| As another one of the insanely-talented producers currently quartered at Mush Records, Antimc has a long record of fruitful collaborations; for example, with Radioinactive, MURS, Boom Bip & Busdriver, to name a few. Somewhat unfairly, though not unexpectedly, his solo production work hasn’t received near the attention of his other projects. Such is often the burden of being part of such an intimate (incestuous, one might argue) and prolific collective. It’s hard to say whether It’s Free, But It’s Not Cheap will change this or not, but it is certainly the most mature and most fully-conceived album Antimc has released to date. Where It’s Free, But It’s Not Cheap succeeds most obviously is in its variety. Antimc is never content to sit on one stale stylistic conceit for long. Rather, he allows himself the freedom to flit between mellow instrumental interludes, straight-up hardcore hip-hop, and electronically-enhanced folky ditties, with hardly a thought to the possible sonic conflicts that might arise. That such conflicts never do present themselves can only be attributable to the unerring ear and deft hand of the producer. “Ten Days Out,” serving as a sort of overture, slides from staticy, beat-oriented breakdowns to soft post-rock jamming during its seven minutes. After this opening intro instrumental, Antimc immediately subverts the listener’s expectations, crafting, in “Cesspool City,” a Rage Against the Machine-style metal/rap hybrid rant featuring Anthony Anzalone of the Tucson-based garage-punk outfit, The Mean Reds. The stylistic oddness of the record is immediately enhanced on “Bellies Full of Rain,” a skittery, off-kilter not-quite-hip-hop rag featuring the unique vocal skills of Busdriver. “Canadian Dream” solidifies the hip-hop side of It’s Free, But It’s Not Cheap, supporting a solid flow by Cadence Weapon with an old-school breakbeat and bubbly synth lines. This is followed immediately by “The Nogoodnick,” a folky collusion with bedroom-pop whiz-kid Andrew Broder (aka Fog), which rivals “The True Believer” as the best track on the record. This latter is It’s Free, But It’s Not Cheap’s most straight-forward composition, consisting of a solid beat, crafty mystery-music melodies and an amazing vocal performance by Saafir. The album is rounded out by the several instrumental meditations – interpolated between the tracks with guest vocalists – each of which adheres to its own stylistic regimen, adding variety without detracting from the unity of the whole. It’s rather rare for a producer to be able to hold together an album consisting of such stylistic extremes. Often, records with such ambitions come off sounding scattershot, even if all the tracks are equally good or interesting. It’s Free, But It’s Not Cheap suffers from the opposite syndrome: though not all of its tracks are of the same quality individually, they all behave as if they belong, integrally, to this album, which is to the record’s benefit in the long run, as it turns out to be far more than the sum of its parts. If It’s Free, But It’s Not Cheap doesn’t bring Antimc more attention as a solo artist, at least he can rest assured that his status as a producer will only grow with time. - Urban Pollution |
1XLP/Out Of Print