More or Les

Mastication

BY Thomas QuinlanPublished Sep 4, 2012

For his fourth release, Toronto, ON's More Or Les takes his love for food to the next level. Mastication is mostly self-produced, the music mellower and smoother than on his last couple of releases, and the topics are most often conceptual. The rapper/producer/DJ/foodie discusses overindulgence on the minimal "Consumption" and the hard rockin' "Filet Mignon," and uses food as a metaphor for rap skills on posse cuts "Saltines" and "Top Chefs (Yammy)." The former features Timbuktu, Chokeules and Wordburglar over broken beat minimalism, while the latter is a reggae-lite jam with the Mighty Rhino and the return of rapid-fire rapper Chip-Fu (Fu-Schnickens). Addiction is the topic of both beat box-based "Coffee" and "Fast Food," the latter a highlight, thanks to Peter Project's fast-paced production, while "Big Sugar (Raw Mix)" examines the exploitation that feeds our sweet tooth over a groovy, densely layered beat by UK producer Bryn Griffiths. Still, sometimes the songs just celebrate food, with "Brunch Again," a soulful, horn-heavy sequel to fan favourite "Brunch," "Pizza Party" a funky, up-tempo sequel to "Pop N Chips," and "Ice Cream in the Park," an ode to the cold confection, the remix a smooth summer jam featuring a cheeky verse from Jesse Dangerously, while the Jesse-less original is a little more g-funk. And let's not forget the rapped recipes of "Chilli" and "Black Cake." More Or Les takes a fun, personal concept and sticks to it, resulting in a fine addition to his already solid catalogue.
(Urbnet)

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