Serengeti and Polyphonic are two components of one symbiotic organism.  They are determined to produce essentially the same results through different media : staggeringly heady hip hop ripe with contradiction. The Chicago based MC Serengeti produces rhymes on a Def Jux level of abstraction, carefully spinning together stream of consciousness tongue twisters both paranoid and heartfelt, schizophrenic yet rational, brilliantly obtuse yet playfully hilarious.

Polyphonic produces beats that examine glitch as if it was a respected field of academic study, trying earnestly to emulate a slick veneer of high concept master craftsmanship.  But even while he appears to be in complete control of his compositions, he occasionally pieces together his sonic backdrops like a six year old smashing a kaleidoscope against his bedroom wall, frustrated and disillusioned that the toy has a finite collection of shapes, images, and colors. Tracks after the jump.

The two collaborators produce nothing less than intensely challenging avanthop, eschewing the edge and confrontational nature of El-P’s most famous productions (the producer most associated with high minded rap) while embracing an astutely anticon. aesthetic, basically creating the musical equivalent of post-rock for the hip-hop masses.

Accessible, this isn’t, but that definitely isn’t a detraction.  The group’s latest Terradactyl is a headphone album if there ever was one, begging for each beat and rhyme to be obsessed over and analyzed.  Serengeti and Polyphonic come to Garfield Artworks tonight with DJ Tony Trim and The Robotic Hands of God

Serengeti & Polyphonic – My Patriotism (WHY remix)

Serengeti & Polyphonic – Bon Voyage