Plague Language

Taking a crack at the big leagues, Legendary Entertainment has tapped their most talented resource for their first professionally manufactured release, a daring compilation of "advanced” hip-hop from Plague Language. A few might argue that some of the songs aren’t even hip-hop at all: Shoshin’s "Blue At Night” might have drum beats and raps but it strays pretty close to dream pop (is that Sting on the chorus?), and there’s numerous experiments into jungle terrain. Along with an abundance of singing, PL practices double-time raps, using both for their odd mixture of heartfelt lyrics and pseudoscientific techno-babble. The extremely detailed productions are dark and melancholy, a perfect backdrop for the subject matter, with a few instrumentals thrown in for good measure. For a compilation, Farewell Archetypes has a very consistent sound. Unfortunately, it may be too much of the same, even if it is difficult to pick out a bad song. Also disappointing is the absence of much of the Canadian contingent of PL, including Baracuda 72, Mofo, and Lovely, although Noah23 does drop by on two posse cuts. All the beat-makers outdid themselves, and John Tsunam, Shoshin, Staplemouth and Penny also impress on the mic. Farewell Archetypes is a great introduction to the Plague Language crew or a few more nice cuts to add to your already existing PL collection.