inventory find, still sealed! Montreal's Sixtoo delivers what could well be the best hip hop album of 2003 for the hotly tipped Vertical Form label. But this ain't just hip hop, baby. Sixtoo's style is so apposite right now. He's been picked up by Vertical Form, but also crucially Lex and Ninja Tune for future as yet unreleased and unrecorded projects. Not surprisingly any emcee worth his salt wants Sixtoo to produce their works. As a ground-level contributor to many avant-garde hiphop crews including Anticon (w/ Sole, Jel, Dose One et al.) the Vinyl Monkeys (Alias, Controller7, Matth, Moodswing09, Joe beats etc) and decksmaster Mr Dibbs' hand-picked 1200 Hobos crew (dj Signify, Slug, Abilities, Scratch Bastard and so forth), Sixtoo has been an integral element in some humbling company. His own musical philosophy is closest matched by McEnroe and longtime spar Buck65, with whom he completed what many people consider the classic canadian hiphop record so far `Sebutones' "50/50 where it counts". Until now..... After a killer intro, aquarian funk breaks with the vocal "Theres something that i'm missing - something inside of me", sets the mood. It's straight into 'A To Zero', a melody like Augustus Pablo playing the Get Carter theme floats in before the tweaked dusted beats roll into place, lyrics drop with integrity, invention and and a thrilling, dynamic delivery - an acoustic guitar straddles the midpoint, builds the tune then freestyles along to the close - outstanding. "Fear of flying" introduces bass refrain, airport departure sample and the most decided crusher of an electronic beat, and "Funny sticks" rides one deranged electronic bottom end line, we'd kill for an instrumental on this one! "Daggers on all corners" again blows the joint up, chiller cymbals, cut-ups all coalesce around a benign clarinet line, blinding stuff. Its clear Sixtoo's musical tastes have changed and developed over the years, you can hear jazz, his early love for punk-rock in his unimpressed delivery and crucially electronic licks shining out from his vinyl collection. "Baroque" even brings the wit to a classical selection, fat beats and a jazzy piano lick from the conservatory, while "Amphitheatre" could be one of the most complete meshes of hip hop attitude with gongs (!) and an electronic palette yet. Ever the classical b-boy, his loyal companions are still sampler and turntables, recent single "Outremont mainline..." just has the vibes and drums from twelve years spent crafting on sp1200's, and there's an extended, deep-dubbed up scratch-fest "The Mile-End ArtBike/Suicide Manual" which somehow collides wicked cuts with guitar, flute and those skills to die for. Unreal stuff and worth price of admission alone! Here Sixtoo has instigated some of the deepest, most personal and original hip hop ever made, standing (almost) alone in the world of thoughtful hip hop, with unique production clout to give many a world class producer plenty sleepless nights. Next level music, evolutionary hip hop circa 2003, courtesy of Sixtoo and the increasingly unmatchable Vertical Form imprint. Deepest quality, totally recommended.A1 Something A2 Outremont Mainline Runs Across The Sunset A3 Fear Of Flying A4 Baroque B1 A To Zero B2 Daggers On All Corners (Live) B3 Funny Sticks B4 Keyed Cars C1 The Mile-End Artbike / Suicide Manual (Pt. 1) D1 The Mile-End Artbike / Suicide Manual (Pt. 2)
