iconAclass - For The Ones

Sometimes it's incredibly hard to write about a record, for numerous reasons. Just one example: what the fuck should I write about Black Flag or Fugazi or Rites of Spring that hasn't been said before? Or what could I write about your band's crappy demo without hurting your baby boy feelings? Writing about iconAclass has been just as hard. I have been a dälek fanboy for years and years, and Will Brooks is my brother from different mothers. But fuck being objective, especially when it comes to music and words.

iconAclass is the new solo effort from one of the dopest and illest contemporary MCs: dälek. So yes, you got it right: the group is called dälek, and the solo project is called iconAclass. I was confused, too. I think it's safe to say that dälek has changed my ways of listening to music - and not only HipHop, any genre basically. I always loved the fact how much they alienated your average HipHop listener. No, wait... I didn't love it. I just thought it was funny. It was just like Slayer being shrugged off by metal dudes for being "too extreme". Now that dälek (the group) is on hiatus, the Oktopus does MRC Riddims and dälek (the MC) does iconAclass.

Both For The Ones (the album) and I Got It (the EP) are masterpieces. And I could stop the review here, because you either get it or you don't. But let me delve in: the beats are simply incredible. No fancy gimmicks, no big ass production, no stolen samples - just solid kick ass beats as the groundwork for some of the most creative wordplay I have heard in HipHop for a long, long time. dälek is fucking angry ("I ain't mad, muthafuka / I'm rabid!") about the state of the world. And very obviously, things are going wrong: "95% of my crew go to stores to cash checks. 99% leave vexed." - but there are some things in life that make it all go good, things that help you through the struggle: "4 out 9 love the New York Mets. 2 my nigga get ill on them Technics decks."

It's a sad thing, but a proven fact: hard times help spawn great music: just remember Reagan era hardcore! "The wealthy done built their pearly gates. Out here evil takes so many shapes. We tend to meet early fates. Trust too many fakes. Idolize those who imitate. Bastardize all who create." For The Ones (and I Got It, too) are records that are on fire with passion and anger, not unlike the rage that Chuck D spat on vinyl with PE. dälek is a poet, no doubt about that. But the true poets have always yelled fire. (And, speaking of poetry and art in general: when was the last time you have heard an MC namedrop Geoffrey Chaucer, Lars von Trier, Pablo Picasso, and the Coen brothers?)

But what really counts at the end of the day is the music. There are crazy bangers on that album, slower jams like "Heat Down" on the EP, dirty Boom Bap jammers, you name it. DJ Motiv adds a few cuts and there, but they are never overdone and just add to the whole flavour. So well, I told you... this might be one the lamest reviews I have ever written. I just can't help it. These two records mean so much to me on a personal level that it's close to impossible to write something that makes sense to anyone who is not in my head. Thank you, Will Brooks! It means the world to me to be a part of this.

"Wack crews out flanked by the Massive. Last thing you say 'bout Deadverse is we passive."

www.deadverse.com
www.drugfrontrecords.com

"If younger heads quote this, then it ain't all hopeless..."

I know it has been said before, but I will gladly repeat myself... Dälek are the future of HipHop, if there is one. I am not saying this because they are my friends (they are), and not saying this because this video brings up the fondest of memories about Thee Oktopus discussing the glory of Badolato's pizza crust (as compared to New Jersey pizza crust) for about 15 minutes (and more), but because... well, it's the truth.

Let's talk in 10 years, when you're gonna finally catch up and when you start to look beyond the fence that goes around your HipHop mindset. (But then again, who am I to talk shit? When I first listened to London Calling 20 or so years ago, I thought it wasn't punk at all...)

The best shows I have seen in 2008, Part Two

ADOLESCENTS + WHITE FLAG
Shows like this are the reason why I prefer old farts a hundred times over any hawdcoah flavor of the month. I don't want to listen to any of your youth crew poo poo on colored vinyl, when I can go and see the Adolescents. There has to be a reason why everybody still knows all their lyrics by heart and sings along, and the reason is oh so very simple: they kick ass. They kick so much more ass than your run-of-the-mill kindergarten band ever will. Try to write just one song like "Amoeba" or "Kids of the Black Hole" in your lifetime, and then we'll talk again.

OFF WITH THEIR HEADS
Hands down the best punk (and related) show I have seen all year, and nothing else came even close. Off With Their Heads got it all right, both on record and on stage. From the moment they hit the first notes, I couldn't help but stand there with a big idiotic grin on my face. The entire Off With Their fucking Heads discography is hit after hit after hit, and they know how to deliver the goods live. If you don't agree, you've pretty been ruining everybody's lives and eating all our steak, just like Uncle Rico.

JAZZMATAZZ
I was kinda skeptical about seeing Jazzmatazz in 2008, because let's be honest - Gang Starr was one of the best hip hop acts to walk the face of the earth e-v-e-r, Guru's solo records are still pretty good, but Jazzmatazz? Ok, their first album is brilliant, but everything that came after that... well, your mom would listen to it, 'nah mean? But I bow my head in shame and take back every word, because Guru still is the coolest motherfucker. This man is so bad ass, he didn't even sweat! I'm not kidding you, he either got his sweat glands surgically removed or he is as cool as ice. (On a sidenote, the trombone player looked a bit like Fabio, but I can see past that.)

SCOOTER
Ok, no matter what you say: Scooter is the shit. Just like seeing a crust punk band from Poland, you know exactly what to expect, and you get it. And just like said crust band, Scooter are fast and dumb. For fuck's sake, they even had mighty Mantas on guitars in 2007 or something! I can't remember a show in the past five years or so with an audience this happy. A laser show and half naked go-go dancers, this is the kind of shit hardcore would need more of.

DÄLEK + RIVER FOR SALE
I have seen Dälek at least ten times by now, and it's pretty safe to say that they never disappoint, but never before have I seen them play a better or heavier show than this, do encores, or Oktopus go off as if he was in a moshpit. They almost played only entirely new songs off their upcoming album Gutter Tactics, and if they sound anything like the noise they created that night, it's gonna be Dälek's Reign In Blood. The band that played right before them, River For Sale, might just be the best existing Czech band right now - so much better than the overhyped and overrated Lvmen.

Honorable mentions:
The Rabbit Theory
Off Minor
Young Livers
Hanson Brothers

(And I haven't even mentioned the best show of 2008 yet... watch this space.)