This record's best attribute is Dusk's organic chorus crafting. He has a proclivity for writing a great hook. A noticeable trend is that he connects most closely with songs he builds entirely himself, tracks like "Lead Life" and "Drat." The former is a deftly sampled classical beat and has the best chorus on the album, a rap/sung Brother Ali cadence that sounds easy and natural--like it was grafted from the beat. 

Local Reviews: Mindstate

By
May 2, 2013

Local Music Reviews

Mindstate
Call the Cops
Self-Released
Street: 10.01
Mindstate = Brother Ali + Dilated Peoples
This record’s best attribute is Dusk’s organic chorus crafting. He has a proclivity for writing a great hook. A noticeable trend is that he connects most closely with songs he builds entirely himself, tracks like “Lead Life” and “Drat.” The former is a deftly sampled classical beat and has the best chorus on the album, a rap/sung Brother Ali cadence that sounds easy and natural–like it was grafted from the beat. The album’s interesting opening leads to a lugubrious halfway mark, a point from which it gradually loses momentum until the end. Production credit reads like a list of who’s who in Utah hip-hop, but these mostly jazzy beats do not to prevent the album’s second half from resulting in a nondescript litany. It’s saving grace: the songs sound like they’d be great performed live.