Sixtoo

Late last year, Sixtoo dropped a limited edition ten-inch entitled The Secrets That Houses Keep. It consisted of five moody instrumentals that varied in length from about one minute to a little over eight minutes and further demonstrated the maturity of Sixtoo's production. It was also an apt sign of what was to come. For those who missed the ten-inch the first time around, it is included as a sort of afterthought on Duration, the latest project by 1200 Hobos member Sixtoo (oops, sorry, 6ixtoo here). The songs are welcome on the album, which continues where The Secrets That Houses Keep left off. However, the real focus of Duration is obviously the only other track included on the CD, the 40-minute "Duration Project." Like Buck 65, his partner in the Sebutones, Sixtoo is never content to follow a simple formula. "Duration Project" is, in the words of Sixtoo, "A song that has many parts. Each segment of audio has been re-recorded in a public space." Each of these parts (broken down into 16 tracks on the CD) blends well together, making a great soundtrack for life with either a walkman, the car stereo, or just the ghetto blaster around the house. It's only a matter of time before Sixtoo graduates to serious soundtrack work, but not any of that Men With Brooms crap, just the straight up rawness of David Cronenberg. Also, the presentation of the CD is also a plus, creating a mood that perfectly accompanies the music. There are some photographs that nicely illustrate Sixtoo's abilities with writing, in addition to producing, DJing and MCing. Oh, and Duration was made possible thanks to the Nova Scotia Arts Council, so it has cultural merit, fool.