Cassette Review // Touch & Moves "1984" (Hand'Solo Records)

https://handsolorecords.bandcamp.com/album/1984

As soon as I see this cassette titled "1984" I know it's going to be about the George Orwell novel.  Now, either you saw this cassette and thought the same or you thought something else.   Perhaps one of the most important take aways from this cassette should be that more people should see this as a reference to George Orwell and they should also understand what that means.  People fear living in a police state where the government is spying on us, yet they're out here dropping their locations on social media.

From some point in the 1990's until the early 2000's is what this music reminds me of most.  It's got that Nas / NWA / Ice Cube / Dr Dre way about it and if you don't notice the theme of anger amongst those rappers then you are also not paying close enough attention.  With the beats come important lyrics but the way these songs sound for the most part make me think that it is fight music.  If you need to know what we're fighting against just look at the news and wonder why police are always abusing their authority.  

"Thought Krhyme" is one of the most interesting songs on this cassette because it sort of parodies an Eminem song but is about police brutality.   If you don't understand why the police have become such a problem, then listening to this song can help explain it to you.   But at the same time the way that this message is being delivered under the guise of Eminem is simply brilliant because it has that idea of "If we want white people to understand we have to speak their language".   Just everything about this song works on levels.

One of my favorite lines throughout the cassette is: "The last thing you ever want is for me to happily appear".    Staying true to the novel, O'Brien has a strong presence on this cassette and also has a song in the 8 spot.  It's just something about the way this cassette goes back and forth between the novel "1984" and the problems of more recent times, but at the same time, those two things being different yet the same should be the point here.  Paying attention to the injustice in this country should go hand in hand with this novel from how many years ago.  Hopefully, this cassette helps more people pay closer attention.