Right around the time Beck Hansen (no relation to the evil Hanson triumvirate) burst onto the slacker music scene with "Loser", his largely anonymous writing and producing co-hort, Carl Stephenson, was getting ready to set out on his own career. Then, disaster struck. Stephenson's feverish work ethic turned into an obsession, progressing to the point where he couldn't stop tweaking and fiddling with a largely finished album. Stephenson was finally committed to an asylum by friends and family.

Now, thanks to Dreamworks Records, you can help turn Carl's silver lining into gold. Freshly emerged from his stay in the hospital, Stephenson's album has finally been released under the name "Forest For The Trees". Mr. Stephenson's opus is now available for all to hear. Given the fact that this album was completed three to four years ago, it takes on visionary qualities. Had this been released when it was originally completed, Beck's Odelay may never have been hailed as the cut-n-paste production blueprint it has become.

In the early '80s when Thomas Dolby cried, "She blinded me with science!", some of her rays apparently also caught the young Stephenson's eyes, as the songs on this self-titled release delve into the interrelationship between science, humans, and nature. Stephenson's nihilistic world view is evident, even when buried beneath hip-hop beats and nature sound effects. At times it sounds like someone let a DJ loose in The Nature Store. Streams crackle and crickets chirp as Stephenson sings lines like "Non-existence does not exist/ I'm trying to explain the essence of being/ to get a realizaton of what I consist". Oddly enough, this pairing of Grandmaster Flash's style with Ranger Rick's substance works, for the most part. The first single off the album, the anthemic "Dream", hooks up a static rap beat with a bagpipe loop, creating one of the most memorable choruses of the year, but almost any cut off the album will get your foot tapping and head nodding.

Where the whole equation starts to come apart is also right where it begins. While Stephenson's production chops prove to be flawless, it's his own lack of ability as a vocalist that comes back to haunt him. Every time he sings, he layers 10 or 11 tracks of his monotone voice, which blend together for a Bellevue Glee Club effect. Also, with the exception of "Dream", most of the melodies are so similar that they start to muddle together.

Until the Dust Brothers do a Schoolhouse Rock theme album, I don't think overt philosophical musing has a seat in the house of hip-hop. Or if it does, like on Forest For the Trees, it probably has a really crappy view.

-Lang Whitaker