#Bandcampgold-The Layered Effect by Andy Cooper

by Dan-O

I think The Layered Effect is the best example of a re-engagement with the core values of hip hop. We are exiting a period where anyone choosing to incorporate anything not trap/808 heavy was called “old school” in the most insulting way. The Layered Effect is not old school but it does joyfully acknowledge the Beastie Boys level excitement hip hop had for itself during the foundational phase, that essential energy that powered the takeover of modern music.

Andy Cooper not only dominates the microphone he produces or co-produces every song on the album. He has been doing hip hop for a thousand years (most notably with Ugly Duckling).  The school of music Cooper does on this project is (in my mind) quite specific. The pace of feverish underground classics like KMD’s 1991 album Mr. Hood is so markedly different from the sunken melodic trance of today it may be unrecognizable to new ears. The first song (Here Comes Another One) shares that same adulation to spit verses and sets the pace. The Layers interlude puts the samples and the cutting all the classic techniques back on display. Get On That churns and squeaks with vinyl scratches as he calls to the DJ.

Last of A Dying Breed is my favorite beat of the collection, easy soulful succinct and expansive.  On it he separates himself from the crabby purists who weaponize nostalgia, “remember back in the days he used to be center stage but then the spotlight fades and shines on a different age. So these kids are going at it and they got some nerve and they talk with such energy and lots of verve. Some old timer wants to put in a word he ain’t given the respect that he think he deserve. Well you’re the last of the Mohicans who hates young cats because they don’t seek him whining that they rude and they tryin’ to diss but dude they don’t really even know you exist.” He is clear on this song that even the greatest have had their time and passed beyond it. Last of A Dying Breed strengthens the resolve of the project, it is proof that he knows what he is doing might not work for all hip hop fans and doesn’t hold it against them. On the next song he (Anything Goes) he claims to be “playing like a Wu-Tang name generator” and in that play he discovers moments of fun and craft impossible to find elsewhere.

Can’t Be Satisfied is fabulous jazz influenced Boom Bap that DJ Premier would adore with an infectious hook that is the second most party friendly track on The Layered Effect. My favorite song is Do The AndyPuppet because it is insane.  It starts with a doo wop coo maracas and a stabbing bass line he comes up with a song about people’s adoration of a dance he does where he looks like a puppet. He implores you to join in as voices layer expounding the virtue of it. I believe he describes specifically how the dance is done. Half way through a tuba comes into the song as he coaches you through the motions.  It is a song you only do for the joy of it. The world doesn’t necessarily reward this brand of magical nonsense. Magical nonsense is a real part of the history of the music, its why people used to shout motel hotel Holiday Inn and Andy found a smart way to bring it back into the center where it belongs…for him.

Stream or purchase on Bandcamp below:

https://rocafortrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-layered-effect