Review Summary: Not next level, but rather special.
Bello and Shem are chill individuals that Sputnik love because they are cool. No one would dare critique their music too severely, right?
WRONG
This is where the hammer drops down, but not for the reason you think. You see, Bello has been giving me feedback about my pizzamachine albums nearly since I started putting them out. And he’s still doing it. He will listen to my new music and then give me feedback track by track. My respect for Bello goes beyond measure, but that doesn’t mean the beats he makes are perfect. Sorry buddy, but this is for your own good. Prepare to die.
Clarification: this is not where Bello and Shem die. I was joking.
Starting with a glossy synth, the album immediately kicks into hard gear with a nice, deep bass and a futuristic sounding synth. The beat is dope, which indicates one of bello’s stronger production abilities. He makes modern beats that mix dubstep influence, electro shizz and EDM type *** into a mainstream, poppy type landscape. His blend of influences are seamlessly woven like a master producer. The songs play like these are the beats, and nothing needs to be changed. Hmm. Well, the beats are great. Very catchy stuff. I already mentioned the synths which are quite engaging, and that bass undertone that fits very well. Still, it’s time to get picky.
Between the rather quiet/hidden bass kick of the drum pedal, the stock snares, and the inescapably loud vocals, the mix isn’t as polished sounding as it could be. The tracks are very straightforwardly produced, but not given that EXTRA spice on top of their “original flavour”. Make the beat, and throw Aussie /English raps on top = done, according to Bello. All in a day’s work, and formatted in the same way. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s also not exceptional. Dare I say it’s rather basic. I can’t get past the simplicity of the production here. There are nearly zero gimmicks or additional, uh, anythings put into these tracks. You have your basic raps and basic beats and there’s no playing around with effects or background vocals of any kind. These are great beats as previously mentioned, but with some muffled production, and unfixed vocals, the overall sound is extremely: ‘novice, indie SoundCloud rapper mixtape’.
I mentioned there’s raps here. We’ll get to that. Turns out that these two fellows must listen to hip-hop in their spare time, cause these humans can rappity rap. A major highlight of the album is their smooth method of bouncing off each others’ flows and then bringing another solid flow after that. This showcases the synchronization as well as their different flows in a very entertaining way. Add on the fact that we love Bello and Shem as human beings, and enjoy the beats, and the result is a Sput musician success. The raps have great variation too, talking about serious topics, or fighting with your dad to wank off the giraffe first. Okay, not exactly like that, but you get the picture. These guys aren’t overly serious and realize they are not Eminem (obviously). They are too busy fighting giant spiders in their shoes to be Eminem. Who’s the real hero here?
All in all, this is a very interesting album. The synthetic beats have very nice melodies, but the production makes the album sound like it came out a long time ago. Still, the main draw is their smooth method dish of flowy raps that go directly in your ear drums and moms, and refuse to leave. This squishy feeling works and strangely doesn’t feel invasive or rapey. The album has a very, nostalgic sound that is warm and snug like a tight hug. This could’ve come straight out of the 90s, honestly. But there’s a bit more here in the synths that suggests a modern aesthetic. It’s that beautiful synth blanket that works. These beats are certainly boptastic. It’s this combination of things that gives this album its original flavour, and I like it.
