McEnroe: Working In The Factory
Vertical Form

Dope slice of vinyl hip-hop from Vancouver-based McEnroe who waxes nostalgic on the A side's downtempo “Working In The Factory” and then raises the roof with the flip's boisterous “Party People” (the 12” includes instrumental versions too). Recalling simpler and more innocent times “when life was in black and white and people knew wrong from right,” McEnroe strikes an epistemological pose (“Is this really how it was or I am a being naïve?”) atop laconic head-nodding beats, jazz-tinged electric pianos, and New Order bass licks. By contrast, “Party People” weaves a panoply of voices over double bass-driven dub-funk sweetened by flamenco guitar riffs and manic scratching. The four-tracker provides a promising foretaste of McEnroe's upcoming Five Years In The Factory album.

October 2004