Big Cats! Have Sharp Claws

by Roe Pressley 1/9/2009

Let's face it: most hip-hop beats are boring. They may have big bass and esoteric samples, they may have angry snares or funky claps, they may swing or they may break, they may be all sampled, MIDI, or live instruments, but most just aren't that special.

This cannot be said for the music on Big Cats!'s recent instrumental drop, Sleep Tapes. Where others struggle to rise above the mediocrity of the rap sound, this dude floats comfortably above it. And that's hard to do, especially with an instrumental album, as many people tend to feel a hip-hop beat just isn't complete without a rapper (or at least a scratch DJ) layered over it. This rare collection holds its own weight as a stand-alone album, one you can pop in the CD player while driving and not feel like you have to freestyle over it to keep it interesting.

But wait: it sounds great with vocals too, as demonstrated at the release show at Eclipse Records on January 2. Coupled with a live band accompaniment and local cohort El Guante on the vocals, Big Cats! conducted a live symphony, mixing samples from his production arsenal and keyboard with the live drums, guitar, and saxophone. The blending of these seemingly opposing musical elements was smooth and tight, a demonstration of skill and vision that can only come with experience. This was really stressed when the producer stepped away from the electronics in exchange for a bass guitar.

Rarely do you hear beatsmiths who bring all elements of production to the table: the electronic, the acoustic, the digital, the analog. Even less common is a solid album in which these elements have been boiled down, hammered out, and finished off to create a congruent piece that's both cool as ice and hot as metal like this. But Big Cats! did it.

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