Pitchfork

Breakupdown, Ghis' proper album has no sweet nothings or sing-alongs: Frivolities have been ground to dust by Poirier's heavy fingers on what sounds to be three or four pads, at most, on his console. His apparent disdain for superfluous synth flourishes or multi-tracked instrumentation makes it seem as if he'd only ever heard music through a wall of man-sized monitors. In his hands, Baltimore club becomes only its redlined drums. Hip-hop is a muffled snare and rumbling bass. Crunk is a tempo. Dancehall and ragga, an overwhelming riddim. If a synth or sample appears-- whether it be buzzing strings or a hollow flute-- it is percussive, adding more depth to the cavernous beats. It's great for anyone who's listened to those genres and wondered why nerds (like me) fret over samples or parse lyrics. That's not to say Poirier is joyless, only that he's a minimalist. Instead of interpreting different styles, he distills them to their common elements, bass and drums, and avoids glitching them into intelligent dance music. As smart as his music is, Poirier seems most concerned with neckboning his listeners, giving the coke-rap opponents something to rock in the whip. When he does allow room for a guest vocal, it's a Francophone (Omnikron, Seba), a Chicagoan toaster (DJ Collage of many a Klein record), London non-grime (Lotek Hi-Fi), or Beans, none of whom steal the show from young Ghis.

For those of us who rank major-label rap in our year-ends, Ghislain has remixed a handful of recent favorites on his self-released Bounce le Remix (available for purchased download at http://www.ghislainpoirier.com). Here he applies his theory to them Ying-Yang characters, Missy, M.I.A., Snoop, Dizzee, and Busta, among others, but it's really more about breaking down recent groundbreakers. Whether it's the Neptunes' "Drop It Like It's Hot" or Timbaland's "Dirt Off Your Shoulder", Poirier strips the body breaks to bare kick and snare. Even Mr. Collipark's "Wait (The Whisper Song)", an exercise in austerity, sounds naked in comparison. And I'll be damned if Ghis' version of Roots Manuva's "Witness (1 Hope)" isn't the best Roots Manuva song I've heard since the "Walworth Road Rockers Dub" remix of the same track. But the coup de grace on an album of graces has to be the unofficial Ghislain Poirier remix of "Ice Ice Baby". Now, I know time has turned this song and its creator into a joke, but this version, minus the infamous Queen sample, will hopefully convince many of the lyrical genius of Vanilla Ice. He was no gimmick! Stop snitchin'!

*Bro-Fred ended up quitting the cloth to sell vibrators, probably to smart girls who dance to Ying-Yang but hate oppression.