The No Music

The No Music
Studio album by
Themselves
ReleasedSeptember 16, 2002 (2002-09-16)[1]
Recorded2001–2002
GenreAlternative hip hop
Length46:02
LabelAnticon
ProducerJel, Doseone
Themselves chronology
Them
(1999) 		The No Music
(2002) 		The No Music of AIFFs
(2003)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Dusted Magazinefavorable[3]
Exclaim!unfavorable[4]
Mutefavorable[5]
Pitchfork4.5/10[6]
RapReviews.com5/10[7]
SF Weeklyfavorable[8]
Stylus MagazineB+[9]
Tiny Mix Tapes[10]

The No Music (stylized as The No Music.) is the second studio album by American hip hop duo Themselves. It was released on Anticon in 2002.[1] It peaked at number 183 on the CMJ Radio 200 chart,[11] as well as number 13 on CMJ's Hip-Hop chart.[12] A remix version of the album, The No Music of AIFFs, was released in 2003.[13]

Critical reception

Ed Howard of Stylus Magazine gave the album a grade of B+, saying, "It's far from perfect, and there are still moments where the experiments fall short, but overall this represents the fulfillment of the substantial promise made by Circle and cLOUDDEAD".[9] Daniel Thomas-Glass of Dusted Magazine called it "a masterful piece of work".[3]

Meanwhile, Thomas Quinlan of Exclaim! said, "it turns out to be another Anticon disappointment, although it's still better than the last few".[4] Sam Chennault of Pitchfork gave the album a 4.5 out of 10, saying, "It's a horribly pointless and boring album that will only satisfy those who equate progress with soulless beats and abstract mic theatrics."[6]

Neil Strauss of The New York Times placed the album at number 9 on his year-end list.[14]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Home Work"2:38
2."Mouthful"4:07
3."Good People Check"3:51
4."Poison Pit"4:02
5."Live Trap"3:31
6."Only Child Explosion"2:30
7."Paging Dr. Moon or Gun"3:42
8."Dark Sky Demo"3:56
9."You Devil You"4:05
10."Out in the Open"5:23
11."Hat in the Wind"5:11

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

Themselves

  • Doseone – vocals, production
  • Jel – vocals, production

Additional musicians

  • Dax Pierson – keyboard bass (3, 11), electric piano (3), sampler (11)
  • Alexander Kort – electric cello (5, 11)
  • Alias – sampler (5)
  • Why? – keyboard drums (6), keyboards (7), organ (7), drums (7), vocals (8)
  • Alex Oropeza – final freak (7)
  • Xopher D – final freak (7)
  • Sole – vocals (8)
  • John Herndon – drums (9, 11)
  • Alexander Ito-Maitland – drums (10)

Technical personnel

  • Alex Oropeza – mixing
  • Xopher D – mixing, mastering
  • Doseone – artwork
  • Jel – artwork
  • Odd Nosdam – layout, additional fingerprints

References

  1. ^ a b "The No Music". Anticon. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  2. ^ Spano, Charles. "The No Music - Themselves". AllMusic. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  3. ^ a b Thomas-Glass, Daniel (January 27, 2003). "Dusted Reviews: Themselves - The No Music". Dusted Magazine. Archived from the original on April 6, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  4. ^ a b Quinlan, Thomas (December 2002). "Themselves - The No Music". Exclaim!. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  5. ^ Neset, Anne Hilde (November 28, 2002). "The No Music". Mute. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  6. ^ a b Chennault, Sam (October 1, 2002). "Themselves: The No Music". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  7. ^ Jost, Matt (October 10, 2002). "Themselves :: The No Music :: Anticon Records". RapReviews.com. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  8. ^ Doherty, Greg (October 16, 2002). "Themselves: The No Music (Anticon)". SF Weekly. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  9. ^ a b Howard, Ed (September 1, 2003). "Themselves - The No Music". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on March 31, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  10. ^ Chadwicked (December 14, 2006). "Themselves - The No Music". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  11. ^ "CMJ Radio 200 (Period Ending 11/5/2002)". CMJ New Music Report: 13. November 18, 2002.
  12. ^ "HIp-Hop (Period Ending 10/22/2002)". CMJ New Music Report: 29. November 4, 2002.
  13. ^ "The No Music Of Aiffs". Anticon. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  14. ^ Strauss, Neil (January 8, 2003). "The Pop Life; Tributaries to the Musical Mainstream". The New York Times. Retrieved June 14, 2018.