Track-list:
1.
Anarchy
2.
Drums, Guitars, Mics & a Boom
Box
3.
Scarecrow
4.
Technocracy
5.
Little Ravens’ Lullaby
6.
Funfare
7.
Scribbling Hard
The first time I listened to Dimitri & the Scarecrow ‘it’
was both live and very alive. The passion exuded in the front man as he roared
out ‘Scarecrow’ was amazing to say the least.
I was beyond ecstatic to receive the album at long last all 7 tracks of from
start to finish was lyrical life journey. Heck a rollercoaster to say the least.
Throughout it I kept thinking “what’s this guy going to say next, what’s the
next beat going to sound like?!”
‘Scarecrow The EP’ is packed with clever
relatable metaphors. Dimtri sounds a lot like he swallowed a thesaurus...in a
good way. In ‘Anarchy’ he treads on the well known sacred political ground. He dices
typical Zimbabwean social ills, freedom of speech and the power in the saying “each
man for himself”. I’ll let your own perception do the math with that one.
On ‘Drums, Guitars, Mics
& a Boom Box’ he raps out his passion for Hip-Hop; a juxtaposition of what
Zimbabwean Hip Hop is painted as now, what it actually is and what it could be
on deep bass and a well paced high-hat. The chorus is a bit on the scratchy
side but I guess it’s fair to assume the sound was meant to be rugged? A choir
master would have a heart attack; I’ll bet whilst one with a taste for weirdly
combined fusions of sound (GUILTY!!) would enjoy it.
‘Little
Raven’s Lullaby’ is by far my favourite. The melody of moans at the
beginning is pure Goth! Though I love it, I wish the vocals were slightly better
mastered! Then there’s the deep growling bass beating to Dimitri’s chilling recollection
of real time problems observations and moments of epiphany. He sketches out the
dreams we buy via our television sets and the cancerous existence to humanity deemed
popular culture. If you’ve ever been a Fort Minor fan the “Let my voice be free”
phrase will send your subconscious into shards of nostalgia.
When I first read the title ‘Funfare’
on the cover I could have sworn it was either a typo or wordplay; luckily for Dimitri
& The Scarecrow it was the latter.
There’s a heavy urban, almost reggae-d melody to it. That piano
settles it just right. I love the saxophone as it knots it together almost
perfectly, its fault being its loudness. (Why oh why is it so loud?)
With ‘Scribbling hard’
we charter through what sounds like the thoughts of an emcee as he explores the
curse and possibly the burden of being African and Black. It left me thinking
really hard. “Were they really right
about our primitiveness and savagery?” The backing vocals sound very ‘Blue’ and
there’s a hint of John Legend influence somewhere in there. Here Dimitri
highlights his versatility not as Rapper but as an artist.
Overall another Kicka** Zimbabwean Album of great Genre related diversity (and
they said we had no talent, tsk!)
I give ‘Scarecrow the EP’ 4.2 Stars
Have you listened to Scarecrow The EP? What’s your favourite track?
