Quakers (2012)

(Stones Throw)

RECOMMENDED

I was listening to this lengthy, sprawling, odd album at the moment when I learned that Das Racist had split up. It was an interesting illustration of how quickly the culture moves along; a few short years ago, DR was just a promising new act before they legitimized a branch of wordy, reference-heavy, often sardonic hip hop ("Tumblr Rap"? Please, no) that had previously been given little critical attention. In the end, they bridged a gap in their brief reign before imploding. Now they're already influential: the hyperkinetic, tangential style of this 40-track, 70-minute opus, chock full of brief songs, annoying half-songs, and sonic jokes both good and bad may owe something to DJ albums like those of 2 Many DJ's and the Avalanches, but you can detect just as much of the eyeroll wit and scrappy futurism of DR's mixtapes.

Still, this is unmistakably a producer's album, even if it's more accessible than that would imply. Geoff Barrow and friends mean to present an album that's fun to listen to, and they succeed, but the mechanics of the thing are intimidating. They crowdsource MCs both semi-famous and completely obscure, some uncovered on Myspace's once-massive underground rap community. The volume of talent is rich, with not one person giving a duff performance, but the emphasis on style by producers 7-Stu-7 and Katalyst has the unfortunate effect of rendering Barrow's conception of hip hop kind of a monolith, despite the variance of talent on display; there's a bit of tokenism (only one cut showcases a female rapper, Lyric Jones) and it's a disservice to the general excellence of the vocal performances. It's less advantageous to emerging artists like Quite Nyce (who does a remarkable Kanye on "Jobless"), Dave Dub, Frank Nitty (who rhymes "Geritol" and "wherewithal") and the mysterious Deed than would be standard guest spots or even an amateur mix CD because they all find themselves subservient to the scope of Quakers' stunt.

Fragmented though it is, Quakers also coheres smartly, to the point that it's difficult to choose standouts until you make it through the record in its daunting entirety several times. The Radiohead-cribbing single "Fitta Happier" is an instant hipster-rap touchstone, and the Animals organ hook on "The Turk" will please a certain cross-section. The collective is at its best when the producers' noodling transcends its geekery into something foggy and new, and the corresponding MCs are able to keep up. "The Beginning" is a brilliant Beautiful Music concoction featuring newcomer Coin Locker Kid, while Phat Kat and Guilty Simpson pay their dues over the top of the dizzying disco-on-its-head chant "War Drums."

But yes, given the Portishead pedigree, much of what's here seems rather safe, lost somewhere in early '90s arguments about the Positive Tip, which can only occasionally result in something so far-out and smart as a Digable Planets (who are openly evoked on "There It Is," if not elsewhere). Quakers shy away from politics apart from a pointed "where the fuck is the change, Mr. Obama?" on Emilio Rojas' "Belly of the Beast," and they don't fool around with any dance floor idealism. It's an intriguing sociological quirk when Finale namedrops Kanye West like some sort of distant god or devil on "Oh Goodness," underlining the disparity of class and fame in hip hop that the record mostly sweeps away. It seems as if you're supposed to listen to this and be really impressed and thrill to the aural stuntwork of it all. The biggest news might be that it isn't a terrible way to spend your time -- and across one or more of these songs, you might be hearing someone who will matter a good deal in the near future.