How the mighty have fallen. Not that Andre Afram Asmar might really beconsidered mighty, but his last record for Mush was a beautiful mashupof hip-hop and middle eastern instrumentals that worked on any numberof levels and preserved a sense of genuine respect for all of thesounds it culled. Enter Circus, the MC who manages to take AAA'sproduction and run it into the ground with half-witted rhymes and adeadpan vocal delivery that recalls a suburban, middle-agedbusinessperson reciting a 'rap' in some corporate skill-buildingseminar. The album has a loose theme that revolves around alienabduction, conspiracy theories, and the Bush administration'swar-waging in the middle east. Unfortunately, the serious themes andstupid themes are given just about equal billing, but its all played ina straight-faced way to render none of it funny or effective. The beatsand samples that Circus drowns out might be worthwhile on their own,but it's impossible to separate the voice from the songs. I'll neverquite understand how people who have an ear for quality music and deftMCs can listen to something like Gawd Bless the Faceless Cowardsand feel that it's adequate or even fun to listen to. Inane rhymesdelivered flatly over beats and samples about UFOs might make for a funparty record amongst friends, but only really close friends who aren'ttoo critical, or who are really drunk. Someone got in the car with mewhen this record was on and the first question he asked was 'is this ademo someone sent you?' No, but maybe if someone had heard the demofirst, they could have steered it somewhere productive. As it is, steerclear.Read More
