{"id":8858,"date":"2010-02-03T08:00:22","date_gmt":"2010-02-03T13:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.frostclick.com\/wp\/?p=8858"},"modified":"2010-02-03T19:45:30","modified_gmt":"2010-02-04T00:45:30","slug":"tab-aniteks-traveling-in-stereo-upbeat-witty-trip-hop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.frostclick.com\/wp\/index.php\/2010\/02\/03\/tab-aniteks-traveling-in-stereo-upbeat-witty-trip-hop\/","title":{"rendered":"Tab & Anitek’s “Traveling in Stereo” – upbeat & witty trip-hop"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the normal public sphere they are just average New Jersey citizens, but in the studio and on stage, Andrew Bulloch<\/a> and Dave Nu\u00f1ez<\/a> are known as the hip-hop duo Tab and Anitek<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

With the mid-December release of Traveling in Stereo<\/strong>, the group\u2019s fourth collaboration, Tab and Anitek aim to make a slight departure from their past work. In addition to use of acoustic instruments and organic sounds, the album is a interesting mix of genres as well.
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\nThe group had an album description released concurrently:<\/p>\n

“Chasing Rabbits” was the bad trip, it was dark and heavy. This album is a complete 180 from that. It is upbeat, witty and sarcastic. Mixing elements of all different genres of music “Traveling in Stereo” lives up to its name and takes the listener on a ride that goes wherever you want it to\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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After listening to \u201cTraveling In Stereo\u201d several times, I can definitely say that it lives up to the claim of its creators; the album is indeed upbeat, it is witty, and it\u2019s definitely sarcastic, but I won\u2019t go as far to say that these are exactly good attributes. The standout qualities of Traveling In Stereo lie far more in the creativity and downright genius of Anitek\u2019s musical production rather than Tab\u2019s contributions lyrically. Anitek paints these beautiful soundscapes, a very lush backdrop of synths, samples, beats and acoustic instruments; the producer\u2019s vast array of influences no doubt have played a role into the scope of his sonic imagination. As his bio mentions on the group\u2019s website, he has played piano, cello, clarinet, guitar, bass and turntables for a collective 15 years, with musical influences ranging from Fat Jon<\/a> and DJ Krush<\/a> to Sergej Rakhmaninov<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Standout songs like Built From Scratch showcase both Tab and Anitek at their best, with the addition of a fairly good female vocalist, Elle Rose<\/a>, in the chorus. Everything in this song works, from the simple verses to the very infectious hook, and of course Anitek\u2019s brilliant production (take note of the nice rhythmic \u201ckicks\u201d he punches into the hook during \u201cstill tryin\u2019 to find my way). Inquiring Minds is another very good track, but it\u2019s a track like this where we see the strengths of Anitek and even Elle Rose, and the relative weakness of Tab\u2019s delivery. Between his lyrics and even more forced delivery, I just don\u2019t think this collaboration really works. It\u2019s similar to how critics have come to talk about The Who, and the seeming great divide in talent (to some) between songwriter\/guitarist Pete Townsend and vocalist Roger Daltrey.<\/p>\n

The biggest failures on the album are without a doubt Booze Infused Wisdom, This Party Is Fucking Awesome, and Note 2 Self. What exactly is Tab trying to achieve in the lyrics he provides for these songs? It couldn\u2019t be an attempt at humor or biting sarcastic satire, the lyrics are far too shallow to achieve that. It couldn\u2019t be a sort of masculine posturing, which is typically and usually entertaining in hip-hop, the lyrics and delivery are far too tame to achieve even that. With both of those strike outs, what we\u2019re left with is something sophomoric at best, and at worst, a weak suburban impersonation of what people would generally consider good rhyming, execution and gangster bravura.<\/p>\n

Vocal failures and lyrical embarrassments aside, when this album is good, it\u2019s good. The cool sounds of Anitek\u2019s production and\u2014at times\u2014low key vocals, bring back memories of the very chilled out sounds of A Tribe Called Quest<\/a>, most especially in tracks like \u201cWe\u2019ve Got The Jazz.\u201d Anitek really sells his talent the most on Ride And Fly, displaying a nostalgia draped in progressive aesthetic, especially with his interesting approach to turntable playing. I hope to hear a lot more about Anitek in the years to come. Traveling In Stereo should be checked out by all those with at least an iota of interest in the hip-hop genre.<\/p>\n


Related Links:<\/strong>
\nTab and Anitek Homepage<\/a>
\nTab and Anitek on Myspace<\/a>
\nTab and Anitek on Jamendo<\/a> <\/p>\n

\"Creative<\/a>
\nThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License<\/a>.<\/p>\n