Review Cyberkrib.com MINDBENDER - Beautiful Mutant Reported by: Nehal (09/28/04) One word sums up this double-disc set from Toronto's Mindbender: interesting. The beats are interesting, the lyrical content is interesting, the flow is interesting, etc. This is definitely not your average hip hop album, but then again Mindbender is definitely not your typical rapper. For an artist to put out a double-album stands as a testament to that artist's prolific talent as well as copious amounts of dedication and etermination. That, or they're just an egomaniac with a microphone. Either way, it doesn't really matter as long as what they have to say is interesting and worth listening to. This album takes all the conventions of traditional hip hop and not only defies them, but deliberately smashes them and then gloats over the scattered remnants. "Beautiful Mutant" does not cater to the lowest common denominator. In fact, it does not cater to anything at all apart from Mindbender. He's an incredibly skilled wordsmith, and very adept at his craft. Unfortunately, the lyrical content of most of the tracks on this album, despite the apparent talent, is somewhat off-putting. The first half of Beautiful Mutant - called The Beautiful Disc - the beats are more aggressive than the second half, and Mindbender seems hell bent to fit everything he has to say on each well-crafted beat. The first track, "Eternal Piece of Mind", features Eternia, and just happens to be the most commercially viable track on the entire album. According to an online dictionary, mindbending is the act of "intensely affecting the mind, especially to the extent of producing hallucinations". While I didn't experience any hallucinations as a result of listening to Beautiful Mutant, I did get quite a few nasty mental images courtesy of Mindbender's graphic depictions of sexual acts. It might just be part of his wordplay, but unfortunately, his obsession with sex means there's way too much pornographic talk. On the second half of the album, The Mutant Disc, Mindbender is more introspective and less sexually-obsessed. The lyrical content is more political, peppered with pop culture references, and showcases more of Mindbender's skill as an emcee and poet. "More Fun With Mindbender" has the most interesting (there's that word again) beat of all on the album. And on the following track, "Born To Rock The Mic", Mindbender's unhinged delivery seems to have met its match on an equally psychotic beat. There's an unexpected but pleasant surprise in "Bicyclette" on the second disc. Produced by Vangel, it is a beautiful instrumental which deserves to be played repeatedly. The music production on this album is quite good - Mark "Dorc" Przybylo does an amazing job on the tracks in both his roles as producer and engineer. Other gifted producers that have contributed beats on "Beautiful Mutant" include the aforementioned Vangel, Nextakin/High Card, Rupert Meow and Skeeter. Mindbender has finessed his delivery into a signature style that makes him stand out among other emcees. Sometimes however, it seems like he's in a race to recite pages of lyrics onto a time-restricted beat. Beautiful Mutant is commendable more for the amount of work that has gone into it rather than the actual lyrical content from a gifted emcee. Mindbender's music is so complex it requires multiple plays and highly-honed analytical listening skills to figure out the messages he's trying to put out. Unfortunately, most listeners would prefer their music to be more accessible, and requiring less effort on their part to comprehend. Original? Without a doubt. Understandable? Perhaps - with a little help from your friends. Call your dealer first. www.supremebeingunit.com Beats: 4 Lyrics: 3 Originality: 5