(04.24.05) There is a revolution brewing in the heartland. Out of the flatlands of Kansas come Deep Thinkers with a studio full of world music tricks and heads full of crackling raps and cutting commentary. Necks Move, a fairly clever bit of titular wordplay, is filled with
sparse arrangements — tiny shards of flamenco guitar, waves of vibraphone, shivering hiccups of vinyl scratching, echoes of
mid-century be-bop jazz and loose instrumental funk. Brother of Moses handles the majority of the vocal duties, his sly delivery darting in
and out of the instrumentation like an elusive fish while Lenny D handles the eclectic mix of noises, cuts, slices, manipulations and errant instrumentation.
“Sideshow,” ostensibly a vinyl duel between Lenny D and Beatbroker, veers away from its quaking deck duel into a variegated realm of
hop-head jazz and stuttering vocal commentary. “Rock the Beat” asks the eternal question — “What is hip-hop?” — and sets out to answer
with a vitriolic lyric and a head-nodding thunder-beat with a round-bellied tone melody lighting the way through the dark. “Move
On” slips in like we’ve stumbled upon a secret studio session, the music swirling around the room in an uncoalesced state, and it’s the
entrance of guest MC Approach that sets everything into its funky groove. A jazz pianist sets the stage on fire beneath the MCs on
“Stand Strong,” riding hard against the stop-start motion of the drum kit. “Kiss the Sky” melds sweeping strings with a severely damaged
loop of Spanish flamenco, heavy vinyl interference and a percussion section channeling Morrocan street musicians through tin cans.
“Search and Destroy” winds up the record with a tight drum ‘n’ bass rhythm, a furious storm of beats underneath measured rasta delivery.
For the most part, the light and funky approach to the music gives Deep Thinkers much of their depth but occasionally the front and the
back of the song don’t match. “Here We Are,” for example, never quite comes together and Brother of Moses’ intoned chorus falls flatter and
flatter with each iteration and the otherwise delightful “Interruption with Substance” is scarred with the same laconic chorus delivery. The
missteps are few, though, incidental burps in an otherwise smooth record. Deep Thinkers reach out from the middle of nowhere with a
hip-hop sound that is global and historical in its sweep. Necks Move is an ambitious record that reaches far and pulls the world
close.
Necks Move is out now on Datura.
