Spring Break
ONE-76 brings back the funk
Paulina Malek
Issue date: 2/20/09 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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The album is a schizophrenic blend of experimental hip-hop coupled with sci-fi funk that often changes arrangements in the course of a track similarly to a DJ crossing their fader in a club. Recorded with all live instruments with the exception of programmed drums, it echoes the sounds of Gnarls Barkley, DJ Shadow and RJD2. It shines a light on the consumer-infested culture that mainstream music represents.
"Back in the day, when artists would write songs, like Curtis Mayfield, [they] had a very influential means of expressing themselves and they could start movements within cultures. Now it's like a lot of songs are just about consumerism or just like something that doesn't really empower listeners or make them move in a direction," Ryan Schwabe, Drexel alum and member of ONE-76, said.
The Philadelphia based duo is comprised of Schwabe (upright bass, electric bass, synthesizer) and Peter Panagakos (keyboard, guitar) separately known as ONEdependent and Taki76, but collectively call themselves ONE-76. Schwabe, who also raps on several tracks as Moonbooze, his alter ego, filled with political angst, calls rapper Turtle Handz and R&B singer Narykcin a part of the musical family as well. Turtle Handz and Narykcin make appearances on "Radio Recession" as does renowned underground MC, producer and musician Count Bass D.
Schawbe, a native of Buffalo, N.Y., became acquainted with Panagakos on Myspace in 2005 after six years of failed attempts to release a record as a result of a series of bad luck - including accidentally loosing the material on his computer, as well as theft in his apartment. Luckily, Panagakos, then residing in Montreal, was in town working on a project. After recording their very first track together, you can say the rest was history and the two have been keeping audiences on the edge of their seats ever since.
For example on "Soul Will Be Free" featuring Nayrkcin, the song depicts a young girl who is left to the streets as a result of her parents' neglect and stresses the message that if, "she dares to dream, then her soul will be free." While the track offers great orchestrations and an interesting concept, it also offers a heartbreaking twist.
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