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Sivion - Mood enhancement

Release:Mood enhancement
Mood enhancement
MyHHHdb
(what is this?) / 16 users have this
Media:[Audio CD] [Digital Download]
Released:2005
Recordlabel:ILLECT Recordings
Info:Guest appearances by Wushu, Heather Randall (vocalist).

Production by
-Sivion : 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16, 18, bonus track
- Playdough : 4
- Freddie Bruno : 11
- Andreon Michael : 13
- Silent Assassin : 14
- Cheese : 17

1. Mood intro
2. Out of the blue
3. In the know
4. Flood gates
5. The name game
6. Lyrical combat
7. Down but never out - featuring Deepspace5
8. Let me - featuring Phonetic Composition and Phat K.A.T.S.
9. Right there in the left field
10. Fly so high
11. Side rhodes
12. Father time - featuring LaConda
13. A.N.D.R.E.O.N. - featuring Andreon Michael
14. S.H.A.N.N.A.N.
15. Easy flow
16. What is it?
17. Glamour shots - featuring Keynote, Travii the 7th and Blaze Won
18. The search - featuring Heather Randall
Rating:Our users rated this release: 8 out of 10
(Number of votes: 3)   Sign up or login to submit your vote

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Original author/source
Review
Review:Written by Administrator
Monday, 15 August 2005

Sivion first pinged hip-hop's radar as one half of the group Phat K.A.T.S., the other half being his twin brother. With a few songs and cameos the name started to stick and folks took notice. As the K.A.T.S affiliation dissolved Sivion continued to network and ended up landing a spot on the Deepspace5 crew. While a welcome addition to the soon to be dubbed "super-crew" he was not content to exist only in cameo-land. So now he's presenting his first full length album "Mood Enhancement" on Illect Recordings. The album is a jazz influenced combination of mellow hip-hop a la Native Tongues of old and new school conscious rap like Common or Talib Kweli. Having said that, this is no copycat, faux-intellectual, "me too" album. This is a creative, insightful, well produced and heavy effort that truly belies its freshman status.
Sivion brings out all the stops with guests like Deepspace5, Phonetic Composition, Heather Randall, LaConda, Blaze Won and more on the mic. Freddie Bruno and Harry Krum guest produce alongside Sivion. With 18 tracks though, "Mood Enhancement" doesn't smother the listener with guest after guest. Content to cluster the talent into a few key songs there are plenty of tracks for Sivion alone. Of note is track 9 where the album takes a break with a full length airy jazz set, sans vocals.

This is a good cool out album. At home in headphones or in the whip, this album is clean musically and vocally. This is a great listen as there is no overdone theme yet all songs feed off of each other. "Mood Enhancement" has a good combination of up-tempo and slower songs, showing Sivion's diversity. Whether attacking the mic of just smoothly riding the beats Sivion presents a deliberately moody album.

Sivion has a very rhythmic flow, with runs of staccato interspersed with runs of harmonized sing-song raps. The word choice is effortless and Sivion utilizes a storytelling style as opposed to a punchline flow. The rhyme never gets in the way of the message, and the flow never fights the beat. He throws out questions and challenges to the listener as much as he drops knowledge. "What is it"'s smooth flow detailing Sivion's spiritual journey transitions into "Glamour Shots" where he touts his lyrical prowess along with partners in crime Keynote, Travii the 7th and Blaze Won.

His mid-tone voice is easily recognizable but has a tendancy to start sounding the same from song to song. When rapping in a group, Sivion truly excells with his vocal tone complimenting those around him and his flow polished in comparison. What makes him great in a group may leave others wanting more after an entire solo album if there is not enough diversity. I think he's balanced it well this time around.

Sivion's created a good album in "Mood Enhancement". Solid production backs up intelligent raps. While only a first time solo artist, Sivion shows maturity, experience, depth and more importantly talent. This album has a depth and complexity to give long term playback potential.

-Nomad

3.5 of 5 stars
source: Sphereofhiphop.com, added: Aug 12, 2006
Review:1
source: -1', added: Apr 24, 2015

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