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August 6, 2007Since his last album, 2005’s Chapter Seven, Chicago hip-hop producer Copperpot has been holding down a residency at Rogers Park club Morseland. As skilled as he is at manipulating a crowd, though, we can’t help feeling that catching him there is a disservice: Copperpot sounds best inside headphones, where his fidgety, low-lying beat science can truly envelop the ears.He does the sophomore trump, as opposed to the slump, on WYLA? (short for What’re You Looking At?) with major help from an eclectic, peculiarly Chi-town rotation of guests. Post-rock and jazz musicians (drummers Dan Bitney and Frank Rosaly, bassist Josh Abrams, guitarist Jeff Parker) commingle with British MCs (Braintax, Rodney P) and conscious underground legends (KRS-One, Masta Ace and TOC fave Psalm One). The live musicians add ripples to each loop’s tranquil surface and flesh out Copperpot’s carnival aesthetic. WYLA?, incidentally, makes Diverse’s fantastic Tortoise-studded 2003 album, One A.M., look more and more prescient. But the best tracks here come not from the unusually animated KRS but from more unexpected places. The British—but not grimy—MC Braintax, in particular, turns in a hilarious scolding to all the demo-tape authors who bombard him. And in keeping this a true producer’s project, Copperpot serves soulful instrumental interludes, including “I Am a Banana” and the Amy Winehouse formula–fueled “I Put a What.” Each strongly hints at the opportunities awaiting Copperpot if producing and deejaying hip-hop ever stop paying the bills.—Matthew Lurie Link to Article |
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