Cadence Weapon

By Jordyn Marcellus

Cadence Weapon’s [Rollie Pemberton] last LP Afterparty Babies was a rousing success both critically and in the clubs. Follow-up mixtape Separation Anxiety doesn’t stop the party, but also offers a much more eclectic collection than his previous full-length effort. Up on Weapon’s website as a pay-what-you-want deal, the album offers some interesting tunes as well as the typical boring mixtape remixes.


Those looking to shake it should turn to the first three songs. Standout track “Pretty Girls Make Raves” features a bombastic bass beat perfect for sweaty dance floor make-outs as Pemberton warns wide-eyed to, “Beware the pretty ones.” Special mention goes to closer “Sex With My Ex” a remix for fellow Edmontonian D.B. Buxton Revue– the song’s chirpy synth and driving bass are so good, it makes you want to call up your ex right then and there.


The party dies down in the middle with standout songs “The Morning After” and “Bad Graffiti” oriented for those in the chill-out room. “Morning” sounds like Pemberton imitating Kanye West in the best possible way. Over a sample of a cool and detached electronic piano, Pemberton raps relaxed and unusually melancholic about how he expected his nighttime bedroom visitor “to be gone the morning after.” The most fascinating song that isn’t part of the Cadence Weapon oeuvre is a live team-up with Final Fantasy covering Chad VanGaalen’s “Mini TVs.” The sheer audacity of VanGaalen’s undeniably odd psych-pop is converted into Weapon spitting lyrics over filtered synths and an absolutely mind-bending guitar solo. Outside of that though, most of the remixes are dreadfully mediocre.