Bisc1 - "When Electric Night Falls"

Bisc1 - Nightfall (Embedded 2008)

Bisc1 - When Electric Night Falls / Embedded

Maybe it's just felt like forever, but Queens rapper Bisc1 had a Hell Hath No Fury-esque wait between his debut EP The Basics in November of 2005 and his debut full-length out March 11th on Embedded. I can very clearly remember seeing the simple-but-effective cover and hearing the title-track for the first time in January of 2006 and getting excited about it because it sounded like the Rhymesayers guys adding the urban grit that New York City inevitably gives to its native artists. There was something about Bisc's delivery and the beats laid down behind him that signaled the approach of a new hip-hop hallmark for the backpackers.

And then... Then!... Then? Then there was almost nothing. He kept a low profile despite a visit to China and briefly re-emerging on MySpace bulletins with the 17-track mixtape The Stay Up Project last year. It's interesting to note that Bisc has not rushed to get this out, but his security is not in question given that his history at Embedded goes back to when he was interning as a graphic designer at Def Jux in 2002 and met label manager DJ Ese. Along with a multitude of other beatsmiths, Bisc1 built a vault of hot jams waiting to happen. Only now have we seen the results of six years in sitting.

Only none of these are hot jams, per se. When Electric Night Falls is emphatically not a club-ready record or one you'd be pressed to spin in the company of the NoWsters that have done so well by building on the theme of positive boom-bap vibes in the past two years. This is a dark record, even when the man behind the mic is trying to spit verbal uppers.

The record begins with "Another Day," which isolates the title through a fuzzy bassline shadow and electric currents running through the beat. Distorted guitars add a layer of white noise that blurs the words, Bisc's style a verbal hodgepodge that follows his freestyle skills. While there aren't necessarily storylines as with other rappers, Bisc1's magic comes in tying thematic elements together. You never get the feeling that Bisc is Lil Wayne-like crazy, just more willing to explore the unconscious in a manner that might be alien to traditionalists. The payoff is rewarding.

He disguises these loose attachments with attractive choruses ("Fire and Ice," featuring Mariella) and darker beats that evoke the mood and atmosphere of both New York's subterranea and the after-hours of any major city. There are also definite signs of looking beyond the 'hood to the other side of the world in East Asia ("Great Escape," "Sidelines") and beyond the world we know ("Intermood" is the product of some nighttime UFO transistor pick-ups). In this regard, his closest contemporaries are probably gNotes and Embedded labelmates Junk Science.

"And is this electricity in the air? / You can almost hear it." The words echo distantly from "Nightfall." Rarer is this electricity clearer than when you're chilling for a second and cruising with Bisc on this particular track. Space synths ride saturn rings around a gritty bassline for what might be the best beat on the record; Bisc keeps his rhymes mixed well above and his delivery, sometimes breathless and frustrated, seems more effortless here. It is the most relaxed song on the album despite its futuristic, near paranoid beat.

Speaking of, "Paranoid" is the most literal example of "buggin'" on this record. In a full-length replete with haunting musics and nervous words, "Paranoid" stands as the pinnacle of this sound. Ironic, then, that the chorus to the following song, "Pandemonium," reads like a foreboding, unconvincing wag of the finger: "Life is a gift to be enjoyed every second / Every minute is temporary, not infinite." The smart juxtaposition of preaching positivity on the mic while the beats bring only the black unease of midnight is one of the most rewarding aspects of this album.

The Connecticut native repping 718 instead of 203 these days once remarked that, "If you feed them everything all at once they won’t be hungry when the real meal comes." Supper's been a long time coming, but When Electric Night Falls is as filling a meal as one could've hoped for at 14 tracks and 55 minutes. More than just mere numbers, this is the sound of Bisc1 demonstrating on a grander scale what he has only hinted at with a mixtape and an EP: His music is not for the sleepers of the world content to watch the sunset and retire on a steady diet of whatever Kanye mash-up just came out. This is for everyone safe enough to own an apartment away from the street violence of Dälek but still anxious enough to not sleep at night. I watched the sunrise over the Chicago skyline this past weekend from a train platform a few stops north whilst waiting to switch from one line to another. Shortly after, I caught my line, went home and retired around 8.30AM as the rest of the world greeted a new day. My secrets were safe with the dawn. If you know what I mean, When Electric Night Falls will come to you naturally.