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MH-225 The Opus - Breathing Lessons  After locking themselves in their Chicago studio with a mountain of dusty vinyl and two lifetimes worth of musical inspiration, the Opus have finally emerged to deliver Breathing Lessons a mesmerizing collection of reflective, instrumental hip-hop. Using their signature palette of chopped percussion and intricate drum programming as base materials, they expand their compositions, adding layers of strings, detuned piano, analog synths, floor rumbling bass, and reverb to haunting effect. Although the all-too-brief vocal appearance of Lord 360 reminds listeners of their productions for MCs on Rubberoom’s Architechnology and their own 2002 debut First Contact, this release is clearly intent on establishing the Opus as a production duo capable of creating music that stands on its own. |
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| Reviews Summary |
| One of the underground's finest beatmaking tandems - Urb / A fine example of instrumental hip-hop - Exclaim! / Call it good mood music for bad moods - Entertainment Weekly / Quality stuff for the introspective heads, and recommended - Undercover / Nocturnally restful and hauntingly evocative - Igloo |
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| Dramatic, dark, and introspective, those are only three of many words that can describe this album by Mr. Echoes and The Isle of Weight, a group that calls themselves The Opus. Grim at some points, calm and thoughtful at others, it has deep atmospheric melodies and catchy hip-hop beats. The album is mostly instrumental, with only two tracks having lyrics on them, Fanum's Organs with lyrics by Big B, and the masterpiece Isis, with incredible lyrics coming from Lord 360. Despite the scarcity of lyrics, there is a sense of completeness about the album, and all the samples, voice and otherwise, feel like they've been a part of every given song for eternity. It almost feels like it was nature that sampled the sounds of the songs, as opposed to the other way around. - Subway Lounge |
2XLP/Out Of Print