Quakers II: The Next Wave＜Green Vinyl＞

Quakers first surfaced in 2012 with an epic 41-track outing featuring a cast of dozens (including Dead Prez, Aloe Blacc, and Lyric Jones) rhyming over gritty, nearly psychedelic beats by Fuzzface (aka Portisheads Geoff Barrow) and Invada Records cohorts 7STU7 and Supa K (then known as Katalyst). After eight years of silence, Quakers erupted again, first with a 50-track instrumental beat tape, then with proper second album II: The Next Wave. Bold, heavy, retro, and futuristic, the record is laced with Wu-Tang samples and vinyl crackle as well as spacy sci-fi synths and vintage drum machine beats. Lyrics are provided by an extended roster of top-notch rappers from around the world, and the subject matter skews closer to the political than on the first Quakers LP. Over the militant snares of Double Jointed, the Koreatown Oddity bluntly reflects on Americas history of violence against black people and how not much has changed. On Gun Control, which features a radical beat switch halfway through, Detroit duo the Black Opera express the frustration of living in a country plagued by constant gun violence. Several other Motor City emcees pop up throughout the release, including Denmark Vessey, Nolan the Ninja, and returning guests Phat Kat and Guilty Simpson. The audacious production ranges from the fuzzed-out acid rock of Bare Essentials (with the Niyat) to the trippy, spooky electro of the Boog Brown-starring All of It, with a nod to old-school rap broadcasts at the beginning of the bugged-out abstraction Radiola (featuring Radioactivists). Sampa the Great shines on the sweetly catchy Approach with Caution, and the mush-mouthed Bob Banners Morphine is a brief, brassy triumph. The albums numerous interstitials are far from instrumental filler -- some of them are among the releases wildest moments, like the intercepted radio waves and explosions of Sell Your Soul or the manic drum fills of One OClock. [The CD edition of II: The Next Wave includes Quakers 2020 instrumental beat tape Supa K: Heavy Tremors as a bonus disc.] ~ Paul Simpson