Bring the Noise: Dalek

RAP WAS NEVER totally about being "CNN for black people" — there's nothing reporterly about "Funky Cold Medina." But there was at least a sense, perhaps falsely heightened as the years go by, that hip-hop was more than just empty entertainment, as politics and social issues were addressed by the likes of Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions. They were, well, you know ... "keeping it real."

But as is pointed out all the time, today's mainstream hip-hop is almost entirely about hyper-reality: fast cars, loose women, big diamonds and a Glock that never locks. These rappers won't admit to being fabulists, yet for every 50 Cent — whose reality probably does include any kind of bling he wants — there are nine more dreamers who just signed a rebound deal with Koch or out of the business completely. They are just average men who couldn't afford "ice" if it came out of their freezers.

Perhaps because of rappers' desires to "keep it real" — whether that reality is true or imagined — hip-hop and psychedelia have always had an uneasy relationship. New Kingdom and early De La Soul albums aside, music that invites trippy escapism hasn't really found its place in a genre that claims to hold a mirror to society.

But at least the rap underground is keeping it real — real hazy. Psychedelic music plays a huge part of the sonic backdrop for experimental artists like Madlib, Edan, cLOUDDEAD and MF Doom. Add Dalek to that list, too, because any group that made a noise-rap CD, "Derbe Respect, Alder," with Krautrock legends Faust has to be considered as one of the top creators of mind-expanding hip-hop.

A Dalek is Dr. Who's mutant enemy. But Dalek (written with an umlaut over the "a" everywhere but on the Web) is the MC name of Will Brooks, and it's pronounced "Dialect" (no, really). It's also the band name for the duo, which features producer Oktopus (Alap Momin). Dalek just released "Abandoned Language," its third CD for Mike Patton's eccentric Ipecac label.

The group cites My Bloody Valentine and Public Enemy as equal influences, mixing wall-of-sound ambiance and booming beats with an agenda that's anti-bling ("Culture for Dollars") and political ("Bricks Crumble").

Does Dalek sound like a throwback to another time? Maybe, but one that's only in your mind.

» The Rock and Roll Hotel, 1353 H St. NE; Fri., 8:30 p.m., $12, with Destructo Swarmbots and The Caution Curves; 202-388-7625.

Photo courtesy The Agency Group