The last few years in music have seen the formation of many indie "Supergroups", with some of the results being more "super" than others, but few have managed to use the collaborative setting to delve into musical realms previously uncharted by the individuals concerned. Enter the inspirational alliance 13 & God, fifty-percent populated by German indie-glitch-rock enthusiasts The Notwist, and the other half by the Anticon collective's most fascinating weirdos, Themselves.
Over the course of ten substantive tracks, 13 & God lay down an interesting amalgamation of freeform hip-hop and captivating melodies, as well as a healthy dose of experimentation. Fans of Themselves' previous work are already familiar with the unorthodox flow of lead vocalist Dose One, and won't be too surprised by his contribution to the record. The same argument can be made for The Notwist's lead vocalist Markus Acher's vocal contributions, although this is not meant to intone that either group haven't stretched their creative output for this comradeship. The truth is that by simply creating music together, the two groups threw themselves into a venture that could easily have gone terribly wrong. The fact that most every track bears some mark of both Themselves' main producer Jel and The Notwist's unique sound methods, without getting muddy and bogged down, is a testament to the musicianship of all the individuals involved.
The sound of 13 & God itself falls somewhere between spacey indie-rock and enlightened urban atmospherics. For those unfamiliar with the sound of either Themselves' or Doseone's other main full-time project, cLOUDDEAD, it should be noted that a love for traditional hip-hop would not be a prerequisite for getting into his sound. Truthfully, Doseone rarely "raps" in the traditional sense (though he did cut his hip-hop teeth as a battle mc for a number of years), rather he sing/recites in tangents, his tone ebbing and flowing around the musical tracks. When he does "rap", as in the third track, "Ghostwork", Doseone's style is more poetic than most emcees, creating a remarkable juxtaposition between his approach and Acher's melodic verbal yield as it begins the next song, "Perfect Speed."
13 & God is a definite must for fans of either group's previous efforts, as well as anyone that is looking for something totally original to try for the first time. The only warning is for hip-hop fans unfamiliar with the Anticon sound: You may be jarred if you approach this disc as a hip-hop record, but if you dig experimentation and hearing something new, you will not be disappointed.