And so I come to the bottom of the pile. After having in rotation about 20 discs of varying genres for about two months, I reach the final offering: Tragic Epilogue. When writing reviews, you soon see that the best discs and worst discs make themselves evident early on, begging immediate attention. It's the unspectacular discs that linger. Thus, we come to Anti Pop Consortium.

Perhaps I'm spoiled. Tragic Epilogue will surely remind you of Kool Keith's cock-rocking rhymes ensconced in twisted samples and off-kilter beats, but without many of the things that make his style so effective. Where Keith's rhymes veer from the preposterous to the ridiculous and back again, Anti-Pop Consortium rhymesters Priest, Beans and M. Sayyid wallow in enervating obscurity that, while sometimes fresh and dead-on, is too often flat and unworthy of interest. Where Keith's verbose wordplay winks sarcastically, Anti-Pop is disappointingly earnest, as if by taking themselves seriously, we will, too. No.

Generally minimal, preferring repeating loops over cut-n-splice, much of Tragic Epilogue is occupied by one rapper rhyming over a loop that cycles repeatedly, giving many tracks an unpleasant endless feel. This sense transfers to the album as a whole with few sonic mileposts to signify what track-- or even what half of the album-- you're hearing. Most of the juiciest soundbytes are laid down at track openings, only to vanish and not be revisited.

Yet, Tragic Epilogue is clearly fresh by overall rap standards. There are few rappers around these days that could even compare to Kool Keith, and that's to Anti-Pop's credit. The track transitions and a few of the beats are interesting, pulling together a combination of clichéd 4/4 rap beats and edgy Autechre-inspired electronic mutations. It's a hopeful combination, but my sense is that Anti-Pop Consortium is clinging to the tired rap paradigm of rhyme and simple beat. They take small risks that beg bigger ones, and finally disappoint when the goods aren't delivered.

Tragic Epilogue is riddled with a feeling of unrealized potential that doesn't quite go the distance. It's an auspicious debut, but one that's more likely to draw your attention to the band's future than to send you scattering for spare change to pick it up.

-James P. Wisdom