Beloved Bay Area weirdo/iconoclast Del The Funky
Homosapien spent part of the downtime between 2000's Both Sides Of The Brain and his
Definitive Jux debut studying music theory, but rather than leading to heady
sonic exploration, Del's studies led him to rediscover simplicity. His new Eleventh
Hour is
radically unadorned, with rubbery boom-bap funk tracks, simple concepts, and
few guests. This is brown-bag Del, uncomplex and uncut. Unfortunately, Del's
self-produced beats sometimes blur the line between elegant simplicity and
tedium.
Though he's edging into middle age, Del retains
the mischievous air of a middle-school class clown. On "I'll Tell You," he even
gives himself a muted laugh track for smartass lines like "In my book you're
worth a listen / But then again it's a work of fiction." The lack of
accoutrement makes the album's few sonic flourishes—like periodic bursts
of Premier-style scratching—stand out in sharp relief. The best tracks
deviate from the rigidly minimalist template: Hour peaks late with "Last
Hurrah" and "I Got You," which find Del sharing tracks with KU and Ladybug
Mecca, respectively. Del's commitment to following his own path is as admirable
as ever, but sometimes less is ultimately less.