Beans Only
On his solo albums for Warp, former Anti-Pop Consortium member Beans has had dubious success, […]
On his solo albums for Warp, former Anti-Pop Consortium member Beans has had dubious success, his IDM-driven production often more interesting than his intermittent rhyme blasts. Only, a concept collabo with bassist William Parker and percussionist Hamid Drake, takes experimentation into the stratosphere. Filtering Beans’ original ideas through their free-jazz and improv artistry, Parker and Drake produce spare, thoughtful works, but when they’re clumsily processed by Beans, they go astray. Violin scrapes, skittering rim shots, and synth warbles are punctuated by lines like “I’m diarrhea of the mouth.” True beatniks would approve, but will they bother to listen?”