Ambition is a wonderful force in every strata of life, and Leaf doesn’t hesitate to make their broad ambitions known on Made Into Itself. This particular blend of instrumentally symphonic beats takes the spirit of Anticon. and runs with it. Every song reinforces the existential woes of work and the absurdity of materialism in the tradition of the great Sole and Sage Francis. Although not remarkably original, Leaf’s experimentation with cello, acoustic guitar and other instruments makes their motivated compositions fiercely interesting.
Part 2 Live From the Breadline
Known primarily as the beats guru behind progressive UK hip-hop crew New Flesh for Old, Part 2, through a bevy of remixes, has hinted at possibilities far greater. The prospect of Live From the Breadline was therefore quite promising. Nevertheless, the record is overstuffed with guest vocalists (Juice Aleem, Sandra Nelson, Lotek) and does little to establish Part 2 as more than a “producer” (albeit a highly skilled one deft at drawing from all manner of black music, from grime to dub to raved up garage). Perhaps foolishly, I was certain there was an Endtroducing in this man; not when on the breadline, evidently.
Cloud Adventure
Alex Berg chose his moniker well: his debut album is full of light, shimmering sounds that still manage to carry substance. Berg, from Sweden, creates textured, laid-back jazz, soul and house that sounds versatile enough to take you from dancing around your living room to dancing ’til dawn on a beach. The vocals on “Thinking of You” are more crooned than belted, but infectious nonetheless. “Hold On,” with its touch of disco funk, sounds like an invitation to joy. And the delicate layers of instrumental “Cute” add depth to the album as well. Adventure is ear candy with musical heft.
Various Artists Ladysmith Black Mambazo: The Chillout Sessions
Best known for acapella work, Ladysmith Black Mambazo (maybe South Africa’s best-known musical export) lets remixers add mellow instrumentation to the group’s beautifully harmonized male voices. These efforts work best when the remixers go along with the LBM’s natural warmth, as on “Woza Ngihambe Nawe,” which, so help me, sounds like sunshine. But some tracks try too hard to fit into different molds, as with “Inkanyezi Nezazi,” which sounds weirdly like Enigma’s melodramatic “Sadeness (Part 1).” Still, despite the uneven results, the excellent starting material insures a laid-back album worth more than a few listens.
Dissent Primal Deconstruction
Dissent pulls off the tricky feat of spanning genres without ever really alighting in any one. Zipping from breakbeat to chill out to lots of other things, the duo delivers a dancefloor-friendly sound that’s hard to classify but easy to listen to. Standouts include “Fight or Flight,” with vocalist Nathalie Sanchez showing off smooth, versatile pipes over tropical-tinged percussion, and “Unison,” with its funk-laced optimism. Not everything comes off well-the chorus of “Walk on Black Water” sounds oddly like “Fly Like an Eagle”–but, for the most part, Dissent’s fourth full-length proves why they’ve had such staying power.
Lisa Shaw Cherry
Lisa Shaw’s smooth vocals are well known to house heads, but if commercial American radio weren’t so lame, she’d be known just as well to R&B fans on the strength of her first full-length. Showcasing her popular smooth vocals (previous releases include “Always” and Lovetronic’s “You Are Love”), Cherry leans into both laid-back house and lush, seductive R&B. “Matter of Time” juxtaposes dreamy vocals over stuttery percussion, and the bittersweet “When I” even approaches radio-friendliness. Shaw’s house background comes out in tracks such as “Born to Fly,” a synth-laced dancefloor pleaser that sounds made for 3 a.m.. As it happens, Shaw originally worked on a different set of material years ago, but label pressures and timelines prompted her to start over, this time with producers Jay Denes and Eric Stamile. This might not be the album she (or her fans) expected, but it’s been worth the wait nonetheless.
Ameaba Ameaba
Taken in pieces, Ameaba’s debut disc shows great promise, delivering beautifully sparse downtempo that blends jazz and soul. Unfortunately, there are plenty of not-so-great parts, too. While opener “As You Are” is heartbreaking in its understatement, “Totally Cold” gets ruined by the lyrics, which writhe with middle school angst. Occasionally things go off-kilter, as on “Ride With Me,” where the scratching sounds shoehorned in and doesn’t add anything; “Won’t Be This” is simply boring (although “Salty Tears” has great, winding female vocals). Overly long tracks and a lack of range don‘t help this album, which is as shapeless as the amoeba after which it’s named.
Matias Aguayo Are You Really Lost?
At its best, Eurosleaze is equally suitable for dancing, drugging or decapitating, and Matias Aguayo’s latest is no exception; songs like “Radiotaxi” are perfect for a decadent night on the town. Formerly one half of the tech-house duo Closer Musik, Aguayo is, well, more minimal than others, even while creating “Billie Jean” moments for could-be Argento soundtracks. Unashamed ‘80s synths and skeletal drums give this music Italo charisma, but it retains its stark edges. In the end you aren’t lost at all, you’ve just found a really clever disc.
Mike Ladd Father Divine
Time will tell if he’s one of the last poets or one of the first Afro-slackers (Arthur Lee meets Beck?), but Mike Ladd’s Father Divine may give new meaning to the phrase “cult of personality.” A concept album of sorts, the record revolves around a controversial preacher of the same name, but ends up being an MC’s indictment of all the false profits of Babylon, both religious and consumerist. That’s not to say there’s no fun on this record–you can tell the live musicians had a blast playing for Mike and his guests from the Anti-Pop Consortium.
Jahcoozi Pure Breed Mongrel
Ragga-tech, click-pop: just some of the terms going ’round, but it would make sense to call Jahcoozi’s stuff grime for Björk, only not nearly as gentle. Between the frenetic glitch of “Dot Com Bust” and the soundsystem toast of “Shake The Doom,” Jahcoozi might please both Aphex Twin and Roots Manuva fans. And, despite underground tendencies, they manage to find pop songs buried in digital grit, something John Peel foresaw when he helped break their “Fish” EP (included here) on Kompakt in 2003. Since then, the trio (an Anglo-Singhalese MC, an Israeli bassist and a German producer) has turned their melting pot into a steamy hot tub.
