12XU
OBNOX - Niggative Approach LP
$27.95
Includes d/l code.
Highly recommended.
"Lamont Thomas has made seven Obnox albums in as many years, and they’ve all been bold expressions of his wide vision. But his third, 2014’s Louder Space, was a true breakthrough. The hip-hop and R&B strains that course beneath his noisy one-man garage rock came into sharper focus on that record, his first made in a proper studio. It also showed that Thomas could delve deeper into specific sides of his persona—in this case, by crafting legit rap jams—without sacrificing the many styles of which he’s capable.
The three Obnox albums that Thomas made after Louder Space were solid and diverse, but *Niggative Approach *feels like its true spiritual follow-up. The album is heavily focused on beats - Thomas has drummed in many vital Cleveland post-punk outfits - and filled with earworm-ready grooves. If *Louder Space *was his hip-hop album, *Niggative Approach *is his funk platter, bubbling with big bass lines and filled with studio touches like horn sections and keyboard accents. There’s still a lot of punk spirit here; the album’s title nods to hardcore legends Negative Approach, whose singer John Brannon opens and closes the album with spoken exhortations to Thomas. But *Niggative Approach *is first and foremost about groove.
Highly recommended.
"Lamont Thomas has made seven Obnox albums in as many years, and they’ve all been bold expressions of his wide vision. But his third, 2014’s Louder Space, was a true breakthrough. The hip-hop and R&B strains that course beneath his noisy one-man garage rock came into sharper focus on that record, his first made in a proper studio. It also showed that Thomas could delve deeper into specific sides of his persona—in this case, by crafting legit rap jams—without sacrificing the many styles of which he’s capable.
The three Obnox albums that Thomas made after Louder Space were solid and diverse, but *Niggative Approach *feels like its true spiritual follow-up. The album is heavily focused on beats - Thomas has drummed in many vital Cleveland post-punk outfits - and filled with earworm-ready grooves. If *Louder Space *was his hip-hop album, *Niggative Approach *is his funk platter, bubbling with big bass lines and filled with studio touches like horn sections and keyboard accents. There’s still a lot of punk spirit here; the album’s title nods to hardcore legends Negative Approach, whose singer John Brannon opens and closes the album with spoken exhortations to Thomas. But *Niggative Approach *is first and foremost about groove.
