Which One Of You Jerks…

Blockhead: Which One Of You Jerks Drank My Arnold Palmer
From: The Music Scene [Ninja Tune, 2010]

Blockhead: Night Light (Instrumental)
From: Music By Cavelight (Bonus Disc) [Ninja Tune, 2004]

Blockhead: Dough
From: Broke Beats [Mush, 2001]

While I don’t return to it as often as I could, there was a time when I felt that Aesop Rock’s Labor Days was just about the single freshest slice of hip-hop I had ever heard. Aesop’s harsh rasp and signature stream of consciousness expulsions are certainly what initially distinguished the record to me, but a large part of its sustained listen-ability I feel is due to the man behind the boards, Blockhead. I might go so far as to say that the fact that Labor Days is their only full-length collaboration is related to the fact that Aesop’s subsequent material has never quite surpassed this initial benchmark in my mind.

The Music Scene is the third full-length instrumental solo offering Blockhead has produced for Ninja Tune, and it sees him elaborating on the contemplative boom bap that characterized his previous albums. The beats contained here don’t leave any room for vocalists, but aren’t overly busy either. Most end in a different place than they began, which suits the cinematic quality of the music. The production is still loop based (see the nice Small Faces grab in the above track), but movement is added through more subtle techniques than subtracting and re-adding layers.

To add a little bit of context, I added one of my favorite of Blockhead’s rap instrumentals, taken from the b-side of Aesop Rock’s “Daylight” 12″, and a beat from the break record he did with Mush in 2001. Both bang in their own right, especially “Night Light,” thought the difference between these and tracks which were meant to stand on their own as instrumentals is significant.

Blockhead will be performing in NYC at the Mercury Lounge on February 5th. The Music Scene is out now.