Big Boi discovered Phantogram’s Mouthful of Diamonds online, which instigated the unlikely collaborative project Big Grams. The group’s seven track mini-album, Big Grams, is an intersection of Phantogram’s whirling guitars and ethereal vocals and Big Boi’s dance friendly, Southern flavoured rhymes. This record is enjoyable but nowhere near as groundbreaking as Big Boi’s previous work as one half of Outkast. Offering a range of fun, danceable, genre-bending tunes, the material on Big Grams is well suited to a festival slot.
The record starts out by demonstrating what Phantogram can do, with the synth heavy, psych-pop influenced tracks, Run For Your Life, Goldmine Junkie and Lights On. It then moves on to display what Big Boi can do, with the Golden-era hip hop inspired Born To Shine, horn heavy Fell In The Sun and the smoother, neo-soul flavoured Put It On Her.
The final track, Drum Machine, is a Skrillex collaboration that draws on trap-influenced beats. Initially sounding like a Hudson Mohawke track, it relies too heavily on a staccato chorus laced with auto-tuned vocals. The generic composition will have you desensitised after two listens.
All in all, this is a likable release, but for those hoping for innovation between the two, it falls short.
BY TAMARA VOGL
