It's been more than a year since Stones Throw label mates J.Rocc and MED whet the appetites of fans with the release of their Sofa Coins EP under the collaborative moniker Axel F. Now, after four full seasons, the duo has finally made good on the long-promised LP goodness with the full-length Theme Music. J.Rocc gets fair marks for a stick-and-move production approach that switches modes considerably from track to track, despite a few repetitive, loop-based sections.
His creations bound in one stretch from the big dirty horn sample and recurring percussive breakdown of "Searching" to the barely beating drums, haunting synth whine and ominous drones of "Screechin," before skipping along to a warbled, unintelligible vocal sample on "...In Brazil." MED's verses — which fit the street corner hustler mould that the fictional Axel F. represents — show their best side when either inspired or shaped by the surrounding song structure ("Paranoid" being the best example), but the cuts largely live or die by J.Rocc's beats. As a result, the words alone aren't quite enough to hold your ear during the inevitable musical lulls but, on the whole, Theme Music still a good amount of heat for you to rock to.
(Stones Throw)His creations bound in one stretch from the big dirty horn sample and recurring percussive breakdown of "Searching" to the barely beating drums, haunting synth whine and ominous drones of "Screechin," before skipping along to a warbled, unintelligible vocal sample on "...In Brazil." MED's verses — which fit the street corner hustler mould that the fictional Axel F. represents — show their best side when either inspired or shaped by the surrounding song structure ("Paranoid" being the best example), but the cuts largely live or die by J.Rocc's beats. As a result, the words alone aren't quite enough to hold your ear during the inevitable musical lulls but, on the whole, Theme Music still a good amount of heat for you to rock to.
