COMMON
Electric Circus
Okayplayer/MCA
· Keeping it (sur)real – hip hop combines with ’60s psychedelia on Common’s fifth release.
Of all the great hip hop CDs released in the last few years, none can match Electric Circus for its sheer courage and audacity. Rather than following up the well-received Like Water For Chocolate with progressive styles and beats, Common defies everyone’s expectations by immersing Electric Circus in psychedelia.
This recording owes as much to Jimi Hendrix and the Easy Rider soundtrack as it does to its superb guests (Jill Scott, Erykah Badu and Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadier, to name a few). In lesser hands, Electric Circus would have been a guaranteed disaster. When you involve Common and producers ?uestlove (The Roots) and James Poyser in a single project, however, the odds must lean in the other direction. And lean they do, as Electric Circus is simply one of the most compelling and original CDs to come from any genre.
If there’s a minor flaw in this release, it’s that the execution takes a back seat to pretension on a few songs – but it’s not a big deal, particularly when the whole album shines with kaleidoscopic, acid-induced brilliance.
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