“The Felt boys are back, them boys of summer, and this time your boy Aes Rock is the drummer!” declares Murs on opening track ‘Protagonists’. To read that Aesop Rock was the producer on Felt 3 was sweat-inducing itself, but to hear his production on ‘A Tribute to Rosie Perez’ is like the first time you ate a lemon sherbet; ergo a fucking life changing revelation.

The bombastic drum sounds that Mr Bavitz has created have a distinctly raw, dusty edge that sound like his time was spent smacking the skins in a jam session rather than hunched over a computer.  It’s also a life changing revelation to hear Murs rap on a Felt album in that you realise yet again how good he can sound when he’s not spitting over derivative 9^th Wonder beats.

The only gripe I have with Murs is that he still feels the need to proclaim he isn’t an indie rapper or a mainstream rapper and that he loves women and money and blah blah blah. Dude we know, just get on and rap about bitches and green. Lyrically ‘Felt 2 (A Tribute to Lisa Bonet)’ is stronger, more conceptual and devoid of stomach churning lines such as Slug’s mid-life crisis rap “some people call it swagger, but I’m a little older so I still call it mojo” from new track ‘The Prize’. Production-wise however, ‘Felt 3’ at least reaches parity with its predecessor.

Crudely deconstructing ‘Felt 3’ as a cinematic patchwork, you can hear the different genres unravelling. The naked synth melody that John Carpenter would have stolen for Halloween 27 introduces ‘Felt Chewed Up’, leading into one of the most intriguing and yet archetypal Aes Rock production credits on the release; all playful drums and ultra smooth snares written to a discordant time signature. ‘Deathmurdermayhem’ is the perfect score to a Bram Stoker fang-fest preceded by a delightfully iconic 1930s horror scream sampled in ‘Felt Good’ which sets up the eerie, reverbed drums and haunted house samples. ‘Permanent Standby’ is a glorious addition to the list of storytelling gems that Rhymesayers as a whole have been producing for donkeys (check Eyedea, Brother Ali and P.O.S). Two separate girl-stories, one from L.A. and the other from Minneapolis, cinematically representing the ‘coming of age’ indie-flick that gets a limited release leading to eventual cult status. And then we have ‘The Clap’, straight from the archives of a Pee-Wee Herman out take and an absolute hoot.

Pitchfork’s review of ‘Felt 3’ accuses Slug and Murs of ‘laziness’, and not ‘blowing off steam’ as on previous efforts. Pray tell reviewer, how is a statement like ‘blowing off steam’ not a lazy assertion? I don’t care how they approach a new record; I just want it to be awesome. And just like the transition from Grouch’s ‘A Tribute to Christina Ricci’ to Ant’s ‘Lisa Bonet’, the boys have re-adjusted to Aesop Rock’s production style like a paddling of ducks changing ponds.

It’s time to crank the smiles and nod your heads for another killer combination from the Murs and Slug show. 

Felt 3: A Tribute To Rosie Perez is out now on Rhymesayers

www.myspace.com/mursandslug

Words: Chris Mcshee