Saul Williams: The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of Niggy Tardust (2008)-Oliver X.
Saul Williams: The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of Niggy Tardust (2008)
By Oliver X
In 2004, punk-hop actor-poet Saul Williams (Slam, K-Pax) proclaimed, “I got a list of demands written on the palm of my hand (his "List of Demands," a poem about reparations, is the controversial backdrop for the popular new Stacy Walls directed Nike television ad campaign "My Better is Better Than Your Better"), and here in 2008, he has clearly come to collect, with the online only release of The Inevitable Rise And Liberation of Niggy Tardust, a stunning aural tour de force, produced by Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor.
Depth-charging industrial sonics pummel Williams’ ranting wall of noise, as Reznor’s vintage Bomb Squad-inspired, arg-inflected soundscapes level concussive blows to the ghettodome. The tinted rasp under alter ego Niggy Tardust’s (an obvious nod to Bowie’s theatrical influence on the performance artist) coiled breath is a Walenda, tight-roping discordant tremulations of found sounds and strings. Bass beats syncopate electric space against a burning man’s cacophony painted in Reznor’s signature black.
If Hip-Hop is caviar for crate diggers, Williams’ 5-star dishes are dug at the x-rated black book store, as he drops refs to Richard Wright’s Native Son on the refrain of "Ritual”:
Bitch nigga gun trigga dicks bigger while fuck/Killa blood spilla bitch steal a Mack truck/Bad luck fuckin’ wit this black buck/Bigger Thomas I promise/Leave your corpse in the furnace
On "Banged and Blown Through," Williams manages to successfully channel Pink Floyd’s "The Wall" through Seal’s Trevor Horn-era production prism, displaying a richly textured vocal tonality–in stark contrast to the more decidedly DIY punk leanings throughout his discography. A lyrical contender for most compelling vignette, here the poetry is both introspective and traumatic:
We are broken instruments/Burst wide open smashed and bent.
Reznor and studio accomplices CX Kidtronik and Thavius Beck, bring fuzzy flanged guitar chords and ear-popping staccato snares to "Sunday Bloody Sunday," that accent an edgier vision of Williams’ remake of U2’s 1982 hit, chronicling the 1972 Derry massacre of Irish civilians by British security forces in Northern Ireland. Williams turns in his best vocal performance to date, exhibiting deeper vocal coloration, broader range and a newfound confidence in his instrument. This track is both a surprise and a welcomed relief to die-hards wondering if the energy and brilliance displayed in Williams’ live shows, could ever be realized on disc.
But the standout track on the project is undoubtedly "DNA", a shit-talking, fire-spitting weltgeist, scorching Obama’s wonder bread audacity. The chorus is a blasphemous:
Hail Mary Mother of God/I got my whole host of angels shufflin in my Ipod.
Underpinned by sinister descending bass figures and vocally rendered through a pitch-tweaked baritone, recalling Tim Curry’s Lord of Darkness character in the Tom Cruise movie Legend, Williams boasts:
I am the streets/The white lines only separate me from me/You hydroplane and false God’s name and still crash into me
Reportedly influenced by Radiohead’s pay-what-you-can-afford Internet release of its newest album, Williams is offering Niggy for $5 on his web site. Writing on his Myspace page, Williams stated, "I feel like the times have conspired to make this album an important part of history." And indeed, this collaboration with Reznor has lifted Saul Williams beyond his Amethyst Rock Star beginnings, to his rightful place at the forefront of rock’s vanguard.
Copyright C. 2008 Oliver X