“Moonbase: SVG” is the new collaborative album from Boston producer and Jim’s Pool Room Records co-founder SV and St. Louis rapper Gage. Recently, I reviewed SV’s re-released 2015 beat tape “The Reminisce Tape” whose moody, nostalgic vibes and jazzy, funky, soulful sounds I praised. Here, he handles the directorial duties of what is essentially a sci-fi, space age concept album. I say “directorial” because while I was listening to this record, I couldn’t help but picture SV as a beat-making Stanley Kubrick, Christopher Nolan or James Gray crafting a rap version of “2001: A Space Odyssey”, “Interstellar” or “Ad Astra” respectively.
On the subject of “Ad Astra”, “Moonbase: SVG” bears a few striking, yet subtle resemblances to that film, the most obvious being its “moon” setting. However, underneath the surface (both figuratively and literally), this album explores the idea of space as an unchartered frontier of physical and mental escape from one’s humdrum existence.
SV and Gage play the roles of….well….themselves, but within the album’s narrative, citizens of a Midwestern town called New Dredd Scotland, which is part of a desolate, post-apocalyptic wasteland. Disillusioned by the present state of their home planet (“Earth Doo Doo”, which incorporates a clever vocal interpolation of the iconic chant from Enigma’s smash hit “Return to Innocence” on the hook), they seek a better life – and new opportunities to further their musical careers – on the moon (“Space Trainers”). Guest singer Antonia Marquee plays Gage’s significant other whose heartfelt pleas for him to return quickly to Earth are ultimately ignored (“Don’t Make Me Wait”). Gage and SV’s doubts concerning their planetary move (“Spacewalk”) are dissipated as soon as their spaceship (called Calliope) reaches the moon.
Within the underground society of “Moon City”, Gage and SV establish a nightclub called “Moonbase SVG”. During the club’s opening night, Gage falls for a patron and embarks on a relationship with her (“Fall in Love”). Antonia contacts Gage from her home at New Dredd Scotland, expressing how much she misses him (“Don’t Fall in Love”). Gage, who already dismissed the possibility of a long-distance relationship even working out, rejects her. The next day, Gage arrives at the club and discovers that his DJ, SV, has GONE MISSING (“Mutiny in Space”). For fear of spoiling the rest of the album for you guys (Not to worry! I will make mention of the final four tracks), I’ll end my synopsis at this point.
Though it’s not as epic and ‘space-operatic’ as its narrated intro (“ACT I”, as it’s called in the linear notes) may lead you to believe, “Moonbase: SVG” still succeeds as a highly entertaining, emotionally engaging, vividly-told and surprisingly relatable sci-fi adventure. By keeping things relatively small-scale, in addition to not taking its narrative too seriously given its existential undertone and bleak viewpoint of the future, the album moves at a steady pace with little to no skippable moments.
Speaking of “intro”, while I do applaud the use of voice-over narration as narrative act breaks and starting points for some much-needed world-building, I felt that the placement of “ACT II” right at the end of the first song (“Earth Doo Doo”) was rather odd. Also, with the exception of ACT I, the other two acts never mention the album’s main leads at all.
SV’s spacey, synth and boom-bap drum-supported beats create an appropriately moody backdrop for the album’s narrative. The layering of old-school hip hop drums over wavy, chillhop instrumentals evoke the production style of the late, great Japanese beatmaker Nujabes, whose music was one of the main reasons why I, like many other anime fans, gravitated so heavily to the “Samurai Champloo” TV series from the 2000s. Matter of fact, I can imagine anime fans digging the hell out of “Moonbase: SVG”, simply because they can picture nearly every beat from this album playing alongside a scene from a space-themed sci-fi anime series or movie (which is funny since the official music video to “Moon City” consists of scenes from space-themed, sci-fi anime).
If there’s one person who deserves the MVP Award for this album, it’s definitely Gage! Not only is he is the only ‘main lead’ who speaks (to be fair, he does relay messages SV periodically tells him to the listener, like on the hook for “Come Clean”) but he serves as the album’s official orator. With this being the first time listening to Gage’s work, I was truly impressed by his lyrical dexterity and penchant for sticky hooks, along with his verbal ability to appear vulnerable and emotionally expressive on certain tracks. He even proves that he can go toe-to-toe with other rappers, like on the track “Moonjuice” which features an EXCELLENT performance from guest rapper, and fellow Jim’s Pool Room labelmate, Capo.
The term “moonjuice” is used numerously throughout “Moonbase: SVG”, and while it’s easy to assume it’s just a random futuristic beverage (supposedly alcoholic) invented for the album, it takes on a darker context on the aforementioned “Moonjuice” where you realize how much of a means of psychological escape it actually is. It’s even given a couple of worthwhile benefits to our heroes and the sustainability of New Dredd Scotland (the latter of which is quite absurd, but hey, it’s a science FICTION story, remember?) on the final two tracks “Calliope’s Last Ride” and “It’s Never Over”, which is just one example of the effective, intelligent world-building this album presents.
Where this album truly shines is in the relatability of its story. At its core, the premise of “Moonbase: SVG” is simply about a man who desires and deserves better, but goes about it by physically leaving his present conditions and mentally disregarding the few positive and priceless things which added meaning to his life. And as “Ad Astra” showed us, re-discovering what truly matters in life means leaving the cold vastness of space – and the inevitability of life on the moon – and returning to the planet we call home.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this album! Occasionally, a futuristic, sci-fi-themed record (like Cannibal Ox’s “The Cold Vein” and clipping’s “Splendor & Misery”) will drop onto the hip hop landscape like a meteor, and “Moonbase: SVG” is yet another foray into the beyond that is well worth seeking out. If you’re a fan of hip hop concept albums, the genre of science fiction and to a lesser extent, anime, you should definitely give this album a listen. And while you’re at it, do yourself a favor and buy a bottle of moonjuice at your nearest liquor store. Of course, please drink responsibly!
OVERALL RATING: Decent to strong 4 out of 5 stars.
Now available on Apple Music/ iTunes, Spotify and Bandcamp
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