done to date, with a lovely cameo from US singer KiD A counterbalancing Scroobius' dulcet rhyming tone. If there's any that's likely to get some Radio 1 play, then that's it.
The Logic of Chance follows on from Angles by being completely unclassifiable. The record label came up with the idea that it's lit-hop, which is a nice way of looking at it. Simply, The Logic of Chance is a much more accessible effort than Angles. However, it's still a bit too out there to make much of a dint in the mainstream. And that's the real shame, because it's not going to turn enough heads. Those who haven't heard of them yet, probably won't be going out to get this album.
But they'd really be missing out, because this is a wonderful album which deserves to be played over and over.
9/10