Just checked out
Black Taffy’s
Elder Mantis. Black Taffy is Donovan Jones, a Dallas based sound artist who may be best known for his work with heavy post-rockers This Will Destroy You, but has recently turned his attention to experimental hip-hop. Jones became aware of the power of music while observing his father lead mass as a Pentecostal preacher. His interrogation of the overlap between spirituality and music has lead him through Christianity into the looking-glass of mysticism, a journey that informs the sounds and aesthetics of his latest album. High-concept descriptions aside,
Elder Mantis is essentially the morbid shut-in cousin of the “24/7 lofi hip hop” channels that have proliferated throughout Youtube. I recommend you start with the clammy shutter of opener “Divining Rod,” the restless and gusty “Land of Nod,” and the melancholy downward spiraling crawl of “Jaguarundi.” Gloomy goodness to get you through another frigid Mid-west winter.
