Three Decades Of Digable Planets’ :: “Blowout Comb” - Pendulum Records
It's been thirty years since the tribal trio known as Digable Planets released their 1994 follow up, “Blowout Comb”, in the whispering wake of the group’s groundbreaking debut “Reachin' (A New Refutation Of Time And Space)” in 1992. Originally hailing from Philly, the group decided to relocate to the music mecca of not only hip-hop, but that of the collective culture of the spiritually shape-shifting movement in the human arts that was still going on in New York City since its beckoning beginnings. Its esoteric elements of excitement, bewitched barriers of excellence and utterly smooth structure, quickly distinguished the group from their Apple City peers. Finding soulful solace in their newly electrifying environment, the trio immediately got to work on what would become the group’s most culturally connected release in their short, yet legendary career within the genre’s monumental influence on history and its people. Summoning the nearby neighboring skills of NYC legends such as Guru from Gang Starr, Jeru the Damaja and DJ Jazzy Joyce, the group brought their metaphysical magic to Bass Hits Recording Studio in the city to simply record and release a riveting revolution of both sound and the political patterns of the conscious shift that was taking shape in the fibers of the genre during the early to mid 1990s.
While fully immersing themselves in the seduction of the streets and its gravitational pull into the atmospheric arts, Digable Planets quickly developed an almost method way of approaching the album as well as implementing the groundbreaking crate digging that took place during the “Reachin' (A New Refutation Of Time And Space)” world tour. With the mighty Jimmy Cliff on their side, the trio brought not only a crucially creative touch to their new-found sound, but paid monumental respect to the sacred sounds of dub and the retro roots of what would eventually shape the spiritual sport of hip-hop as we know it. With numbers such as "Jettin'", “The Art of Easing", the immaculate insomnia of "Black Ego", "Borough Check" and the album’s elaborate ender "For Corners", “Blowout Comb” respectfully represents the temporal temptation of the band’s superior grip on society’s thematic throat and with one quick bend from the blade of beats, silencing all judgment and polluted prejudice once and for all.
“Blowout was a natural expansion of what Digable Planets were reaching for in the first place, but shallow ears got lost”
A reverberating revolution without limits, the titan trio resembled stone figures like those of ancient gods concealed in the almighty artifacts of sonic security, the gospel and a ritualistic rhythm that can be holistically heard and fashionably felt around the entirety of the world, though its listeners seemed to have slept on the group’s epic effort. Whether it needed to lay dormant in order to build melodic momentum, or if it was simply ahead of its time, deciding to take the high road after the release of the album in mid-October 1994 was an understatement, as the climate and economic ecosystem grew even more vicious and sophisticatedly shallower as the years pushed forward. With the group’s lyrical legacy only growing richer and fabulously favored among the next generation of artists and producers, "Blowout Comb" has now become a brilliant blueprint and a metaphorical map that will forever be studied and referenced as society continues to push and express its deepest, darkest desire to be free and whole.
