Artist review: Whiskey Blanket

Hip Hop-Shoegaze: Whiskey Blanket -- Credible Forces [LP]
By Jeanie Straub
Colorado Music Buzz

The most expedient way to gain my love and adoration is by producing highly listenable auditory art infused with heavy politics, and that’s exactly what you get with Whiskey Blanket’s Credible Forces, a 2007 Hip-Hop-type release soon to be followed by the Boulder trio’s third full-length release, No Object, due out in early December. (Add a touch of Shoegaze and Powerpop to Hip-Hop to get “Hip-Hop-type.”) Whiskey Blanket, white guys who have been making music together since the summer of 2003, is Steakhouse (producer, emcee, “turntablist”), Funny Biz (emcee, “beatboxist,” cellist), and Sloppy Joe (emcee, violinist). Their website has a secondary “biography” attributed to Rolling Stone magazine: “Their astoundingly mind-blowing creations of aural excellence continue to shape the future of sound while simultaneously redefining the music of the past.” It is supposed to be a joke, but you do get creative excellence in these 16 tracks, especially if you like Rap lyrics -- lyrics atop sumptuous orchestral maneuvers with serious, butt-kicking beat -- that tackle corporate rule, labor, the state of public education, White Jesus and other choice matters that push Hip-Hop squarely past “bitches” and texting into the realm of meaning. Raps Biz: “I’m trying to bring a message to all of my songs. If you don’t hear that then you’re hearing it wrong.” Nah. We hear you correctly. Loud and clear, Brother Biz.

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