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Common Market

The Winter's End EP

(Hyena; US: 31 Mar 2009; UK: 31 Mar 2009)

“You’ve got to love what you’re doing. If you love it, you can overcome any handicap or the soreness or all the aches and pains, and continue to play for a long, long time.” - Gordie Howe, former all-time NHL points leader


This is an improvement over the debut EP and album from Washington’s Ryan Abeo (RA Scion) and Blue Scholars beatsmith Sabzi. Complimenting Scion’s spiritually uplifting lyricism, Sabzi’s more organic and unconventional instrumentals result in a fantastically groovy set of indie hip-hop on par with anything Rhymesayers related. It’s still a few stops short of Kanye West, but Abeo namedrops NHL hall of famer and former all-time points leader Geordie Howe (whose name has come to represent a kind of hat trick where a player gets a goal, an assist, and a five-minute fighting major in a single game). As an old school Canadian hockey fan, I have to like this EP. Otherwise, the Conservatives would ship me to France.

Rating:

Ranta is a music geek from East Vancouver. He spends most of his time researching, procuring, listening to, and writing about music. Since 2004, his work has appeared in such publications as Exclaim!, CBC Music, Tiny Mix Tapes, and PopMatters, and he has been a Polaris Music Prize juror since 2010. He graduated from SFU's Contemporary Arts program with a BFA in music in Summer 2011.


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Common Market - Escape From Arkham
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