Steve 'Flash' Juon“We can overthrow the government together and never fall
And that’s more than I can say for the pricks at city hall”
There are a few overlapping threads for “Fry Cook on Venus” I’d like to untie. Let’s start with Noah Raymond Brickley, better known as Noah23. He’s received a few cursory mentions in other Canadian rap reviews around here but didn’t get the solo spotlight until just now. It certainly wasn’t purposeful in design. I love our neighbors to the North and always have. Noah has never been in touch with us about his projects, unless for some obscene reason those emails got filtered to spam and I never saw them. That left it to me to purposefully seek them out, and as you’re well aware from reading this almost 15 years after it was released, the sheer volume of music to come out in a given year makes that a very daunting task.
I’m still going to hold myself accountable on this one though given “Fry Cook on Venus” came out on Fake Four Inc. Even in that mountain I wish to shrink to a molehill they are an indie label that has stood out to me over the years, and I just reviewed their founder’s “Broken Bone Ballads” last year. So this is my bad, I fucked up, and listening to songs like the Ceschi produce “Murder City” featuring Awol One and Sole I feel the regret. The gothic church organ melody, powerful percussion and memorably creepy bars like “always by myself cause I killed all my friends” made this song an instant favorite. It’s going in rotation the next time I get in my car as is the throwback track “Old Dog” featuring Ghettosocks, with a shoutout to Buddy Peace for the scratching.
Noah23 does get to own one part of the reason it was hard to follow him more closely — he announced he would retire from rap a couple of months after “Fry Cook on Venus” was released. Like most pro wrestlers this was a decision he came to regret and within a year he un-retired and came back to the game. I “Can’t Stay Mad” at Noah for his inconsistency though. Being an independent rap artist is often an exercise in sadomasochism. Let me speak more plainly — it’s the kind of torture you have to love to willingly endure it again and again. You can pour your heart and soul into an album, tour relentlessly to support it, and at the end of the day your bank balance is the same or at a net deficit. Retirement seems like a reasonable option if you get tired of the backward treadmill.
This album proves that his thoughts of retirement were premature. From the warm and comfortable vibes of the Factor produced “Bed Bugs” to the rapid fire bars (“we live in the past/we live in the future/we live in the infinite moment”) he shoots out on “Time Again” produced by Zoën, there’s a lot to enjoy on this album. My views on rappers who sing are clear, and those who abuse AutoTune to disguise a lack of substance even more so, but when Noah sings his hooks or switches up his flow it feels organic and has no studio enhancement. I wouldn’t tell him to go on American Idol (actually I wouldn’t tell anyone to for a myriad list of reasons) but if he was singing karaoke at the bar I wouldn’t chuck a bottle his way. There are better “Things to Do” than hate on him for it.
You may notice a faint whiff of self-importance to “Fry Cook on Venus.” That’s almost impossible to avoid as an independent artist who is determined to make music from the heart that’s meaningful to the musician. It’s forgivable provided said music is actually interesting enough to listen to that it’s worth both your time and money, and this release is both. My memories of being a college radio deejay are fading into the haze of old age but I can tell you this much — this is the kind of album I would have enjoyed playing when callers requested Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Yeah, I was a bit of a troll, but I also wanted to show people there was more to rap than what the mainstream had to offer. Perhaps you should check Noah23 out for the same reason.