Raised in the streets of New York, El-P channels the raw energy of the city that never sleeps into I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead, his second full-length studio album which drops today on his own Definitive Jux imprint. The 13-song set also features contributions from the Mars Volta, Trent Reznor, and Cat Power.
On “Poisonville Kids No Wins (This Must Be Our Time),” the variety show jazz horns, electric riffs and bass bursts all stall between verses as El-P assaults the silence with his rhythmic poetry (“We were children of Poisonville and saw the seduction less repugnant/And reserved the right as the triggerman with the back up plan of self-destruction”). Cat Power’s Chan Marshall provides background vocals on this dangerous rhyme, adding an ethereal quality to the gritty truth El-P spits about the poison of self-destruction, drugs, and paranoia. KRISTINA ENSMINGER
Now Hear This:
El-P – “Poisonville Kids No Wins (This Must Be Our Time)” STREAM MP3
On the Web:
El-P at myspace.com
Talk: What’s your poison?
