Australian MC, vocalist and producer NineLives The Cat, whose part of Ninja Tune’s TheDeathSet has released his solo debut LP Are We Dead Yet? which has 12 eclectic tracks that have one common theme running through them, attitude.
After listening through the album for the first time, I can safely say that there is something for everyone on the album, electro, rock, pop, indie, hip hop, breaks, dub, you name it. Every track merges at least two of those genres and the result is very aurally pleasing.
The whole album was just fun overall, I mean you know your gonna be listening to a great album when the first song (“Here Comes Ninelives”) is a computer voice that spells out NineLives name followed by the THX intro. I can tell you this, I was excited to know what was coming next, and my instincts were right, I wasn’t disappointed.
The 2nd song, “Crash Test Kitten”, was probably my favorite track. With an electro-pop sound, the bass really makes me want to groove to it. Crunchy and simple, it works very well over the rhymes Ninelives and his fellow MC vocalist spit, and the hook alone is ridiculously catchy and more than enough reason to check out the track. Other highlights were the indie rock track “The End”, the punk infused “Just Like You” that at times reminded me of Nirvana from the Incesticide days and “Doesn’t Matter” which bring this hard downtempo “ballad” to round out NinelIves electric sounds.
One thing I need to comment on was NineLives vocals, he definitely has the all-around package, be it spitting singing, or anything between, he does it very well on all his tracks.
In nutshell what I’m trying to say is, pick up this album (you can buy it here) for some fun, energetic good times. It was a pleasure to listen to from beginning to end and the replay value is excellent. Now I am curious to see what NineLives other projects are.
Off to the world wide web I go…