curse ov dialect

Crisis Tales

Melbourne-based hip-hop crew Curse Ov Dialect open their debut album discussing the nature of cultural identity - something that's probably always on the agenda if you happen to go by the MC name Raceless, as one of COD's vocalists does. Opening track 'Identity' is lyrically incredibly dextrous and loaded with talk about ethnicity, accompanied by some ancient Anglo-folk samples and playful turntable cut-ups. At the centre of the album is the eleven-minute epic 'Colossus', which provides the best showcase for the group's culture-blurring mindset. They recruit rappers from Macedonia, Germany, Poland, Indonesia, Switzerland and the USA, all piling up for a lyrical tour de force backed by great, thumping drum edits and inventive sampling. In fact, throughout this record the production remains skillful and punchy, but the core membership's vocals are a real love/hate affair: it's not so much the Australian accents as it is the rather mild-mannered and softly spoken delivery - it's probably akin to hearing Mike Skinner rap for the first time. Once you get over the discrepancies between this and what you expect from rap vocals you'll find much that's worth paying close attention to. 'Aegean Ghosts' is especially impressive, rattling through (among other things) a take on the modern political history of Greece and its relationship with Macedonia. It's breathless and really quite brilliant.