Serengeti & Polyphonic - Terradactyl

*  Illinois natives Serengeti and Polyphonic’s ‘Terradactyl’ is an album about place - losing place, mostly, struggling to find it again, and succumbing to the fact that it’s cold, and surprisingly lonely, when you’re dressed in the human condition.

*  Serengeti, heretofore a master of on-record character acting, appears here as
his most vulnerable self and as on this duo’s 2007 debut, Don’t Give Up, worldly beat-maestro Polyphonic is on hand to make beauty out of so much madness.

*  One of the album’s best tracks "Steroids" features Adam "doseone" Drucker. In a Madvillain moment, Serengeti is run-on gritty in the third person, telling a surreal tale of escapism and mistrust, while Polyphonic’s all harmonica jazz-snap groove. As the music surges into crazy land, the erstwhile voice of Subtle and Themselves executes a decidedly buff verse.

*  Next, "Patiently" finds Geti’s words blown out over big bass and digital bits, while on "Call the Law," he manically skewers the black rap male stereotype. Geti trades lines about love with another legend, Buck 65, on the dank and dubby "La La Lala," and "My Patriotism" continues the odd upbeat bent, where atop sampled squeeze-box and a live mandolin mimicking African highlife, Geti lays everyman verse: "Winners win and raise hip kids/ Poor people? Day-gigs for the rest of your life."

*  Track Listing: 01 Bon Voyage 02 Playing In Subway Stations 03 Move! 04 My Negativity 05 Cleveland 06 Steroids 07 Patiently 08 Call The Law 09 La La Lala 10 My Patriotism 11 Dawn Under The Bridge 12 Calliope

Be the first to review this record. Best reviewer each month gets £10 off their next order!