Three distinctly different artists share this special 12″, released on a limited edition offshoot of Exit Recordings (the new label from Bad Company’s D-Bridge). Concord Dawn joins D-Bridge for the rolling, 808-flavored “Labyrinth”; this tune is infectious-it might not grab you on first listen but it grows and grows until you fall in love with it. On the B-side, D-Bridge joins up with Fierce for the unexpected-“Daylight” is pure summertime vibes.
Noisia Hubcap
These three lads from Gronigen (in northern Holland) are coming with a sound that has been seldom done properly since Konflict went on hiatus. Their debut for Teebee’s Subtitles aims to please with tight, minimal production and plenty of dark atmosphere. But it’s all about the flip, “Backdraft,” which is dark and running but also has something often lacking in most tunes of this style: funk.
Generation Fat
Fat Camp Feva
Disconnected
AFK
New York City Special
For this year’s city issue, we’ve chosen America’s grand destination: New York. Discover what you didn’t already know about the city that pumps the country’s creative blood. XLR8R covers what’s new in its five illustrious boroughs. In a series of 40 profiles on artists, designers, fashion, DJs, producers, events, spaces, as well as photo essays and an extensive, stylish retail, and destination guides, we give you the very best bite of the Big Bagel.
The Plant Life The Return Of Jack Splash
It’s one disc, but this debut album is more like a three-act play narrated by a chorus of falsetto voices that take on a range of characters over 19 tracks. There’s the MC rapping over scratches as the mood of the record builds, followed by a smooth talking ladies’ man emulating funk masters of the past, underscored by sleazy basslines. The album then explodes into a fast-paced, guitar-ridden soul party before winding down to melodic whispers about love that complete the flawless course of this album.
Various Artists Soulful Behaviour 2: Mixed By DJ Frenzic
Despite the lineup of notable characters-Calibre, D.Kay & Epsilon, Total Science and Laroque-the second compilation in this series falls as flat as the vocalist’s pitch on Carlito’s “Music is My Life.” The main fault here isn’t DJ Frenzic’s mixing skills, it’s the fact that the compilation’s source material is uninteresting. The same platter of vocals, horns and breakbeats are served up in the same way every liquid funk-as this jazzed-up subgenre of d&b is known-compilation does it. There may be one or two decent tracks, but amid this shuffle of mediocrity they are sadly lost.
Icon The Mic King Indieinburns
North Philly’s Icon comes stomping, ready for rhyme combat, trooping into battle along with producers Blockhead (Ninja Tune), Black Panther and Zeeby Zeeb. But despite the boasting, only “IndieInBurns” with the venomous C-Ray Walz will penetrate his opponents’ Kevlar vests. But check out “Change Form” (EV) by Chicago’s Modill with its superb horn-blasting soul loops and liquid lyrics-this is what they mean by lethal. Common would approve-peep this future classic.
