Search - Gold Chains :: Straight from Your Radio

Ebonic karate

David M. Madden | salt lake, utah United States | 10/18/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Straight from your Radio nearly did me in this weekend. Gold Chains invited me in for drinks, seduced me, locked the door, shoved me in a box. Seriously, that's how I felt after listening to this EP. Lemme 'splain...My vision of the immaculate creation of Topher Lafata, the MC, lover, pimp, thug, and genius behind Gold Chains: lonely bike messenger/web programmer who devours every issue of URB sees nine-hour docu-drama on hip-hop culture. Something snaps inside of him. He downloads shareware music program and fuses new found insanity with his '80s synth-pop sensibility and lo-fi approach. The result is a world with a mythology that has me enthralled.The disc opens with "Straight From Your Radio", a romp of alien gangsta lyrics ("10,000 years ago I invented rhyme with a couple of cobras and a Chinese chime") and a mix of hip-hop, industrial, gabber and acid beats, sliding effortlessly between shuffle and straight four-on-the-four. "I Treat Your Cootchie Like a Maze" combines a similar vocal style with musical genres that would destroy most artists' careers (Baha Men-style shouting, accordion, house beats and an industrial-style bridge). Once again, Lafata pulls it off gracefully, with tongue in cheek wit. "Let's Make It" shifts gears into full-on electroclash and a falsetto vocal that would make Beck blush. Lafata quickly returns to his pimp role on "Mountains of Coke", then finishes off with the exciting eighties synth-pop-inspired "Human Pony Girl".I can't think of another artist who compares with Gold Chains -- and that's a good thing. Maybe the fun of Bogdan Raczynski meets Schooly D meets eighties cult band Vicious Pink. On paper this sounds like the nightmarish collage-work of a studio-bound madman. However, Gold Chains' persuasion convinces the listener that "this is how it is, yo". Lafata's eclectic mix of genres makes sense because he does it buffet-style, gleaning the surface of each rather than making a full meal of any particular style. If you love progressive hip-hop, live for laptop rock or enjoy a bit of both, Straight From Your Radio will be your new addiction of choice"