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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 |
| Reviews | |
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| Hells yeah. It seems like about once a year a very cool instrumental hip-hop album just sort of claws its way into my subconscious and the best of the past couple months just happens to be this release Breathing Lessons by the Opus. While part of my infatuation with the release may be due to it arriving just as the last of the snow was melting (and along with it my fascination for quieter and more heady music), there's no doubt that the stuff on this disc will appeal to those looking for a healthy dose of fat beats and well-placed samples. Basically, what you get is eleven nicely-varied tracks that bump for just over an hour's time. The opener of "Fanum's Organs" is a fairly standard number cutting up vocals over a two-stepping beat that loops incessantly while sounding like its leading into something better. "Mission Control" is what comes next, and while it gets a little bogged down towards the end (by repeating the same sample ad infinitum), the opening two-thirds of the track works wonderfully with a touch of ominous samples and a rattling beat. On "Life's Endless Cycle pt. 1" a nicely subdued beat rumbles along under what sounds like filtered strings and other classical music, spilling together into a track that reminds one of the "What Does Your Soul Look Like?" series. "Life's Endless Cycle pt. 3" bumps things back up again with some filtered horn and vocal samples while "Isis" loops string stabs and plucks over another trunk-rattling rhythm. The album closes out with three longer tracks (all seven minutes plus), but it's here where the album is also has some of its best moments. "The Strange Adventures of Mr. Happy" could have probably used a smidge more editing, but swirls together shimmering soundscapes with upright bass and loops of broken jazz for a gem while the album closer of "The Addiction" builds from a quieter piece into a pummeling epic over the course of ten minutes. In short, if you enjoy instrumental hip-hop (especially by the likes of those mentioned above), you'll most likely bump on this. - Almost Cool |
2XLP/Out Of Print