Sadistik, UltravioletOut now, Fake Four Inc., sadistikmusic.com

Sadistik packs a lot into his third album, a baker’s-dozen tracks that survey the deepest recesses of his paranoid psyche. Take for example the Orwellian “1984,” which includes references to Jackson Pollock, William S. Burroughs, Robert Frost, Vladimir Nabokov, Hunter S. Thompson, and Frida Kahlo. While it has the catchiest hook on the album, you might keep Google open while you listen if you don’t have a degree in literature. Elsewhere, “Orange” examines his synaesthesia as he raps, “There’s orange and yellow on the paintbrush/It’s sort of mellow, but the same rush/I taste the ocean on my taste buds/But I can make a poem with the same tongue.” Overall, his generally sardonic delivery complements the cynical content of most of the lyrics, but at times it feels as though he tries to squeeze in too many tricks. The dense alliteration and internal rhyme on “Blue Sunshine,” for instance, seem to overshadow the lyrical content. Tech N9ne, Sticky Fingaz, Nacho Picasso, and the late Eyedea (one of the rapper’s biggest influences) contribute verses, and Lotte Kestner and labelmate Child Actor lend their voices as well. Sparse, ethereal production from SXMPLELIFE, Eric G., Maulskull, and Kid Called Computer evokes the inner world of the mind that Sadistik depicts in his lyrics, ably demonstrating the poet’s ability to transcend the newspeak that surrounds us in an age of paranoia and surveillance. (Fri., Aug. 8, Vera Project)