Angles is the opening effort from UK act Dan Le Sac VS Scroobius Pip, and it's awesome.

QUICK REVIEW - Surreal and funky electro beats laid down by Dan Le Sac, with fantastic and diverse poetry of the magnificently bearded Scroobius Pip coming over the top. The album is from the start an effort to re-energise hip-hop with intelligent and meaningful lyrics, and at the same time a step away from the dull beat all too prevalent in modern rap. Worth it just for "Thou Shalt Always Kill".

LONG REVIEW:

This is just excellent, from the very first track an unrestrained masterpiece. Whether or not you agree with the duo's take on the issues they explore is neither here nor there; the delivery is excellent and the content well founded. Despite the depth of the subject matter they deal with it in a simple and direct way, and in doing so they avoid sounding pretentious or making themselves sound over complex, which is a credit to them.

Track 1 - The Beat That My Heart Skipped

"'We ain't pushing the boundaries, we're blowing them up.
We ain't trying to expand the scene, we want the scene to erupt.
So make some room on the floor and somebody bolt the doors cos tonight.. we ain't seeking applause.
Tonight.. Well, gee... we're just looking to have some good new-fashioned fun, y'all."'

And they mean it. The track takes a refreshing view of new romance and all it's trappings, it's frustrations and misunderstandings. It also sets out their stall as innovators. All very eloquently put and cliché-free.

8/10.

Track 2 - Development

"'I aint an alcoholic
I just drink a lot
And maybe I'm a genius
Or maybe I just think a lot"'

Dan Le Sac reminds us all that paradigms are for wimps with his sounds in this track, mixing bluesy guitar riffs into his usual scatty electro. No loss of quality though, it's good noise. Pip's poem is predictably great, written and voiced in a conversational style, but smacks slightly of self righteousness, the closing lyrics being "compared to all the other kids in my class, I'm much taller" and also contains a boring bit about the periodic table. Still a solid track though.

6/10.

Track 3 - Look For The Woman

"'And for a few years now it's been the problem,
And these realisations, I wish that I could stop them,
But I've realised that love is all we have in common,
And deep down you know that's true."'

Gentler music from Dan Le Sac, piano and ambient sounds. Scroobius Pip loses all trace of arrogance/self righteousness here, thankfully, and simply explores the feeling that many of us have experienced when a relationship has deteriorated but it is difficult not to cling on to what was. It's well written and thoughtful and his delivery is gentle but loses no impact. Solid.

8/10.

Track 4 - Rapper's Battle

"'What do you mean keep it real, could someone please explain
When reality's just light interpreted by your brain
And if mine and your perceptions ain't one and the same
Which one of us is normal which one is insane"'

Layered drums and sampling accompany questions, philosophy, and introspection, themes that will be familiar to any of us who think too much. The track is fairly straightforward, but we get a nice glance at Pip's mind which mirrors our own.

7/10.

Track 5 - Tommy C

"'The curtain closed, lights went up, and there was no encore
Everybody left their seats and headed for the door
Unbeknownst to them they had witnessed Tommy Cooper's death
He had given his all until he had nothing left
Now please note that at the moment that this entertainer died
Even with a room full of people not one tear was cried
Much less, they rose to their feet as they laughed and clapped
Now tell me one fucking thing that's more beautiful than that..."'

Minimal music does not distract from an original and beautiful dissection of the nature of beauty. As Pip says at the beginning "it's more than just a nice pair of tits". His chosen image is the death of Tommy Cooper, who died on stage entertaining as he had done all his life, and the audience assumed this was part of the act and clapped and cheered and left. There does seem to be a poignancy in the fact that even Tommy's death was an act of entertainment, providing his audiences with laughter and happiness. The totality of it is beautiful, and the track elucidates that well.

8.5/10.

Track 6 - Fixed

"'Hip hop is art
don't make another pop hit, be smart
take it back to the start
like KRS and Rakim use passion and heart"'

Cleverly using the backing riff of Dizzee Rascal's "Fix up look sharp", the duo skewer modern British hip-hop, and thank god someone said it, because the scene is pathetic at the moment. An excellent demolition of the current trends which are basically saying how violent and awesome you are, accompanied by shit music.

8/10.

Track 7 - Angles

"'Things in life aren't always quite what they seem,
there's more than one given angle to any one given scene.
So bear that in mind next time you try to intervene
on any one given angle
to any one given scene."'

The song is musically sparse and sinister, and the content is extremely hard-hitting. It details the story of three characters...nah, I won't ruin it. It's a very serious track and it's a bit depressing but well sometimes life is depressing. Occasionally difficult to hear the lyrics. But an outstanding track.

8.5/10.

Track 8 - A Letter From God To Man

"'It was You that invented bombs, and the fear that comes with them
And it was You that invented money, and the corrupt economic systems
You invented terms like just-war and terms like friendly fire
And it was You that didn't know when to stop digging deeper, when to stop building higher"'

A novel idea, God addressing man in a quite charming manner. Interesting points made as well, although I don't agree with all of it, but that doesn't diminish it artistically. Dan Le Sac's first and only let down in my opinion - the sampling of Radiohead's Planet Telex is irritating and jars. However, the track as a whole is still an excellent effort at discussing issues not often brought into the public forum.

7/10.

Track 9 - The Magician's Assistant

"'It's tragic; you tried to cut yourself in half,
But this isn't magic; in fact it's something much more dark, or more dramatic
Self harm, that's what they call it.
'Cause it just affects you."'

This track is a brilliantly crafted and very brave commentary on suicide. The music is a triumphant return to form for Dan Le Sac, a hugely immersive and tense atmospheric build up as Scroobius Pip's bitter commentary on the selfishness of suicide, how it's rarely noted that it will affect the living, reaches its climax. This was an important thing to say.

8.5/10.

Track 10 - Back From Hell

"'When you forget about the hand your dealt
All that really matters is the things you've felt
So fuck it, bring on the good and bad times
If rapping don't work I'll start a band of mimes"'

The pair's self-confessed weakest track. I don't think it is, but it does suffer from a vagueness and lack of direction. That said the beat is refreshingly energetic and pacy after the morbid themes of Magician's Assistant and a pleasing optimism is conveyed.

7/10.

Track 11 - Thou Shalt Always Kill

"'Thou shalt not put musicians and recording artists on ridiculous pedestals.
No matter how great they are, or were.
The Beatles were just a band.
Led Zeppelin , just a band.
The Beach Boys , just a band..
The Sex Pistols , just a band.
The Clash , just a band.
Crass , just a band.
Minor Threat , just a band.
The Cure , just a band.
The Smiths , just a band.
Nirvana , just a band."'

A gloriously irreverent and self-contradictory rant from Scroobius Pip, with music that sounds like it's mixed samples from Nintendo games. Best track off the album. The lyrics consist of a long list of new commandments which are so hilariously cutting and accurate that by the end of the song you're hard pressed to stop yourself cheering his every new commandment on. Seriously. Fantastic. Also quite bold artistically, there is no dumbing down here or careful censure of content. One commandment tells the listener, "Thou shalt not think any male over the age of 30 that plays with a child that is not their own is a paedophile, some people are just nice", another reminds us to "give equal worth to tragedies that occur in non-English speaking countries as to those that occur in English speaking countries".

Track 12 - Waiting For The Beat To Kick In

"'But the question I pose now will offer you a plan B,
And maybe some peace and quiet for your friends and family,
How hard is it to decide to be in a good mood,
And then just be.. in.. a good mood?"'

The track depicts a dream where the protagonist meets a host of bizarre characters in the "new york you see in old films" who offer him stunningly simple and yet poignant advice. This track is one of the most amazing things I've ever heard, really. Listen to it.

9/10.

Bonus track - Reading My Dreams

"'In eachother's arms and with interlocked hands
"'Lay two smiling faces and one set of plans"'

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