Certainly two heads are better than one in the insular drum & bass world. Krust and Die’s chemistry, built on some of the most innovative, hard-hitting drum & bass, valiantly finds a balance between the crossover cut and the dancefloor filler. I Kamanchi gracefully flows between accessible, hook-laden tunes where the bass and drums share the stage with the vocals, and serious bangers, like “Circus” and “Ultimate,” where the tempo never relents. Hot new vocalist Tali laces the highlight single “Hold It Down” with the requisite diva punch, harnessing Krust and Die’s sonic chaos.
Various Reggae Gold 2003
Killer sequencing turns what could have been just a collection of current dancehall singles into a cohesive document. Take the 1-2 punch of “Hey Sexy Lady,” with Shaggy and Brian & Tony Gold, and “Get Busy,” Sean Paul’s inescapable crossover hit, which segue together smoother than rum and coconut. Likewise, Tanya Stephens’s “It’s A Pity” and Morgan Heritage’s “She’s Still Loving Me” provide ironic contrast, relating the point of view of both the “other woman” and the guilt-ridden married man. Other notable observations: Bobby Digital and Tony Kelly are absolutely robotic when it comes to pumping out wicked riddims; even remixes with aging hip-hop superstars Busta Rhymes and LL Cool J can’t derail Sean-a-P. and Wayne Wonder’s star trains. Good news for all raggamuffins.
T-Love Long Way back
B-Girl supreme T-Love pulls a Josephine Baker/Nina Simone power move on her long-awaited solo effort. Fed up with Stateside industry politics (check her segment in Rachel Raimist’s documentary Nobody Knows My Name), she’s crossed the ocean and created a long-player that’s as much pimpstress slap at the music industry status quo as inspired slice of post-hip-hop flavor. The “new” T-Love makes a grand entrance on “Swing Malindy,” a song too jazzy to be called neo-soul, free-associating words, rhythms and melodies into an intoxicating mix of singing, poetry and vernacular in two languages. “Comme Dilated, je travais tous les angles,” she explains. Collabos with Jay Dee, Chali 2na, Miles Tackett and The Herbaliser bound across surprisingly fertile musical and lyrical terrain, as the fabulous Ms. Love makes every other female rapper but Medusa seem mo’ tired than Carol Channing.
Team Doyobi Mod Truckin’
Typically masterful glitchy rhythm ‘n’ noise business from this pair in anticipation of their new album, Choose Your Own Adventure. The title track gives you a surprisingly tuneful ride home amongst the chaos, while the B-side’s “Air Combat Emulator” throws synth-pop and electro down the stairs. Happy damage.
Jinx Turbo!
Ah, here’s the ticket-spry, springy, spare breaks from Northern England. This duo know how to turn it out, with a stripped-down, way-funky skeleton of a rhythm (which at its core recalls the spirit of James Brown) sprinkled with wonderful effects and boosted by a simple bassline. On the flip, SpinCycle gives it a cool, more organic remix with lovely vocal melodies over the top. Overall, this is solid.
Tantan Dopes Notfunkae
Booyaa! A true Bugz in the Attic-style bit of boosted broken beat right here courtesy of producer Jonatan B?ckelie. This guy wastes little time establishing a condensed, seething bit of uptempo synth-and-beat business with booming kicks and basstones on the one. Flip it over if need be for a more laidback, almost Nigerian highlife jazz remix, but the A-side here should do you just fine. Come again, Tantan!
Solid Groove Dubsided Modeler Island Life
So far so good with the nascent Dubsided label-they’ve busted out EPs for this spring and summer that bode very well for the future. Solid Groove gives up his namesake over four bastard tracks, from the swirling spliced-sample samba of “Show Me Su’m’n” to the grinningly titled bit of fractured house, “When We Heard Maurice Fulton,” and the Madlib-styled “Now We Got To Bump.” Modeler, meanwhile, throws down some Afro-tinged house for his title track before treating the flip to Luomo-ish house on “Gett Down” and stunning, laser-sharp electo-conga funk on “Mint Condition.”
Good Sex Valdez I Want Your Wife
According to the breathily sung chant on this hugely thumping, subtly glam, minimal house monster, Mr. Valdez wants no money,” but your spouse will do just fine. And if she ignores the overstated B-side mixes in favor of the extended A-side, the airy, hypnotically arrogant attitude in his voice will get her, make no mistake. So chain her up before you play it, or she’s gone, my friend.
Dillinja Good Girl
A nice, long, sweet female vocal intro here catches you off-guard-is this truly the ‘ja? But then those big, bad, buzzy distorted bass synths drop amongst a shower of “Bo!”s over a manic Amen feast, and what can you say? Your man has been killing it with that Valve sound system, and this one from the upcoming album is full of promise.
Chris Watson Weather Report
Chris Watson’s Weather Report comprises three 18-minute tracks assembled from recordings of natural phenomena in Kenya, Scotland and Iceland. In a change of tack from his previous releases (Outside The Circle Of Fire and Stepping Into The Dark), the former member of Cabaret Voltaire has blended and edited his recorded material into location-specific collages. Unlike Matmos, Nymphomatriarch, Sonic Catering Band et al, Watson makes no attempt to displace his found sounds from their original context, but the shrewd and subtle way he deploys his forceful authorial hand is an effective conceit that yields absorbing and vivid results.
