Radius

Album Reviews • Monday June 16th, 2008 • 12:00 am

There is a lot to be said for the influence that one’s surroundings can have on a person. One may develop a love/hate relationship with the area in which they live in. They love where they live because it is where they grew up. It is where their family and friends reside. They have a strong familiarity with it. It is the place they call home. At the same time, they feel that this same place is also stifling them in someway; somehow it is also hindering them. On his official debut album, Neighborhood Suicide, sample-based artist Radius explores his own relationship with the city he calls home: Chicago.

For the most part, Radius utilizes break heavy, boom bap drums along with simple, yet effective, samples in his songs. “Uptown (Awaken)” is a track which Radius calls “the most experimentally expressed on the album” and indeed it is, with its perfect blend of layered samples and Radius’s impromptu playing of them. “Hydepark (I Miss You),” arguably the album’s best cut, is obviously very near and dear to Radius’s heart. In fact, a picture of an area of Hyde Park serves as the album’s cover art. Radius’s reference to Hyde Park as “essential” to his upbringing may explain the reflective quality that the track possesses. Its looping bell samples inject a calming, trance like effect, while an accompanying female vocal sings as if she is reciting a mantra that bears repeating.

Tracks such as these are among the best on the album. They also happen to be named for the areas of Chicago in which Radius has spent most of his livelihood. Perhaps then, it is no coincidence that the album’s weaker tracks also happen to be named after the areas of Chicago where Radius has spent less, if any at all, of his time. “Southshore (Baahhumbug!)” is nothing more than a weaker attempt to utilize the same samples that are used more effectively on “Uptown (Awaken).” “Bucktown (FuckWork)” and “Rogers Park (North Pole Bakery)” both suffer from stagnation, due to their uninteresting samples and lack of change ups.

Neighborhood Suicide is Radius’s tribute to the city of Chicago. It is an album that asks us to take a step back and think about our own surroundings and to appreciate where we come from. Love it or hate it, its home. Indeed, a person’s surroundings can have a profound effect on someone. For Radius, Chicago has provided Radius with the inspiration that makes Neighborhood Suicide a journey that many should take.

Highlight Track: “Highland Park (I Miss You)”