REVIEW: Foot Village’s “Anti-Magic”

The album cover consists of a naked man ramming a rocket through an alien that is wearing Earthly Nike tennis shoes, and close to the naked man is a naked woman awaiting the end to the battle. What battle of this is uncertain, but apparently when Sistah Souljah proclaimed “we are at war”, the collective that is Foot Village made it their own and decided to put it in music form.

Anti-Magic (Upset! The Rhythm) could be described as a cross between Parliament, Sun Ra, Pre and Boredoms, and together that creates a very tribal sound with a massive wall of percussion and feedback, mixed up with screaming at high levels that at first listen may sound incredibly chaotic. There is organization in that chaos, and that’s where one will find the genius in what they do, even if what they do comes off as spontaneous noise (there are some very progressive moments within the music, they seem to enhance the trippiness everyone knows and loves.) The inside of the gatefold cover shows various members of the Foot Village (could be two people, could be six, could be a thousand) battling for some kind of supremacy or territorial occupation, but I think with tracks like “Crybaby”, “Chicken And Cheese 2″, and “Death of The Endless”, what they’re really fighting is the mundane, trying to create music and community that isn’t boring. The cover also depicts a place of solace, one that offers Topless Coffee and Bottomless Pizza? Are these guys serious? Perhaps not, but what they appear to be is fun, having fun in their spontaneity that is sure to freak out a lot of people who dare be in their path.

This is what Anti-Magic sounds like, a freak out, so if you honor the unknown ways of Suzy Creamcheese, you will love to taste Foot Village’s flavor. It’s also safe to say this is more original than 99 percent of what you’ll hear on the radio at this very moment. Dig in their Splenda.