Nine:Fifteen – Electric Blanket (Candlewax)
To provide context for this album, I made up a history involving a paranoid UPS third-shift worker, Prince with a stethoscope, a Clinton-era dorm dweller with Beck’s Odelay on repeat, a child giving a rapper a concussion while attempting a “Hong Kong Phooey” jumpkick, getting booted from KMD for thinking PM Dawn is “kinda ill,” rum, pineapple juice, Christmas decorations, paisley, and an explosion that lodges a demo tape in a birdhouse for a decade and a half.
Nine:Fifteen – Electric Blanket (Candlewax)
To provide context for this album, I made up a history involving a paranoid UPS third-shift worker, Prince with a stethoscope, a Clinton-era dorm dweller with Beck’s Odelay on repeat, a child giving a rapper a concussion while attempting a “Hong Kong Phooey” jumpkick, getting booted from KMD for thinking PM Dawn is “kinda ill,” rum, pineapple juice, Christmas decorations, paisley, and an explosion that lodges a demo tape in a birdhouse for a decade and a half. The history captured Nine:Fifteen’s essence, but was far too long, so I’ll stick with the truth.
Nine:Fifteen are a duo. Producer BlakeNine lives in DC. You might have seen him performing with Richmond hip-hop crew We Be I at the Cary St. Café in the early ‘00s. Vocalist Bisquite Powerpoppin’ lives in LA and used to be in the Pharcyde-ish rap group Time Machine. They play a kind of full-moon funk that I’ve never heard before. The strongest tracks–“Guarded Things,” “Plan B,” and “Nasty Boy”–feature Bisquite shouting lyrics like “Three hole punch/paper/hit me/like my Godfather” in a strangled soul yelp while sentimental synth melodies wash over rollerskate-ready drums.
A lot of things come to mind. ‘80s material by Bobby Womack and Bill Withers; pop radio circa 1990 when hip-hop and college rock blended to give us Soho and PM Dawn; De La Soul and the school of rappers who’d sample ‘70s TV themes; kitchen sink ‘90s alternative like Luscious Jackson, Beck and Buddhist Beastie Boys; contemporary magpies like Gnarls Barkley.
If the recording were fuzzier, most of Electric Blanket would be right at home on underground synth-funk compilations like Personal Space: Electronic Soul 1974-1984 and Mustache Soul. But the production on Electric Blanket is Technicolor and the grit comes from Bisquite’s snarled ad-libs and the group’s forays into sampledelic rap on songs like “Rugged” and “Around Again.”
I get the idea that Electric Blanket changed as a project during the recording, and that the rap songs indicate the group’s jumping-off point, while the freakier funk is the future they’re moving toward. The stylistic shifts can make Electric Blanket a jarring listen, but nothing on here is bad, about half of it is great, and it’s exciting to hear these two musicians striking gold as they forge a new identity in real time.
Nine:Fifteen is using Kickstarter to raise money for a physical release of their next album. Check out their Kickstarter page here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1900798891/shooting-in-the-dark
