CD Reviews

Fakts One

Long Range | Greenstreets

By CHRIS FARAONE | July 22, 2008

3.0 Stars

Fakts One was the Perceptionists’ DJ behind Mr. Lif and Akrobatik when the group pushed their black dialogue past Boston, into the arms of El-P at Def Jux, and onto Rolling Stone’s top-albums-of-the-year list. Since then, Fakts has been AWOL; it would seem that not even his close friends get birthday calls. Long Range is the guest-heavy production disc that disappeared with the man and the myth about five years ago. Fakts never built a repertoire deep enough to secure his own specific sound, but on Long Range he proves he can dip into a variety of styles and cater tracks around any MC’s individual tastes. The Grayskul cut is eerie, with cranked rock guitars scattered on the hook. J-Live connects over an intricate, rolling sound tapestry that’s mixed so that his lessons don’t fall through the seams; the Little Brother track sounds as if it had come off 9th Wonder’s boards. The highlights are Universal’s “U from the Q,” “Longevity” with Cali Agents, and Rocklyn’s “Life Music” — all of which suggest that Fakts was inches away from coming into a vibe that was not only very much his own but very much hot to death.

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