Monday, October 01, 2007

Prepare for Movement...

Sinthesis
Movement 4:6
(rainCLOUD)

Words by Ali Elabbady aka Egypto Knuckles

Phaust, Phorest, Vivid and Phingaz from the heart of Mormon central wanted to make some music. Understand the focus of that last sentence. They wanted to make music. They didn’t set out to make hip-hop, nor use an interesting palette of genres that seems to intertwine with their overall setting for the music they’ve created. So we heard Product and Phree Cognition, which were their first two efforts, and they were really all over the place to begin with. Phree Cognition alone was 27 tracks chalked full of interludes Prince Paul himself would be proud of. And all over it a different style was presented using previous genres that the crew was inspired by. And now we’ve come to their third full length, aptly titled “Movement 4:6.”

Let’s get a few things straight. Movement 4:6 doesn’t match any of their previous efforts. This effort was strictly begun as every effort was, improving upon what they as a crew have released. But it’s not a Hip-Hop record in the traditional sense. Nor is it Hip-Hop in the experimental sense. What this record represents is simply that, a journey. Sinthesis’s musical journey if you will. But the record is an amalgam of sounds, thoughts, experiences, and experiments. They are well documented, well executed, and very fluid in the listening. Sure, Phree Cognition came in at 27 tracks and was about 80 minutes long, but this is much more subdued and focused. And when it’s subdued and focused, there’s several points made within it.

The main credit to making it a much more focused and tighter effort goes to Phingaz. The soundscapes and palettes are eerily quiet and dark, stark and to the point, encompassing and surprisingly quaint. Phaust on the other hand, raps as if there’s a fire in his belly, as if he’s coming out the gate firing scud missiles of rhymes to his audience, such a passion about him that is whimsical to even fathom. He’s hungry, and you can tell it in the way he spits. Movement 4:6 does take its title from a good reference. In addition to that, if you listen closely to the record, every few minutes there’s a sprinkled in sample stating, “For every action, there’s an equal but opposite reaction.”

If there’s a lesson to be learned in Movement 4:6, it’s the lesson that you should expect the unexpected. No, no wait, that’s wrong. The point taken away is that you should formulate your own experience based on the experience within the music. But even that wouldn’t be as broad a point that Sinthesis wants to make. The point is that interpretation is what it is, and does what it can to paint a picture for the listener. What type of picture could you define it as? Dali’s dripping clocks? The Mona Lisa? Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel? Who knows? But the bottom line is that Movement 4:6 is just that. It’s a movement. A movement that Phingaz, Phaust, Phorest and Vividend want you to get in tune with.

Wanna hear clips of the album? Click here.

"Movement 4:6" is out on 10/31, with a release party to be held at Liquid Joe's that evening. Can't make it out? Then go to Uprok Records in Salt Lake City for their album signing.

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