For those looking for a unique new album this year, look no further.
Glitch-hop producer and instrumental electronic musician A.M. Breakups, also known as M. Mielnick, recently released his debut album "The Cant Resurrection." According to his website ambreakups.com, this album is a "reflection of environment, acquaintances and circumstances."
The 24-year-old indie-rap artist is from Utica, N.Y. and has been performing for years. He started with MC Eleven as the duo 11A.M., and has a strong local following and devoted online fan base. He has collaborated with other artists in the genre, including Teddy Falet, Super Chron Flight Brothers, Sasa and K-Swift.
His influences include dirt, Chi-Rock nation, Backwoodz Studios, Uncommon Records, interrupt expansion, Komadose, B.O.S. Skwad Records and expired Polaroid film, according to his Facebook page. He considers his genre of music to be hip-hip, electronic and abstract. "The Cant Resurrection" continues Backwoodz Studioz's tradition of progressive, critically acclaimed indie hip-hop from New York.
All songs on the album are written, produced and mixed by A.M. Breakups himself, and he recorded most with Reservoir Sound Womb. The album was recorded between 2006 and 2009.
According to the album cover, this LP has been hailed to "have stark production, heavy with layers and texture and interspersed with verses from some of this new millennium's most promising indie talent." Appearances by other artists on the album include Teddy Faley, V8, Eleven, Billy Woods, DJ Dyllemma, Bedtime9, Model Citizen and Shotrock.
The album includes an intriguing mix of typical instrumental music, techno music, and vocals. Overall, the album keeps the listener engaged with the movement of the beat, often changing between songs or in the middle of songs. Shorter songs are mixed in between longer songs, sometimes serving as a break or cleansing of the palate between diverse types of music.
The tone and feel of the songs varies throughout the album and within individual songs. Percussion sounds and beats play an important role to the pace and its changes. Different techno sounds work with more traditional instrumental sounds (like piano, strings and percussion) to form the melody that evolves from song to song.
The vocal performances of the many different artists featured on the album bring another layer of diversity to the music. Distant, background vocals with steady, aggressive, Eminem-esque rapping is scattered across the album. While some songs strongly feature the rapping, others use distorted or altered vocals as part of the beat in the background.
"The Cant Resurrection" has dark, unsettling songs as well as pleasant, easy-listening ones. Techno audio mixes with, changes and sometimes competes against the vocals and other instrumentals. A.M. Breakups' use of electronic music sounds foreign, calming, troubling, agreeable, confusing or chaotic, depending on the song. Recognizable instrumental audio is also used in multiple ways, serving as a pacemaker and providing a simple melody or a dramatic undercurrent to each song.
The rapping talents are used well, allowing a message to appear through the lyrics. The vocals are never too over-bearing and fit well into the unique and varying music behind them.
For a listener looking for something new, "The Cant Resurrection" is an interesting and refreshing mix of rap, indie and techno. Though perhaps not the most revolutionary or impressive album of the year so far, it is worth a listen. Changing and diverse, the music has an assortment of sounds to offer to an open-minded music lover.
