Broken Mazes

Vinyl LP pressing. This record is a collaborative between MarQ Spekt and experimental, proto-new wave musician Gary Wilson (Stones Throw). It's rare that you get the opportunity to work with the actual artist rather than just sampling his records. Gary opened his vaults and provided sample soundscapes. Some of these instrumentals date back to 1973 and may have been heard before. Others may not. The ending result is a pure creative expression and meshes hip-hop, psychedelic, jazz and funk. Soak up the vibrations and enjoy! This is the kind of idea that makes you enjoy the fringes of rap more than what's in the spotlight. With that said, Broken Mazes sounds weirder on paper than it does in the headphones. Gary Wilson is an awesomely strange dude with some outré music under his belt, but for this project Spekt wisely sticks with the more accessible sides of Wilson's catalog. It's all breezy jazz-funk with some vague psychedelic touches for extra oomph, a wide-open field for Spekt to run his free-flowing bars. The result is relaxed and enjoyable, if at times a bit unfocused - kinda like a good open-ended improv session by a talented jazz band.