Alias: Fever Dream

By Alif Omar Mahfix  •  14 Nov 2011 in Review

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Anticon was the de facto hip hop collective that was changing the sound of the genre. Being made of predominantly white boys, the then collective (now a record label) built a reputation as experimenters of a type of music that was stubborn to the idea of changing. This naturally led to their distancing themselves from the genre, the most egregious example being the more prominent member Why? morphing into an indie rock band.

Alias, the hermitic producer, maintains his existence as just that guy with drum machines making beats as he’d always done so. But perhaps due to the changing times and the increasing potency of Low End Theory’s presence in the beat scene, Fever Dream sees a break in the long running pattern of Alias’ production. More informed by the likes of Flying Lotus and his contemporaries than the athletic drumming and gossamer production of his old records, the album is almost an audition from Alias to Brainfeeder. Tracks like ‘Goinswimmin’ and ‘Wanna Let It Go’ have the composition similarities of a Fly Lo joint while still maintaining some of his own identity. Fever Dream isn’t Alias attempting to relive Anticon’s glory days as innovators, it is instead a game of catch-up on their part.

LISTEN TO THIS: ‘Dahorses’, ‘Lady Lambin’, ‘Goinswimmin’
IF YOU LIKE THIS YOU’LL DIG: Tobacco, Sole, Why?
RATING: 3

Alias – Wanna Let It Go (Fever Dream / Anticon 2011) by Leroy Mcbride

Incept your dreams with fevered beats at www.anticon.com.