Sisyphus
18 March 2014
Asthmatic Kitty
4 stars out of 5
Take two alternative hip-hop MCs (Serengeti and Son Lux),
add one indie scene wunderkind (Sufjan Stevens), sauté in olive oil on high
heat for five minutes, add a bit of sea salt and fresh grated parmesan, and you
get Sisyphus, a hip-hop/indie electronica mélange that goes down nicely with a
cold beer and a side of yam fries with chipotle mayo. Half atmospheric,
melancholic electro-soul, half underground hip-hop, Sisyphus is an intriguing idea that rewards with endlessly
listenable results.
The trio starts things off with “Calm It Down,” playful
left-field funk that veers off into introspective soul searching territory for its finale.
“Take Me” is quiet electro balladdeering à la James Blake or How to Dress Well.
“Rhythm of Devotion” is equal parts undaground rhymez and sensitive soul. “Lion’s
Share” is the funkiest track on the record, centered on the two MCs trading
lines back and forth while Stevens provides ice cold backing vocals that keep
things from getting too funky.
“Dishes in the Sink” weaves all the previous threads of the record through a
loom of broken beat tomfoolery. “Alcohol” ends the record with a near
industrial beat and some nimble rhyming, winding out with a grandiose,
mostly-instrumental ending.
I’ve always felt rather neutral toward Sufjan Stevens, but I
can’t deny liking this record. It’s inventive, interesting, and catchy. If my
iPod hadn’t been stolen last summer, I would put Sisyphus on it tonight and listen to it on my way to work
tomorrow. Instead, I’m forced to just stand there on the train and listen to my own version
of “Lion’s Share” in my head, in which I get all the lyrics wrong and change
the instrumentation to include various imaginary instruments made out of the
sun-bleached bones of the person who stole my iPod. Someday, you will pay, fucker. Someday...
reviewed by Richard Krueger
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