If Kid Sublime‘s Basement Soul is to be believed, Amsterdam‘s Stateside sister city should be Philadelphia. Philly‘s stew of hip-hop, R&B, and house-as played by everyone from The Roots to Jazzy Jeff to Vikter Duplaix-seems to have reached the headphones of Kid Sublime, as his debut is a collection that unites rappers and singers from America and the Netherlands in a good-time soulful groove. Basement Soul is drenched in old school flavor and future sounds with warm, funky arrangements and the occasional unexpected breakbeat coda-methinks this Kid should spend some time on these shores.
Jacek Sienkiewicz Six Feet Above
Much like the evolution of man, the atmospheres and hues here develop rapidly and efficiently throughout the track‘s timeline. Marimba melodies are carefully positioned behind hollow hits and static hiss, and whispering hats accent the multicolored reverberations. A meticulously constructed party tool, yet dizzy enough for the likes of Hunter S. Thompson.
Gravity Beats D-Light
With the goal of exploring peak-hour, mood-driven techno, the folks from Alphamotive (a.k.a. Gravity Beats) drift carefully into the harder side of their minimal methodology. A Latin percussive groove awaits a cascading white noise wash, as tape-delayed vocal snippets shimmer above the diverse mix. File under Speedy J, David Duriez, and Francois K.
Incognito The 25th Chapter
Jazz-funk stalwarts Incognito are back for their 25th anniversary, celebrating with another bit of blaxploitation-movie biz that could be anything from their back catalog. Ski Oakenfull‘s “Broken Funk” remix sounded promising, but is only slightly broken and lacks an edge. You do get eight minutes of summertime acid jazz with a syncopated rhythmic foundation and extended soloing, but it leaves one wanting.
Arto Mwambe Girl, You Know
North African Arto Mwambe delivers sonic insanity that should destroy dancefloors anywhere. “Cryptonite” is the standout track here, featuring fucked-up vocals over seriously funky, constantly changing beats and inexplicable crowd noises-it‘s on the “good-weird” tip. Flip for “Pink People”‘s extremely loose and gritty rock aesthetic featuring guitar stylings from Mwambe himself.
Various Artists Spectral Sound v.1
As a home listening experience, the first disc of Spectral‘s label sampler is blandly repetitive-these cuts are clearly intended as tools to be placed in the hands of a DJ and used to good effect. Ryan Elliott ably illustrates this point on the second disc, where he remixes 33 tracks from the Ghostly subsidiary. While the unmixed tracks seem to go in endless circles, they gain a sense of direction in the context of Elliott‘s set, which makes beats more intricate by layering them, then sullying them with indecipherable vocal samples. Put together, Spectral Sound v.1 is an instructional jockey kit.
Medications All Your Favorite People All in One Place
In order to prevent major labels from co-opting Fugazi‘s sound, Dischord has signed every group that bears the slightest sonic resemblance to the pioneering punk band. This album is plagued by lackluster musicianship, over-long songs and high school poetry lyrics about how you shouldn‘t take your psych meds. Is the final track-with its basic drum lesson 4/4 and evenly strummed single guitar chord-a commentary on the deadening rhythms of moder life? Because even if it is, it‘s still boring. Great title, though.
Various Artists Africanism III
French club kids have been gyrating to these house remixes of African music for a couple of years now and Tommy Boy has kindly brought them Stateside. The vintage 1976 Afrobeat hit “Kalimbo” proves that disco can be as raw as the morning after an all-night fucking spree. DJ Bob Sinclair mixes KC Flightt‘s accapella version of The Police‘s “Voices Inside My Head” with nimble funk guitars to good effect. The album overall is a bit cartoonish: synth steel drums and cornball booty-slapping lyrics left me picturing people in loud shirts dancing wildly on a Carnival cruise ship.
Various Artists Putumayo Presents Mali
Let‘s just admit that-with its slogan “Guaranteed to make you feel good!”-Putumayo isn‘t exactly synonymous with street cred. Most of this album is exactly what you‘d expect: a lilting major chord fest with shaker percussion. However, the group Tinariwen, formed by Tuareg nomads living in Libyan refugee camps and fighting against Mali‘s government, has all the mattress-spring percussive force of early Wilson Pickett. In one of the album‘s more surprising moments, Issa Bagayogo-a traditional lute player with an incredible voice-contributes a club hit describing how hospitals need to take good care of the sick-backed by a surging discotheque beat.
Suv Follow The Sun
Not a vehicle, Bristol-born (former Fresh Four member) DJ Suv sports a wicked hairdo and tosses his own beats to boot. Roni Size‘s Full Cycle loans out Surge and DJ Krust for remix duties, and guests like vocalists Carmen Medina and Tali, MCs T-Rox and Darrison, and flutist Hannah Porter help. CD 1 (Global) goes ethnobeat-think Latin, Dutch, Chinese, and Indian grooves with occasional big band moments. CD 2 (Drum & Bass) slings riddim with nu-jazz tips and real instrumentation, getting busy in Brazil.
