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ARSONISTS
As the World Burns (Matador)
Reviewed by Jason Thornberry
Fondle 'Em Records stars The Arsonists move over to Matador, who has released some excellent hip-hop recently, proving they don't just wanna know about Modest Mouse and Pavement. On "Backdraft" these scorchers ask: "How long will rap if it only had corny MC's?" This crew kills the fakers, and make Eminem's style sound empty (even though do compliment him on "As the World Burns"), and extremely…corny. Eminem: the white rapper, who makes it okay for caucasian kids to act black in Utah, and proceed like the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, Aryan sensation would. Elvis got popular the same way: by appropriating a whole 'nother culture that he really wasn't part of, no matter where he grew up, or who he hung out with. "Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant sh&!, yeah he straight up racist. The suckah was simple and plain. Muthafu%$ him and John Wayne!" (Public Enemy) "Can I be down? Look! I wear my baseball cap backwards!" (possible Eminem or Kid Rock fan in Florida). I read an interview recently with Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst. Inside he was discounting the accusations by some, that jocks seem drawn to his band's zero-intelligence meanderings, and base, third-grade drop-out consciousness. His excuse was that in high school jocks beat him up. Yeah, now they give you high-fives in the front row! "You aint harcore cuz you spike your hair when a jock still lives inside yer head!" (the Dead Kennedies,) Read into that, please, Fred and Marshall (the verrry 'street' name Eminem's mommy gave to him). Or have someone read it for you two dildos. While they get Hooked on Phonics, the Arsonists leave everything in their path smoldering. "I'm a human microphone, and my lyrics the vocal chords." Sugarhill was Old-School. This is NOW School. There are lots of really funny sound effects on this record that would normally be over-dubbed as substitutes on the 'clean version' for fu!% or sh*@ or ni&^a. Instead, they're flourishes to normal phrases, and you get to where you realize the Arsonists are approaching musique concrete, with found sounds blazing (Literally. See "Blaze") the path, and bringing hip hop into a new millennium. "The Arsonists" is a fitting moniker. This CD was almost too hot for me to put in my stereo without oven mitts. The best quotes here: "Gotta stop smokin' MC's. Somebody pass me the Nicorette." Or "You a pervert jerkin' off to porno's of me and your moms".
www.arsonists.com or www.matadorecords.com
© 2000 - Jason Thornberry