ALBUM REVIEW: Beats, No Rhymes, No Life – Interesting Times Gang

There are times when all you need in life is to sit in a room, with or without friends, maybe a drink, and let the world pass you by. There’s no better soundtrack to times like those that with Beats, No Rhymes, No Life by INTERESTING TIMES GANG. A solo project, created and coordinated by Ian Miller, along with collaborators Graham Scala and TRON JOVI, the record looks further into Miller’s obsession with building beats.

The whole album runs at less than an hour, but the massive 15 track listing makes this feel pretty extensive. Just as a side note, if you’re looking for continuous innovation and explosive sounds, this isn’t what’s on offer here. Instead, sit back, relax and allow Miller’s work to douse you in a myriad of beats and waves of synthesised melodies. From warm and bright tracks like Ox Out The Can and the seemingly guitar driven Postfontaine, you can feel there’s a deep appreciation for both electronic music and the wider hip-hop scene of the past 30 or 40 years.

Fentanyl Theme and Dance With The Devil both enjoy playing with mighty deep synth work and trap beats, while the latter could be mistaken for having some synthwave elements to its modulation. If you’re looking for any innovation or something to break the mould a little, you’ll find it in Embargo Culte. It has some pretty snarky basslines that make it stand out, proving that while this is a well put together record, the parts that make you want to actually listen are more developed.

Violence stands out as having something to say and a gutsy beat to back it up. The mix of funk and electronica gives an old school hip-hop mixtape feel which fans will enjoy and new listeners to anything within the genre might get a taste for. Similarly, Hegemony (Civil Society) And Separation Of Powers is pretty brazen, much more than a chill beat, its consistent droning is piercing and aggressive.

While not a wild ride, Beats, No Rhymes, No Life does feel very experimental, placing itself anywhere between NOISIA and PUBLIC ENEMY. The spaced-out drops of King Of Tears and the blurry Touched By An Angle have the most laidback feel of all the tracks on offer. Dark Space and Bit Of A Blur hit a little trippier, with more of an avant-garde sensibility; a little more trance inspired, ambient and serious than anything else. Overall, it’s a good record to accompany you as you let the world flow around you,

You might feel that this is the sort of softer, more single-minded and repetitive style could give some inspiration for writing or working out to, but there aren’t the big punches you might usually find in an album with these kind of electronic and hip-hop influences on it. This is definitely a specific type of person’s chill out record for sure.

INTERESTING TIMES GANG as a project appears to be a personal exploration of a love of sub, electronica and hip-hop, along with a professional know-how and a drive to play with styles of beats. Beats, No Rhymes, No Life won’t appeal to all, and requires a chilled, laid-back appreciation of mixing old school ideas with modern sounds.

Rating: 7/10

Beats, No Rhymes, No Life is set for release on October 15th via Dark Operative and Pax Aeternum.

Follow INTERESTING TIMES GANG on Bandcamp.