thepaintedman rates this:

Thought Criminals was an influential Australian punk band that formed in 1977… oh wait… wrong Thought Criminals…

The Thought Criminals is a British electro… no that’s not it…

The ThoughtCriminals is not a punk band that formed in 1977. In fact, they are not Australian or British, are not punk or electro, and did not form in 1977. Rather, The ThoughtCriminals are a hip hop crew that sent me their CD a few weeks back after I saw them advertised as an opening act for MC Frontalot on a Facebook invite. When I messaged Mikal kHill, he immediately responded and asked my shirt size. When I responded, he apologized that they were out of stock on my t-shirt size, but he sent me the music to check out and continues to keep in touch with me promising that a shirt is on the way.

Well, first off, the shirt is unnecessary, as the album speaks for itself (though I am still welcoming the free swag, I’ll even post a pic of my fat ass rocking it once I get it). The 16 track self-title CD is chock full of intelligent lyrics, catchy hooks, good flow, and an overall fantastically constructed hip hop aesthetic. Sub-genre defying, the ThoughtCriminals are not a typical nerdcore act, despite having some ties to that scene; their sound is often very reminiscent of classic hip hop like A Tribe Called Quest and Boogie Down Productions, with some subtle and not-so-sublte influences from other hip hop artists ranging from Wu-Tang Clan to Frontalot himself.

Lyrically, some tracks are fun and uplifting, others are politically and social minded, and others yet are educational. Here are my notes on a few of my favorite tracks, taken directly from the notes I made on a back page of my planner while driving to and from work over the past few weeks. In no particular order:

Track 2 “Falling Apart”

Not what I expected… guess I was expecting something more obviously nerdy due to being an opener for Front. Great beat, talented band. Very Roots-esque, but fronted by a rapper more like Q-Tip or KRS rather than Thought.

Track 13 “Loud Enough”

Part Cornell West, part KRS, part Saul Williams… educational and entertaining, thoroughly enjoyable. Nice acoustic guitar work in the background. Homage to Leon Scott’s influence over 100 years ago. Works well enough on it’s own, but is perfect as the introductory track to “Corporate Sellout”

Track 5 “Pocket Full of Trouble”

Love the “Gin & Juice” references. In fact, the song sounds like it has a bit of that Chronic-era Dre feel besides just the lyrical references.

Track 3 “Things Change”

Synth reminds me of Double Ice Backfire, though that’s likely just because I’ve been obsessed with Songs from the Pit lately. Flow and synth together also bring to mind some of Beefy’s stuff on Rolling Doubles. The guy singing the line “just stay the same” in the chorus sounds very “radio rap”, can’t put my finger on who he is reminding me of, though.

Track 12 “Mile After Mile”

This track makes me feel happy from the door. Fun and happy music. Uplifting lyrics, references to everyday life, paying bills, and reading comics. All in all, the track most likely to be repeated over and over on my iPod. One last note… something about this track makes me think of Abdominal, not sure why though.

Track 4 “Pledge”

Beat is very Frontalot. I half expected Front to start rapping as the verse broke.

Track 8 “Economic Downturn”

Sounds like a video game as the song opens… so much so that it brought to mind Nerdrap Entertainment System. Lyrically, strong social conscience. Is it us or them? Our choices in life or the system? Interesting stuff.

A great album front to back, beginning to end, The ThoughtCriminals is a fantastic debut that this hip hop band can be proud of. Their page on cdbaby describes the CD as “Part live band, part hip hop crew, this group deftly hops across genres, mixing hip hop with a variety of styles and lyrical density unparalleled by anything you’ll hear in the mainstream.” This accurate description still does not do them justice, but it’s a start. If you like old school hip hop, bands like The Roots, underground hip hop like Sage Francis, The Coup, and Abdominal, or are a big fan of the nerdcore standouts like Front, YTC, and Beefy, then this is a must for your collection.

thepaintedman rates this:

Canadian MC, Abdominal, has quickly risen from “some rapper I’ve never heard of” to “a guy who has one song I really like” to “staple in my musical diet”. To the best of my knowledge Escape from the Pigeon Hole is his only solo project, but when an album is this solid who needs another?

Toronto native, Andy Bernstein, entered the rap game in 1998, but truly hit his groove in 2003 when he teamed up with DJ Format… I can’t lie… I basically learned anything I know about Abdominal from wikipedia, so I’ll just leave my introduction at that. However, what I don’t know about Abdominal, I can make up in praise for his music.

Escape from the Pigeon Hole was first introduced to me when I mistakenly wiped out my entire music library of 6,000 or so tracks on my old PC. A friend happened to be visiting the next day and decided to get me started with repopulating my computer, he’d log into his FTP and let me grab whatever I want. I didn’t know who Abdominal was, but he said to me, “Oh, trust me, you’ll dig him,” and highlight his album as one I’d be copying. Since that time I have purchased a copy as I learned from “Walk Left/Stand Right” that telling him you download a bootleg of his CD is one of his pet peeves… I digress. After a few months, I had been digging on “Radio Friendly” and put it on a few mixes for driving and such… I figured it was time to give Abs a full shot and put the album on my hand-me-down iPod Shuffle before I headed out to the gym. A nice workout later, I was hooked.

So, what does Abs sound like? Good question… the music is very funky. Produced by the team of DJ Format, Cut Chemist, and Young Einstein, the beats are hot throughout. Vocally, his delivery is unique… powerful, fast-paced, slick, and incredibly smooth. I can’t describe exactly what I love about his flow, but I can say that I certainly do love it. The lyrics are witty, entertaining, and (at-times) well-informed. I’d have put money on the fact that he was black before I saw a picture of him, not sure why but he just sounds black. (DISCLAIMER: “Sounding Black” is not a good or bad thing, just something that seems to occur solely in Hip Hop and other “urban” genres. While my favorite MC’s range in ethnicity from black (Mos Def) to Hispanic (CookBook) to mixed (Pigeon John), vocals often present a picture of what the MC looks like… and when I close my eyes, Abs is a black dude!)

Now that I’ve taken a few paragraphs to tell you very little about anything worthwhile, let me highlight my favorite tracks in 10 in 10 fashion, along with a 1 to 5 rating of how much I dig the track. It’s hard to decide which tracks to leave out, but I hate to bore you by going on and on for 15 tracks…

“Escape”
thepaintedman rates this:
Spoken word track in tradition of the beatniks. Snap Snap!

“Breathe Later”
thepaintedman rates this:
Funky bass line thumps while Abdominal display his lung capacity.

“T Ode – Abdominal & Notes To Self”
thepaintedman rates this:
Ode to Abdominal’s hometown, Toronto, complete with mayoral endorsement.

“Radio Friendly”
thepaintedman rates this:
Misleading title, but “I don’t give a fuck.”

“Pedal Pusher”
thepaintedman rates this:
Abs waxes contemplative over another funk-laden beat.

“Walk Left/Stand Right”
thepaintedman rates this:
Abs expresses pet peeves over toe-tapping guitar driven backtrack.

Overall, the album can be summed up in noting the cleverness of Abdominal as an MC and the fantastic production and beats lent to Abs from Cut Chemist, Format, and Einstein. I can’t imagine too many Hip Hop fans that wouldn’t dig this LP. Check it out, I doubt you’ll be sorry.

1. The Mars Volta – Octahedron: Not interested – call Ward and reform At the Drive In!

2. YTCracker – Nerdrap Entertainment System: 2005’s best free download. Still rocks today.

3. Forgetting Sarah Marshall: “I wonder if the carpet matches her pubes.”

4. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans: By far, the best Underworld movie. Great plot. Solid flick.

5. Abdominal – Escape from the Pigeon Hole: I also give a fuck about an ice cold Guinness.

6. The Hangover: Another seemingly awesome movie I have to wait to see.

7. True Blood: Season 1: Interview with a Vampire for the MTV generation.

8. Kate Voegele – A Fine Mess: Yes, I like One Tree Hill, but not this chick.

9. Eminem – Relapse: All I can think of is Bruno’s ass.

10. Family Force 5 – Business Up Front Party in the Back: Much cooler than their boy band-ish name.