This is a real mellow one from the producer of some of Dave Ghetto‘s greatest tracks. This is one of those tracks you‘ll just chill to, with a thick, heavy groove and a nicely chopped guitar sample. Hassanah‘s sensual but raw voice serves as the icing on the cake. A brilliant pick up from where Black Star left off.
Hearin Aid My Approval
Do you remember the last time you went to see a hip-hop act perform and they actually made you happy? These guys know how to party, and so does this track. It‘s soulful, it‘s dirty, and it has that bumpy, stop-and-go feeling that makes your head nod. A mellow bridge takes you back to some old school tune from ‘95. This is great stuff!
Tape Rideau
Tape‘s third release, Rideau, changes from swampy to serene, as if scraping fingernails through the dirt only to find a rushing stream underneath. There is a distinct flow to the album, which blends a variety of mariachi-sounding acoustics with electronic blips and soft, resonating echoes. Produced by German musician Marcus Schmickler in Cologne, Rideau leaves listeners craving the deep calm and reflection that only a new year-or a refreshing new record-can bring.
The National Trust Kings and Queens
The National Trust‘s sophomore release, Kings and Queens, is an identity crisis from bygone eras. The cover image, in which The ‘Trust takes a kung fu stance against bright pink elevator doors, is pseudo-‘60s pop art, and the lyrics and melodies toggle back and forth between the ‘80s and ‘90s; influences of Colder (“Elevators”), Purple Rain-era Prince (“Show and Tell”), and a dash of 90210‘s hip DJ David Silver (“Canday‘s Way”) also make appearances. Hip shaking and pelvis pumping may ensue, but the lack of direction from track to track is more likely to just furrow eyebrows.
Fantan Mojah Hail the King
Hail the King is a promising debut from a Jamaican artist who helped bring roots music back to the dancehall. Much in the spirit of the Maroons-the formerly enslaved Africans, who in the 1700s successfully defeated the British colonialists near his St. Elizabeth hometown-Fantan speaks with revolutionary zeal about oppression on tracks like “Corruption” and “Murderer.” On his first single, “Hungry,” which topped the Jamaican charts, Fantan voices the sufferers‘ plight over the Invasion riddim, a clever reworking of The Tennors‘ 1967 Studio One classic “Pressure and Slide.” Fans of Capleton and Clement “Sir Coxsone” Dodd will definitely appreciate Fantan‘s melodic sound and righteous fury.
Team LG The Way We Do It
Strung together with the aid of a rickety old sampler and a dusty four-track, The Way We Do It is the intimate, homespun, and unabashedly heartfelt debut effort from the now separated couple of Mr. L and Little G. Like an aural scrapbook quietly testifying to the brief convergence of two lives, the album runs the arc of a relationship, opening with a dewy flutter and closing with a vaporous lament. Far more visceral than voyeuristic, listening to Team LG‘s gentle offering feels like sitting in a vacated house and running your fingers over every crease in a blanket that used to wrap warmly and snugly around the abode‘s two former inhabitants.
Various Artists Junior Kelly, Bounty Killa, Capleton: The Good, The Bad & The Blazing
Every now and again, a reggae album comes along that‘s so damn tuff even the Ashlee Simpson fan at work want a borrows. And this is one of ‘em. Starring Kelly as the good, Killa as the bad, and Capleton as a surprisingly chilled out fyah man, the concept disc is a mix of love songs, gun pon finger diatribes, and anti-shitstem tunes done over riddims rookie dancehall acts never get to ride. Question your own sense of decency when Killa‘s hypnotic verse on the drum & bass-driven “Hey Yo Yallo” inspires you to pack heat.
Marcus Lange Strange Smile (Kaos Remix)
Flipping a really bizarre filtered vocal over a propulsively minimal disco beat and some deep dark atmospheres, Kaos transforms Lange‘s original into a late-night rave stormer. This one is a killer in the club and also manages to avoid any of the predominant electro-house leitmotifs and thangs that plague the original. A bold new sound from one of Berlin‘s most slept-on talents.
Delia Gonzales and Gavin Russom Relevée (Carl Craig Remix)
Holy shit. This is a killer! Starting with a beatless, arpeggiating monster, Carl Craig turns out one stunning 12-minute techno opus that builds from burbling synths into a raging, propulsive techno track that includes crazy percussion, free jazz, piano, and the dopest, dubbiest handclaps ever. I don‘t think I have any records ill enough to follow it.
SpencerPask Schnitzeltime
I try to support my friends in their creative endeavors and it‘s easy when they come up with fire like this one. Olivier Spencer of Mr. Negative/Mirrorboys/How&Why fame and NYC DJ/remixer extraordinaire Max Pask have teamed up recently and their cacophony of motorik beats and disco-fried synth lines keeps getting better. This one begins like Lindstrom‘s “I Feel Space” before morphing through the Teutonic stomp of Tiefschwarz‘s finest productions. Absolutely brilliant.
