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This is the first release by Busdriver on the Anti- label after his successful spell at Big Dada (you’ll recall the album Fear of a Black Tangent and collaborations with Daedelus).

Will a change of label see a new route for Busdriver? Thankfully the answer is no as Busdriver (aka Regan Farquhar) is as brilliant as he always is. From the opener, ‘Split Seconds (Between Nannies and Swamis)’ for the full 14 tracks, Jhelli Beam is a masterclass. Not only is he still able to go at 100mph, he manages to slip in some classical reference points, the start of ‘Me - Time’ is double (speed) classic.

In truth, this guy is so quick, it’s hard to actually catch what he’s ranting on about. But that’s half the joy as he’s often got at least half his tongue in check and when you do catch it, it’s worth the effort. ‘Handfuls Of Sky’ (as close to a Big Chill moment as you get on this album), ‘Scoliosis Jones’ and ‘Least Favorite Rapper’ (in tandom with Nocando) are prime examples.

So at the half-way point, little surprise that there’s a relative dip in form with ‘Quebec And Back’ but that’s about it on the negative side of things (and a very rare blip as it’s a Nobody production!) But Nobody, gets back on board with little gem called ‘Manchuria’ that also features Myka 9.

Classic Busdriver to keep the fans happy includes ‘Do The Wop’ (a Daedelus production) and the “art rap” of ‘World Agape’ (who else would have lyrics that links Isaac Hayes with a whirling dervish?) and ‘Unsafe Sextet’ sounds like a bit of a pastiche of Kraftwerk! And he’s at it again on, ‘Fishy Face’.

For fans of Cadence Weapon, Thavius Beck and all Project Blowed heritage, Busdriver is the routemaster - but you’ve always known that.

Reviewed: Busdriver - Jhelli Beam (Anti-) Cat. No: 86956-2 Release date: June 2009
Tracklisting:
1 Split Seconds (Between Nannies And Swamis) (4:16)
2 Me - Time (With The Pulmonary Palimpsest) (2:37)
3 Handfuls Of Sky (5:09)
4 Scoliosis Jones (2:37)
5 Least Favorite Rapper featuring Nocando (3:24)
6 Quebec And Back (4:07)
7 Do The Wop (3:02)
8 World Agape (2:17)
9 Manchuria featuring Myka 9 (3:49)
10 Unsafe Sextet/Gilded Hearts Of Booklovers (5:11)
11 Happy Insider featuring Nick Thorburn (3:30)
12 I’ve Always Known (2:38)
13 Fishy Face featuring John Dieterich (5:12)
14 Sorry Fuckers (3:03)

Links:
www.busdriversite.com
www.myspace.com/busdriver
www.projectblowed.com
Anti.com
London Routemaster - routemaster.uuuq.com