Eliot Lipp, beat producer, smoker and world traveler, has just released an epic piece of 21st century electronic song bliss. I've known Mr. Lipp for quite a few years, even living with him briefly in 2003. We shared a two-flat, walk up apartment in an insanely diverse Chicago neighborhood. The apartment was a long train ride away from the hip and pretentious parts of Chicago. The closest thing we had to a record store was the Arabic grocery that sold Jordanian pop cassettes along with candied almonds, hookahs, and fruit juice. Eliot has since moved to North Hollywood, and the producer currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.We shared the apartment/music studio with two other music makers, and suffice it to say I learned a thing or two about making beats, italo-disco, Georgio Moroder, and jazz fusion. Lipp has always been a prolific music maker and a man of immense intuitive creativity. His beat making catalog is sprawling for a kid who has yet to french kiss thirty. Eliot is a rare breed. He is a music maker that is at once cynical about his own abilities and completely optimistic about the world of music. The kid loves sound. On his new record, Peace Love Weed 3D, Lipp intertwines cynicism with sensitivity and a willingness to suspend his own musical disbelief. The product is a joyous, naked, corny, strong, and completely innovative piece of unpretentious sound. I will refrain from the standard music review and just simply say that PLW3D invites Lil' John, Timbaland, Prefuse 73, George Duke, Georgio Moroder, Luke Vibert, and Herbie Hancock to a cocktail party, gets them drunk on punch, and then forces them to skinny dip at the synth pool. What surprises me about PLW3D is how un-hip it sounds. Lipp made this record for himself and that is to his credit. It is a record he would enjoy listening to, and he isn't concerned with how this beat cake will taste in the mouths of hipsters in his Brooklyn neighborhood. Lipp is also collaborating with other musicians these days, namely Guitar Ron and members of the Pnuma Trio. This collaborative spirit has had a maturing affect on his beats. His synth lines are more considered, and his melodic phrasing is elegant and restrained. PLW3D is the product of many divergent factors, but it is without a doubt, one of the most accomplished releases from a producer who is searching through the crates and the weeds.
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