Bizzart – Future Stars and Small Wonders
Released February 10, 2009
Arthur Arellanes III (aka Bizzart) got into the music field after the murder of his father in 1997. Born and raised in Los Angles, Bizzart is somewhat of an olio of a person – a spoken-word artist; pre-school teacher; self-proclaimed music therapist, and a deacon in the American Orthodox Catholic Church. His first album, Everybody’s Mouth, was released on Sounds Are Active as were the subsequent recordings, Eardrung and Bloodshot Mama. These three albums have pushed the definition of “hip-hop” into a more esoteric level. Everybody’s Mouth has been described as a sci-fi rap album. They are certainly unconventional even for LA underground music. It’s not surprising, then, that his newest release, Future Stars and Small Wonders, goes even one step further.
Future Stars sees Bizzart exploring the frailties of the human heart in relationships. Having written this album after breaking up with his fiancé, it is far more accessible and human than many of his past compositions. The songs are often moody, dark and often use grotesque electronic distortions that are as much inspired by Musique Concrete influences as they are a product of a fertile musical imagination. There are songs of great beauty such as my personal favourite, “Leaves My Eyes When I’m Not There” and songs that are somewhat disturbing such as “Changing Stars” which has Thom Yorke-like vocals and Kid-A musicality.
There are many other influences on Future Stars that make it interesting without making it sound old-hat, although I have to say that the more traditional hip-hop songs do end up sounding trite. Much and all as I hate making this comparison, there are moments when a Kanye West sensibility can be detected but don’t hold that against this album. Where Kanye West comes across as egocentric and preachy, Bizzart never crosses that line. His forays into the exploration of a larger understanding are far more questioning and encourages the listener to think for themselves and draw their own conclusions. They come across as a person honestly looking for answers and reassurances that there may actually be a God or something bigger than himself. Being a deacon in the Orthodox Catholic Church might have something to do with him more modestly questioning the existence of a spiritual plain rather than Kanye West’s belief that the only higher spiritual being on this planet is himself.
You can also hear a bit of a Sufjan Stevens influence on a couple of the songs. “My Sister’s in Jail” and “Marthur” are almost shamelessly optimistic, the former having a circusy oh-well-what-the-hell kind of flavour and the later is a unembellished re-telling of a typical day in any relationship. “Marthur” also has a bizarre dizzy feel to it mostly brought on by the hurdy-gurdy-like backing track and the theremin atmospheric quality.
Future Stars, however, has very little resemblance to anything else out there at the moment. It is almost totally original blending dark, moody, almost paranoid piano-led tunes (“Follow These Lines”) with beautiful singing songs of emotional heartache (“Leaves My Eyes When I’m Not There”). The last song on the album, “Wyod is Whyte”, is a latin flavoured instrumental that leaves you feeling satisfied and hopeful that he will release more of the same.
To me, Bizzart is the Blood Brothers of modern hip-hop, a few of the songs are barely controlled cacophony but with Bizzart’s and producer Christian Gibson’s (aka Innaspace) Master of Ceremonies direction they just stop short of teetering over the edge. Bizzart has toured with such artists as: Shapeshifters, Buck 65, Abe Vigoda, and Melt Banana. You can buy all of his albums on iTunes and I encourage you to look him up on his MySpace.
For your listening pleasure:
Bizzart – Changing Stars
Bizzart – Leaves My Eyes When I’m Not There
Bizzart – Follow These Lines
Bizzart – My Sister’s In Jail
Tags: album
