Sixtoo - "Jackals and Vipers in Envy of Man"

Sixtoo - Jackals and Vipers in Envy of Man, Pt. 5 (Ninja Tune 2007)

Sixtoo - Jackals and Vipers in Envy of Man / Ninja Tune

The Sixtoo story stretches over a variety of big names, big albums and big shifts in the underground hip-hop consciousness over the past decade. Jackals and Vipers in Envy of Man, his eighth full-length release since 1994, is a proper nod of sorts to the DJ Shadow we knew before The Outsider: Beat-based and totally devoid of the Montreal native's sufficient mic skills, we have on our hands here a shift in direction for the man that lit it up in 2001 with The Psyche Intangible and hasn't looked back since.

This isn't the first time Sixtoo's name has been raised on this website, but it is the first time we'll have given Vaughn Robert Squire his proper due. And it's about time: For a man who has been on the Canadian scene for well over a decade, his name is surprisingly unknown. Maybe it's because he reps Halifax, Nova Scotia; maybe it's because he flew the Anticon. coop for Ninja Tune a few years ago; maybe it's because he worked with Buck 65. Whatever the reason, Jackals and Vipers in Envy of Man is an album hand-crafted and compiled as a tape-edit of recent live sets, bringing a feel of immediacy to a sound already built on the big drums and eerie production Sixtoo is known for. So: It's good. Really good.

One problem that may turn the kids off right away is song titling. It's a little lazy, to be frank. I don't question the art behind it, but it's going to be hard for the Average Joe Backpacker remembering "Jackals and Vipers in Envy of Man, Pt. 2" from "Jackals and Vipers in Envy of Man, Pt. 7" just by name alone. So already Sixtoo's engaging us on an almost incidental level, daring us to actually listen to this album on repeat to remember our favorites. For that reason, solely focusing on the music is easy, and the album wastes no time grabbing hold of your attention: The Far East-based "Pt. 2" could almost act as a modern update on Madlib's latest Beat Konducta installment, but its alien synth paranoia is a production tweak that's all Sixtoo. In fact, all songs are all Sixtoo; there are no guests for this one.

It's just as well, they'd probably get in the way of some of these beats. We're talking a lot of cut chemistry here, and "Pt. 5" is a fine example of echoed beats and analog fuzz meeting in space for a cut you'd never confuse for Megasoid. The tricks of "Pt. 7" are pretty neat too, skittering drums and glitchy synths stuttering to an abrupt halt in the best traditions of the turntablist. At this point you're also noticing something about the tone of this album: It's slightly more upbeat than past efforts. Whether or not it was a conscious decision we can't be sure, but the pianos employed on "Pt. 8" suggest that Sixtoo's brief time with Belgian pianist Jef Neve wasn't for nothing.

Both Squire and Ninja Tune have recognized that there's a definite sonic "toughness" to the Sixtoo sound. This comes out well in "Pt. 12" and even the concluding "Pt. 13," ostensibly a downtempo, more traditional Sixtoo track featuring primitive keyboard ambiance, feels muscular. The switch at just past two minutes drops everything out but the drums, and suddenly you're in a room covered in padded walls. It's cold for a minute, but what warmth was provided early on returns just a few seconds later, piano now added to the mix. It's like Squire is reminding us what the backbone of his tracks are and why we're here, just in case we might've been ignoring them for melodies.

Ultimately Jackals and Vipers in Envy of Man is not quite a classic, but it is well worth giving a listen to. In some ways it feels like, even though a good portion of these tracks don't need emcees at all, a vocal appearance here or there would welcome some of the more sedate instrumentals. That is a minor quibble. Sixtoo hasn't gotten nearly the amount of attention he deserves; now that we're a few years removed from people blowing the lid off the Montreal scene, it's time to wake up to the man's supreme talents. No, it won't top any year-end breakdowns in December... But does it have to? Sixtoo has simply delivered once again, and anyone lucky enough to hear this record will agree he's as on-form as he's ever been. In a lot of ways, that's more important than any no-talent hack putting him #8 on their best-of lists.