Apostle Of Hustle — Eats Darkness

It won't take more than one spin through Eats Darkness for listeners to realize this trio's 2007 disc, National Anthem Of Nowhere, was a sellout to what many refer to as "the Arts & Crafts sound." It was good, and it certainly had main composer Andrew Whiteman's flare lingering on its edges, but it sounded just a little too much like albums by Apostle Of Hustle's labelmates.

Whiteman and crew have invented a sound that's more identifiably theirs on this third full-length. It would be futile to try to pigeonhole Eats Darkness in one or even a few genres. On the whole, it's reminiscent of Toronto DJ Nick Holder's 2000 dance tour de force, Underground Alternatives: heavy on groove, with profuse sound bites inserted between songs and used for introductions.

The theme here is darkness and the violent and vile things that occur in it. An unidentified woman rants about never trusting a snake amidst gunshots, car crashes and dial tones in the album opener. The entire creation, says Whiteman (affirmed in his song "Eazy Speaks"), was inspired by gangsta rapper Eazy-E.

The top track is the album's out-of-left-field third song, "Soul Unwind." It has the potential to turn into the pop hit of the year.

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