SPIN

7

• SPIN Rating:7 of 10

• • Listen:

    Spotify

Release Date: May 17, 2011
Label: Anticon

Rebooted after a six-year hiatus, this unlikely joint venture between low-key Oakland rap collective Themselves and genteel German pop group the Notwist seems more like a high-concept mash-up than a true collaboration. Sometimes, however, it works beautifully -- note the dreamy "Janu are" (sic), a meditation on passing time, or the sleepy "Death Minor," which observes, "There is no fashion to passing decay."While that obsession with the "big sleep" gives Own Your Ghost a gloomy power, these cross-cultural pals might consider a less depressing repertoire next time.