Three years to the month they released
Lese Majesty
, rapper
Ishmael Butler
, percussionist
Tendai Maraire
, and a small cast of associates returned with the follow-up and the follow-up's follow-up -- the third and fourth
Shabazz Palaces
albums. Produced by
Butler
and a new collaborator, veteran studio dweller
Sunny Levine
,
Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines
was birthed first. Here we have
, still under the guise of
the Palaceer Lazaro
, writing from the perspective of Quazarz, transmitting live from "Amurderca." Not a crew but a character, Quazarz visits Earth to observe and participate in what sounds like a codependent relationship between the planet's inhabitants and technology. He's simultaneously enchanted and mystified by the device that is his "glowing phantom limb," "Watching all the currents enticing my mind/Gluttons for distractions, swiping all the time." As if to reflect the protagonist's own short attention span, that song's hook is disconnected, a distanced if cutting summary of contemporary commercial rap: "Everybody rappin', everybody trappin'." Going by these and similar sentiments regarding materialism and narcissism, Quazarz is likely around the same age as
and despite a different home planet might have had his views shaped by similar life experiences. Even if these askew critiques regarding style-over-substance artists and other attention seekers, from the "soulless soul singer" to the "selfie-stick samurais," come across as tiresome,
's voice navigates masterfully through the cosmic slop. In a way, it too is a softly narcotizing beam, coursing through slow-motion, spaced-out avant-funk and lurching creep-show house rhythms with typically mind-bending wordplay. Compared to
, this similarly concise set is a bit murkier and only slightly less enticing. ~ Andy Kellman