Cappablack - Facades and Skeletons

The B-boy upstarts of ~scape, Cappablack, fuse Kit Clatyon's sound-art styling with electronically-forged scratching and esoteric samples: the end result is a unique piece of artistically adventurous but achingly cool hip-hop

Album Review by Liam Arnold | 11 Jan 2007
Album title: Facades and Skeletons
Artist: Cappablack
Label: ~scape
The B-boy upstarts of ~scape, Cappablack, fuse Kit Clatyon's sound-art styling to electronically-forged scratching and esoteric samples: the end result is a unique piece of artistically adventurous but achingly cool hip-hop. Facades and Skeletons is the brainchild of avant-noise turntable/programming nutballs Illevin and Hashim B – it's a beautifully mangled car crash of twisted glitch-core, scorched soundscapes and dark, shadowy hip-hop rhythms. It's also the best piece of fucked-up genius you'll hear for a while. This isn't just noise for the sake of it though, like Greg Davis or Prefuse 73, Cappablack coax delicate melodies and found sounds from the heart of the electronic blizzard and haunting instrumental refrains survive even the most cut-up bleeping. The lazy, bassy drawl of Awol One stresses the hip-hop roots of Cappablack, turning the esoteric beats of Slide Around into a groove-laden, NYC classic, whilst Emirp's Japanese rhymes render Akarui-Mirai and Tokatonton totally surreal but utterly compelling. This is genius. [Liam Arnold]




Release Date: Out now. If you like this, check out Greg Davis, Prefuse 73, and Pole.