I don’t normally review stuff I buy because it would weaken my authority as the premier music reviewer in the known universe. For some reason however I never got invited to review DELS “Gob” album or this EP, possibly because I burned my bridges with Ninja Tune somewhere around the Lorn release. So why am I going to break my self imposed rule ? Because both “Gob” and “Black Salad” are brilliant and DELS (along with Stanley Odd) deserves the opportunity to show the world that knobheads like Professor Green, Example, Plan D, Tinchy Stryder etc are talentless, prosaic and a colossal waste of time, money and electricity.
DELS music is essentially triphop (which at some point became a bad word probably because it became lowest common denominator and people like the Sneaker Pimps came along and ruined everything that Tricky and Portishead had done). The trip in trip hop is the distinguishing point and DELS music is surreal enough (both musically and lyrically) to see links being made to LSD culture. Because LSD was about expanding minds and while there is no real obvious LSD element to any of DELS music, it’s all about expansion away from shit boring commercial hip-hop. I can name enough exciting acts in hip hop nowadays for people (including me) to stop ranting about how hip hop is dead. DELS is one of them, with his idiosyncratic producers and his wistful lyrics and heartfelt delivery taking him to a point where I’m happy to say that UK hip hop can finally look its older brother in the US without blinking and claim to be equal to some of the better shit, while far, far outweighing the tiresome conveyor belt of crotch grabbing testosteroids who make up most of its population.
Buy “Gob” and buy “Black Salad” and then go and say hello to him because he’s a lovely bloke.
http://ninjatune.net/release/dels/black-salad
Kim Monaghan
