Telicatessen
Telicatessen is the debut solo album by American hip hop artist and former Sonic Sum member Rob Sonic, released by the Definitive Jux label on September 7, 2004. An instrumental version of the album was released the following year, also by Definitive Jux. The album's title is a portmanteau word combining the terms "television" and "delicatessen".[9]
| Telicatessen | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 7, 2004 | |||
| Genre | Hip hop | |||
| Length | 46:21 | |||
| Label | Definitive Jux | |||
| Producer | Rob Sonic | |||
| Rob Sonic chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Telicatessen | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 74/100[1] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Alternative Press |   [2] |
| BBC Collective | [3] |
| City Pages | favorable[4] |
| Insomniac | favorable[5] |
| NME | [6] |
| RapReviews.com | [7] |
| URB | [8] |
Music
All production, lyrics and vocals were by Rob Sonic, with the exception of the verses on "Sniper Picnic" by fellow New York MC Creature and Alaska and Windnbreeze from Definitive Jux labelmates Hangar 18 and backing vocals by M. Sayyid of the group Antipop Consortium. Scratches were performed by Fred Ones from Sonic's former group the Sonic Sum, and by DJ Big Wiz.[10]
Reception
At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Telicatessen received an average score of 74% based on 4 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[1] Sonic's production was generally praised: a BBC review described the album's sound as "propulsive, hallucinogenic and inspiring,"[3] and RapReviews.com described it as "sonically adventurous" without verging into self-indulgence.[7] His lyrics were widely regarded as highly abstract, which critics found to be both a strength ("two-second moments of total clarity bunched together and pouring out") and a weakness ("an endless stream of fleeting ideas").[4][7]
Popular Media
The track "Sniper Picnic" was featured on the soundtrack of Activision game Tony Hawk's American Wasteland.[11]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Strange Hammer" | R. Smith | 4:06 |
| 2. | "Death Vendor" | R. Smith | 3:07 |
| 3. | "New Car Smell" | R. Smith | 2:27 |
| 4. | "Former Future" | R. Smith | 2:05 |
| 5. | "Super Ball" | R. Smith | 4:00 |
| 6. | "Sniper Picnic" (featuring Creature and Hangar 18) | R. Smith/S. Booker/T. Baker/I. McMullin | 3:40 |
| 7. | "Telicatessen" | R. Smith | 3:19 |
| 8. | "Behemoth" | R. Smith | 3:28 |
| 9. | "Shoplift" | R. Smith | 3:38 |
| 10. | "Dylsexia" | R. Smith | 3:48 |
| 11. | "Riot Ender" | R. Smith | 3:59 |
| 12. | "Location Is Everything" | R. Smith | 3:55 |
| 13. | "Macomb's Dam Bridge" | R. Smith | 4:48 |
Equipment
The following equipment was used in the making of Telicatessen:[10]
Credits
- Vocals, production: Rob Sonic
- Scratching: DJ Big Wiz, Fred Ones
- Additional vocals: Creature, Hangar 18, M. Sayyid[12]
- Executive producer: El-P, Amaechi Uzoigwe
- Mastering: Ken Heitmueller
- Mixing: Fred Ones, Rob Sonic
- Engineering: Fred Ones, Rob Sonic, Ruff-N-Rugged
- Art Direction: Dan Ezra Lang
- Design: Dan Ezra Lang, Rob Sonic
- Illustrations: Dan Ezra Lang
References
- "Telicatessen by Rob Sonic". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
- Alternative Press, October 2004 (p.148)
- BBC review Archived 2008-12-21 at the Wayback Machine
- City Pages review Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
- Insomniac review
- NME,18 September 2004 (p.65)
- Rapreviews
- URB September 2004 (p.117)
- "Rob Sonic - urbansmarts.com interview". urbansmarts.com. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
- "Rob Sonic". World's Fair. Retrieved 2007-08-28.
- "Tony Hawk's American Wasteland Soundtrack". about.com. Retrieved 2007-08-29.
- "Telicatessen". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-08-29.
External links
- Telicatessen at Discogs (list of releases)