Album Review: Cage – ‘Depart From Me’

Written by Rizoh. Posted in Music

Published on May 12, 2009 with 55 Comments">55 Comments

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Cage has successfully made an album for fans and passive listeners alike. Those who’ve already witnessed the artistic liberation of this smut peddling weatherman will still find plenty of reasons to keep Depart From Me close to heart throughout the summer.

From the bizarre Movies for the Blind to the well-rounded Hell’s Winter, Cage has definitely matured into his own, a point which becomes even more apparent on Depart from Me.

DFM hearkens to the same visceral undercurrent that ran through his previous two. The album opener “Nothing left to say” is reminiscent of El-P’s opening cut from I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead. In fact, the album, as a whole, aspires to the same effect. It’s like a more rock-oriented version of ISWYD.

Like Eminem on Relapse, Cage uses drugs as crutches to get his point across on songs like “Kick Rocks,” a song about a struggling addict and “Dr. Strong,” which revisits his days as a “patient of Stony Lodge Hospital.” Unlike that other white rapper, though, Cage doesn’t beat us over the head. (Hey fellas, this is a perfect time to reignite that feud. I keed! I keed!!)

The songs on DFM follow a progressive path that allows you to sift through the album with relative ease. From the synth-heavy, slow-rolling tempo of “Eating Its Way out of Me” to the rattling funk of “Teenage Hands.” Beats by Blockhead, El-P and others ensure that DFM stays true to an esoteric style of hip hop that has been very prevalent in the Def Jux camp. The intentionally dark and rock-heavy instrumentals coupled with Cage’s brash lyrics combine to yield a captivating, if sometimes onerous, sound template.

Depart From Me is sometimes smart, sometimes cryptic, but it’s never boring.

Cage – Depart From Me Tracklist:

  1. Nothing Left To Say
  2. Beat Kids
  3. Dr Strong
  4. I Found My Mind In CT
  5. I Lost It In Havertown
  6. Teenage Hands
  7. Eating Its Way Out Of Me
  8. Kick Rocks
  9. Katie’s Song
  10. Strain
  11. Fat Kids Need An Anthem
  12. Look At What You Did
  13. Depart From Me
  14. I Never Knew You

Release Date: July 2009

Previously:
Cage – “I Never Knew You (INKY)” Video Shoot

Rizoh

Rizoh is the most powerful man in all the lands. He lives in Houston where he earned a BS in Nerf Herding. He's the founder of The Rap Up, the editor of Roc4Life.com, and is in the Grammy-awaiting band Pervertable Disciples.

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  • Dr. Dope

    Riz, i know you wanna hook me up with a copy of this.

  • Dr. Dope

    Riz, i know you wanna hook me up with a copy of this.

  • Dr. Dope

    Riz, i know you wanna hook me up with a copy of this.

  • http://my.rawkus.com/profile/Rizoh Rizoh

    Alas, I don’t have a link. Just a watermarked CD with my name all over it. Sorry, man.

  • http://my.rawkus.com/profile/Rizoh Rizoh

    Alas, I don’t have a link. Just a watermarked CD with my name all over it. Sorry, man.

  • http://my.rawkus.com/profile/Rizoh Rizoh

    Alas, I don’t have a link. Just a watermarked CD with my name all over it. Sorry, man.

  • Dr. Dope

    That will do. lol.
    Nah I am playing, I am looking forward to this CD.
    When does it drop?

  • Dr. Dope

    That will do. lol.
    Nah I am playing, I am looking forward to this CD.
    When does it drop?

  • Dr. Dope

    That will do. lol.
    Nah I am playing, I am looking forward to this CD.
    When does it drop?

  • NYHC81

    @ Dr. Dope – the fulle LP DFM drops on July 7th, the free EP should be out before the month is over. unless something changed.

  • NYHC81

    @ Dr. Dope – the fulle LP DFM drops on July 7th, the free EP should be out before the month is over. unless something changed.

  • NYHC81

    @ Dr. Dope – the fulle LP DFM drops on July 7th, the free EP should be out before the month is over. unless something changed.

  • NYHC81

    **meaning this month, May.

  • NYHC81

    **meaning this month, May.

  • NYHC81

    **meaning this month, May.

  • hmmm

    You only mention one song from the album, a song everyone has heard. The rest is just a bunch of filler talk. Have you even heard it?

  • hmmm

    You only mention one song from the album, a song everyone has heard. The rest is just a bunch of filler talk. Have you even heard it?

  • hmmm

    You only mention one song from the album, a song everyone has heard. The rest is just a bunch of filler talk. Have you even heard it?

  • http://my.rawkus.com/profile/Rizoh Rizoh

    ^You’re a moron. Why would I ever review an album I’ve never heard?

  • http://my.rawkus.com/profile/Rizoh Rizoh

    ^You’re a moron. Why would I ever review an album I’ve never heard?

  • http://my.rawkus.com/profile/Rizoh Rizoh

    ^You’re a moron. Why would I ever review an album I’ve never heard?

  • Dr. Dope

    Thanks for the release update.

  • Dr. Dope

    Thanks for the release update.

  • Dr. Dope

    Thanks for the release update.

  • http://my.rawkus.com/profile/Rizoh Rizoh

    ^^You got it, fam. I don’t think they have a solid street date yet. Been sitting on the album for about 2 months now, so I figured I should drop a few lines on it.

  • http://my.rawkus.com/profile/Rizoh Rizoh

    ^^You got it, fam. I don’t think they have a solid street date yet. Been sitting on the album for about 2 months now, so I figured I should drop a few lines on it.

  • http://my.rawkus.com/profile/Rizoh Rizoh

    ^^You got it, fam. I don’t think they have a solid street date yet. Been sitting on the album for about 2 months now, so I figured I should drop a few lines on it.

  • hmmm

    The point is, you didn’t say anything at all about the album. The tracklist says nothing. Tell us something besides what we can read on Wikipedia

  • hmmm

    The point is, you didn’t say anything at all about the album. The tracklist says nothing. Tell us something besides what we can read on Wikipedia

  • hmmm

    The point is, you didn’t say anything at all about the album. The tracklist says nothing. Tell us something besides what we can read on Wikipedia

  • sprewell

    The patient at Stony Lodge Mental Hospital isn’t fictional. Cage was really there. The song is autobiographical.

  • sprewell

    The patient at Stony Lodge Mental Hospital isn’t fictional. Cage was really there. The song is autobiographical.

  • sprewell

    The patient at Stony Lodge Mental Hospital isn’t fictional. Cage was really there. The song is autobiographical.

  • http://my.rawkus.com/profile/Rizoh Rizoh

    ^^thanks!

  • http://my.rawkus.com/profile/Rizoh Rizoh

    ^^thanks!

  • http://my.rawkus.com/profile/Rizoh Rizoh

    ^^thanks!

  • smoothie

    ahhhh, i can’t wait to get a hold of the whole cd, tho i’ve heard most of the songs live. i thought ‘i never knew you’ was gonna be on the inky ep tho? hope we still get over 20 new songs.

  • smoothie

    ahhhh, i can’t wait to get a hold of the whole cd, tho i’ve heard most of the songs live. i thought ‘i never knew you’ was gonna be on the inky ep tho? hope we still get over 20 new songs.

  • smoothie

    ahhhh, i can’t wait to get a hold of the whole cd, tho i’ve heard most of the songs live. i thought ‘i never knew you’ was gonna be on the inky ep tho? hope we still get over 20 new songs.

  • sprewell

    What is the song Kick Rocks like? He put out a single in 2006, I think, called Leggo My Megalomania, and “kick rocks” was the chorus. Hopefully it’s a different song.

  • smoothie

    yeah, i’m worried about kick rocks too. i hope cage wouldn’t randomly throw in an old song into dfm, that’d be weak.

  • no

    This is the worst review of all time, seriously. What the fuck kind of credentials do you have to get albums early?

  • your boy Murks

    Jesus christ, is there ANY FUCKING WAY you could have resisted comparing this to Eminem’s new album and mention re-igniting the beef that nobody has given a shit about in a decade? Other than that, your review still sucks.

  • Libby

    Kick rocks is the same song. Personally, Im glad that its on there. “I found my mind in Connecticut” is my favorite song off the album thus far.

  • D Gnome

    I have the cd. Its extremily different. Give it a chance I like it quite a bit, its just nothing you would expect from Cage. Its not as dark as I thought it was gunna be going off of the myspace songs. And I hope you can appreciate punk rock or you might think this album is ass.

  • Some dude

    That review was aight. Doesn’t really tell you much though, but anyone saying he doesn’t have the album can be sure he does. Cause it kind of lines up with what I’m hearing. Hear is a short track by track mini-review by a fan.

    14 Tracks

    Depart From Me
    (Or how to drop acid and start fucking with a Synth Machine)

    1. Nothing Left to Say – It is out there to hear already. Won’t waste your time. Great though.

    2 Beat Kids – Rough song. Child abuse is the subject matter of the lyrics, with some rape in the end by the beat is catchy as fuck and so is the hook, which makes this track weird.

    3. Dr. Strong – Good. It is for download somewhere already.

    4. Found my mind in Conneticut – Really great, but… You know that lazy, really drawn out voice Cage does on INKY? Well, he does that to the max on this song to the point where he almost doesn’t sound the same, but the rapping isn’t slow.

    5. I lost it in Haverton – Too much going on in the beat, and the song is short as fuck. The rapping is on point though. Some weird ass battle toads synth going on during the hook. It grows on you though. At least he raps faster like he used to and does it well.

    6. Teenage Hands – Wasn’t feeling the first verse, but it is short, like both verses. The hook is kind of iffy, until the even weirder bridge into the next verse. A few tracks like these make it obvious Cage didn’t sell out because they are bizarre, but with less words than usual.

    7. Eating its way out of me – My favorite track, just for the beat and the rapping. The hook is O K, and doesn’t take anything away, but the beat kills, and the rapping is A+.

    8. Kick Rocks – Megalomania. Good song, still.

    9. Katies Song – Imagine All American Rejects, then imagine Cage trying to do a rap version of them. Imagine your mind being blown and you not being sure whether you can handle the new Cage or not. Not saying it is bad, but it will shatter your idea of how much Cage has changed.

    10. Strain – Dunno. A ton of Sean Martin guitar work going on. Hook is above average. The rapping is pretty good, but the guitars will kind of throw you off the first few times you listen to it. Doesn’t sound like anything you’ve heard from Cage before. I think Sean Martin is even laughing in the background at one point.

    11. Fat Kids Need an Anthem – Fast rapping Cage and he is doing a lot of voice work. This is basically a song about Cage and how he used to be fat and how much it sucks and how it fucks with your life. Though he doesn’t seem to be too fucking happy about being skinny either. “I was happier when I was fat and on drugs. I went from fantasizing about women to fantasizing about food I can’t eat anymore.”

    Real talk for all the “I liked fat Cage better” guys.

    12. Look at what you did – Kick ass hook. Song relating a chick to a Vampire. Close to the best song on the album. Rapping is really polished and on point. Beat is hot, just doesn’t kill like a couple others. Best rapping on the album.

    13. DFM – Badass Song. Can hear a piece of it on his Myspace.

    14. INKY- Go watch the video.

  • djanonymous

    best track – ‘I Found My Mind In Connecticut’

  • SaboG

    i got it and im gonna say hes trying to hard sometimes trying to sound deeper than hes going, i found more in hells winter but i dunno maybe youll hype it in your mind more than me

  • Johnny B

    is this the version that dosent have skips in the songs???

  • Some dude

    As I listen to it more it really grows on you a lot. You stop listening to it as rap.

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