Pole

Having dissected dub on his previous releases, Pole takes a different tack on his latest self-titled full-length. First, he has apparently repaired his notorious Walldorf 4-Pole filter, the source of his characteristically fractured beats. Second, Ohio rapper Fat Jon is given the dubious honour of verbally deflowering four of the disc’s nine cuts. His lackadaisical flow blends almost too well with Pole’s minimal beats; together, they tend to elicit a response closer to nodding-off than to head-nodding. The dub imprint can still be heard, especially on "Green Is Not Green-Yellow,” but for the most part it’s been polished away to a dull sheen. Today’s moral: sometimes broken is better.