Beau Balon

Beau Balon’s recent compilation of rare and previously unreleased songs reveals a rapper/producer with a unique voice. The songs are short and simple, but Beau’s warped views of the world are often outright hilarious. It’s unlikely you will hear other hip-hop artists rap about being a bear ("Grizzly”) or a rooster ("Bumblebee in The Belly”), but if Beau has proven anything with these songs and his previously released classic "American Eel,” he’s the master of personifying animals. Plus, he raps about living in a Lego village ("Shrink”), compares rap to food recipes ("Recipe Shortage”) and goes line for line with samples from a variety of movies ("Orange Scramble”). In fact, Beau excels at finding and using appropriate movie samples throughout The Devil Has Built a Robot. And while his beats don’t have many change-ups, they’re catchy and short enough that it’s unnecessary. Of course, at 40 tracks, with some being "cut from albums due to quality,” not all of them are masterpieces. However, there are enough great moments like "Organ Harvest,” with a chorus that burrows into your brain, "Chores of Autumn,” "This Window Makes a Poor Mirror” and more, making The Devil Has Built a Robot well worth searching out.