The Infomatics

4 out of 5 stars

SPIKEY HIBERNO HOP SHOCK

Quality Irish hip hop. No really!
Dextrous textures, fierce rhymes
and sly humour - The Infomatics'
Kill Or Create sees them gatecrash the charmed circle of
credible Irish hip hop. Indeed, 'hip hop' seems a paltry
tag for music that grinds together rap, soul, jazz and
reggae in a pestle of inspired creativity. Whats more,
The Infomatics achieve the oft talked about, seldom
delivered, hip hop feat of 'keeping it real'. You'll find
no self-aggrandising here, no bulshit, no bluster, just
real voices and a determination to address issues of
relevance.
On 'Irish Times' they provide a damning indictment
of the sickness that lurks beneath the shiny veneer
of modern Ireland and how we are (mis)informed by
a manipulative media. Doom-laden beats, glitchy
electronica and an operatic croon are stiched into a
seamless whole. Over a warm blanket of harmonious
soul, the following 'P.O.P' casts its withering gaze on
"prefabricated" music and all the pop tarts "pulling
faces to another man's ballad. "Throughout the
course of Kill Or Create the flow remains fluid, Mr Dero
and , ahem, Konchus Lingo bringing verve and vigour
to a wide range of topics, including pre-menstrual
girlfriends in 'Back To Front', and a society teetering on
the cusp of choas in 'Copper Chopper'.
A rap album that provides both brain-naggingly
brilliant tunes and lyrics of laser-guided incisiveness, Kill
Or Create might just make you consider Irish hip hop
anew.

By
Francis Jones
- Hotpress - vol 32 issue 06 - April 9th 2008

Summary: The Infomatics channel an ambitious mixture of east coast rap, jazz, Irish folk and northern soul


Of all the things Ireland is known for around the world- Guinness, leprechauns, St. Paddy’s Day, construction workers?- it’s a pretty safe bet that hip hop is not one that’s likely to come up too often. There are some very good reasons for this, none of which are particularly interesting, but in recent years the concept of “Irish hip hop” has migrated from Plastic Paddies like House of Pain and ex-pats like Marxman to the domestic scene, centred around Dublin. Celtic Éire and Exile Eye paved the way during the ‘90s, mirroring attempts across Europe to adjust a uniquely American art form for very different domestic context, but it is only since the turn of the millennium that a truly independent scene has emerged.

Frequent patrons of this web site will be all too aware of this writer’s unbridled Messiah J and the Expert fetish, however Dublin five-piece the Infomatics will not be quite so familiar. They’ve been hovering above the scene for a good five years now, fine-tuning their sound and resisting the urge to issue a release. A risky strategy undoubtedly- just ask Axl “Soon is not the word” Rose- but one that has paid off handsomely for the group with the nerdy name. With Kill Or Create, the Infomatics have justified the underground hype that has been heaped upon them since their much-praised demo emerged in 2006, and decisively broken MJEX’s hold on the “only Irish rap act of note” crown.

Sonically, one half of Kill Or Create is a relatively conservative outing, mining the same east coast treasure chests that have come to shape what we define as indie hip hop. Echoes of The Low End Theory, Critical Beatdown and Daily Operations are clearly heard in the sparser, jazz-inflected numbers like ‘Kill Or Create’ and ‘You’ll Get By,’ while the general tendency towards the sinister and the atmospheric calls to mind Nas’ opus Illmatic. The attention to detail displayed on these tracks is quite exceptional: ‘You’ll Get By’ utilises the sound of joyful exhalation to give the track a slightly acid dance-y quality, while the beat that underpins ‘Irish Times’ has a quality that sounds remarkably like somebody wobbling a thin piece of cardboard. These minor touches, not always noticeable on the first or second listen, add much to the character of these less adventurous tracks.

On the other hand, there’s an altogether riskier side to Kill Or Create, one that clearly channels Marxman’s pioneering studies in trad/folk-influenced trip hop. ‘Back To Front’ balances a series of bright and cheerful flute melodies (recorded live and sampled by beatmaker/producer Boc) atop Run DMC-like trade-off vocals as MCs Dero and Konchus Lingo trade war stories of pre-menstrual girlfriends. ‘Copper Chopper’ takes a similar approach, though erring on the electronic side, but the best tracks on the CD are the ones that fall neatly into neither camp. Lead single ‘Wake Up’ is tense and upbeat, criticising modern Dublin from the inside with the aid of choice northern soul samples and fluttering electronics, while ‘Irish Times’ (titled after the country’s leading broadsheet newspaper) lifts the lid on death, teen pregnancy and the media’s ability to revel in both.

Another highlight, ‘P.O.P.,’ sums up Kill Or Create in a pleasant, if disarmingly inoffensive nutshell. A disgruntled indictment of manufactured pop music, ‘P.O.P’ balances flute samples with elegant jazz piano as the MCs utter the group’s work ethic: “Songs are paragraphs/Albums become a chapter/The book of life writes itself from the past to now and after.

By
Dave de Sylvia


[www.sputnikmusic.com] - Sputnikmusic.com

"A three-pronged attack led by the Cool Kids was kicked off in rare fashion by The Infomatics, a rap electronica outfit playing on home soil.
The bristling rapping of the two MCs, Konchus Lingo and Mr Dero was counterpointed by grooving bass and samples and some tight, fluid drumming with more than a hint of Jazz by Jorge Laguna" - The Irish Times - February 15th 2008