Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Midlife Marauders by Sundance


     Want to hear an album that will surprise you in it's depth, versatility and quality? Look no further than the June 17th release Midlife Marauders by Illect Recording artist, Sundance. While Sundance stays behind the boards on this project, there are still a host of rhymers that are featured on the album, giving thought provoking lyrics on top of a mind blowing beats. This album could easily go underrated and underplayed, but those who hear Midlife Marauders will not be disappointed by any standards.

     What is Sundance's style of beats? Boom-Bap? Live instrumentation? Old school? New school? Well, yes, to all of those. Sundance really doesn't have a set sound of production on the album which keeps the listener entertained and on their toes because each beat differs from one another. Take the track "Choose Your Weapon" for example, this track is comprised of live instruments such as the drums, bass, guitar, saxophone, trumpet, and even the mandolin. All those instruments equal to an almost rock style hip-hop track, while the following track "Still I Follow" starts off with a fast paced piano riff that carries through the entire track giving the single a unique sound that won't be heard anywhere else. 

     Sundance is extremely underrated in terms of his production ability. He deserves much more credit than given and hopefully this release will make that known. He does a great job at conveying a message through his beats. Even if there were no lyrics at all, listeners would still be able to comprehend the track's theme based solely on the tempo, mood, and style of his production.

     A while ago, there was an article published on the site titled Beats vs. Lyrics: Which is More Important?, and in that article the pros and cons for both sides were laid out for the reader to make the call on which is more important in a hip-hop song or album. In the article I stated that  " there is nothing that can outmatch the presence that the production brings" and this statement is held to be true based off the work from Sundance on this release. Enough cannot be said about his ingenuity, his  unique style, or his creative creative mind. For that, he is applauded.

     While the lyrics featured on Midlife Marauders didn't overthrow the the throne the production from the album sits on, they do however improve upon the listening quality, and they deepen each message and theme. That being said, there aren't many common names featured on the tracks, which surprisingly doesn't take away from the listening experience by any means.  Having well known artists featured on a song or single will increase awareness of the album, though having lesser known artists will give the listeners a new sound they may not have been exposed to prior to the given album. 

     Midlife Marauders presents a group very talented lyricists that all provide great hooks or lyrics that come with a message. The album has an underlying religious theme, though the artists do less preaching and more laying out there experiences and stories as they battle ups and downs and making the right decisions at times. One emcee that particularly stood out was Theory Hazit for his verse on the song "Still I Follow." It was evident from the first bar on that song that he was about to deliver an amazing verse, and he did just that. Though, all of the artists did an exceptional job at making a case for themselves, they went in a came through with outstanding individual performances that summed up to an awesome album.

     There isn't much wrong with this album, and it really is a great listen. Though, the last five tracks on the album are instrumentals of the first five tracks, and this kind of makes the album drag a bit simply because the beat has already been played, but that is mainly bonus content to the album and pointing out a minuscule flaw like that is pointless. Sundance did a hell of a job with this project, and hopefully word spreads and this album gets the recognition it deserves. Check out the album and comment what you think!




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Created in 2013, The Under-Cover Album Review strives to bring the world quality music, by quality artists. This motto will continue to be our foundation as we move forward in time.

-Vinny Sciascia, Creator & Operator