AZEEM WITH VARIABLE UNIT
Mayhemystics (Wide Hive)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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Yet another masterpiece from the Wide Hive stable. Azeem's cerebral poetry and Variable Unit's heady, down-tempo acid jazz come together once again for a marriage made in heaven. The sound is huge and it's original, coming not from a zillion samples but from a collective of musicians who actually create the music you're hearing (a rarity to be cherished these days), and it would seem the top requirement for acceptance to the collective is a strong sense of groove. This album, like Cold Flow, Handbook for the Apocalypse and Seven Grain before it, captivates the listener with grooves so bewitching they open the mind for the messages. Sometimes that can be a little unsettling, as Azeem's view of the political landscape would be considered paranoid in any era but the time of Dubya. He warns us of things we're missing, such as the simple fact that the TV is watching us while we think we're watching the TV. Hey, I get paranoid during that track, not just because his poetry is a bit terrifying, but because the music delivers it with such surreal impact that it's impossible to resist the thought. The dual-turntable attack of DJ Zeph and DJ Quest slices it all up in wonderfully subtle ways that make all the difference on any given track. It takes a lot of people to make a Variable Unit record, and the cast changes from song to song, album to album, without drastically changing the recognizable sound of the band. They've got some real magic going on in the Bay Area. This release is a gathering of many of the best elements at their disposal.

© 2004 - DJ Johnson