Just another reason to suspect that the forthcoming Danger Mouse and Jemini LP will be the best release of 2003. So funky and soulful, DM is hip-hop’s best-kept production secret right now. On bonafied club-banger “The Only One,” he’s enlisted a long-lost amazing rapper no-one’s heard from in almost 10 years, and given him some amazing beats. The outcome is extraordinary.
Lateef and the Chief Present Maroons Lester Hayes
It’s musical chairs in the Quannum camp, and this new formation includes Lateef the Truth Speaker (Latyrx) on the mic and Chief X-Cel (Blackalicious) on beats. X’s production just keeps improving, and this 12″ testifies to his true funkiness. And Lateef comes with the best hip-hop chorus out now.
Awol One and Daddy Kev Slanguage
What happens when an abstract producer and a way-out-there rapper get together to create hip-hop’s answer to free jazz? Well, for one, it’s weird. Very weird. Not weird like Mush’s other releases-way weirder. Awol One’s rambling over this mix of bizarre beats and sounds is not for everyone-in fact, most hip-hop fans will find this project unlistenable. But fans of the Shapeshifter’s Awol One will probably rejoice at the sound of his monotone voice droning on about love, J-Lo, medication and hip-hop. Awol breaks it down in “The Rules of the Week”: “Monday”m a pit bull/Tuesday, you’re animation/Wednesday”m dedication/Thursday, you’re a poem/Friday, we’re all drunk idiots/Saturday, it’s all just a sequel/Sunday, everybody’s equal.” Like free jazz itself, this album will be detested by most, loved by a few and never truly understood by anyone.
Onry Ozzborn The Grey Area
An amazing MC from Seattle’s Oldominion crew, Onry Ozzborn doesn’t fail to impress with his new album. A 25-deep crew full of talent, Oldominion have been steady making interesting hip-hop in the Pacific Northwest for years. Onry touches on various subjects from Jesus Christ to ghosts to Gandalf to wack emcees, and he does so with lyrical finesse, a touch of morbidity and a hint of humor. Production gets a little gothic on tracks like “Believe 2” and “Dance Your Life Away” with somber melodies and minor chords. And things get downright religious with “The Alter,” while Onry gives love to his favorite hip-hop albums on “The Oz.” With a little help from his friends like Smoke, Sleep, Bishop I, Pale Soul and others, Onry Ozzborn gives us an album of wonderfully intricate storytelling and mostly tight production. Call it goth hop, call it abstract, call it what you want-we call it dope.
Ceephax Acid Crew
Ah, the halcyon days of rave-those heady moments of dancefloor epiphany, stolen away in the setting of a dingy warehouse with the morning sun filtering in through skylights and the infectious sound of a TB-303 acid line writhing its way out of the speakers. Sound familiar? If so, you’ll appreciate Ceephax’s homage to that genre of dance music known simply as “acid”-it’s all here, everything from the jittering chirp of the 303 to the taut kick drum to the warbling synth melodies. Ceephax’s album itself gears down the tempo and gets decidedly more cerebral, whereas the bonus CD favors brain-curdling acid techno jams.
Sidestepper 3 A.M. (In Beats We Trust)
While many producers and DJs are content to pilfer a culture’s musical heritage merely by sifting through stacks of vinyl, for others the allure of the heartland itself is impossible to deny. Richard Blair is one of the latter, a journeyman Brit who took off for the warmer climes of Columbia and Jamaica in search of inspiration. Sidestepper is the result, and it calls to mind similar fusions by acts like Up, Bustle and Out, the alter-ego of fellow Englishman Rupert Mould, who traveled to Spain and Cuba for his own recordings. Sumptuous Latin rhythms, strident horn riffs and smoked-out ragga choruses are but of a few of the highlights you can expect.
Phil Parnell Runaway
This is the house section, so we shan’t mention Phil’s obtuse, microscopically minimal original mix, nor shall we mention the particle-shifting precision of Bugge Wesseltoft’s mix. Rather, we’ll skip to Mantis’s own “Filmix.” Here, the Mantis owners run wild with wanton breaks, At-Jazzy chords and great vocals courtesy of Liz Fletcher. As always, Mantis make a mockery of modern music and in so doing make us all very happy.
PTY LTD Who’s Been Watching You
Three of house music’s finest producers pool their efforts for this second release on the Gallery imprint. On the main side, Derrick Carter knocks out a freaky, complex blend of beats and vocal samples which breaks briefly for a ray of pure sunshine before dipping back into darkness. JT Donaldson and Tim Shumaker work it on the flip with a smooth blend of piano, shuffling beats and Moog-like chords for all the lovers out there.
Rithma Music Fiction
Young Etienne Stehelin’s debut album for San Francisco’s Om blows a breath of fresh air through a somewhat stagnant electronic music scene. Pulling on a wide variety of influences-from rock to jazz to funk and soul-the 23-year old LA native’s sound is the perfect antidote to these rough global times. Balanced with several cinematic interludes, the album’s 17 tracks flirt with tweaky, pre-sellout Jaxx house (“Make You Mine”), dusty Wild West-inspired electro-saloon-funk (“Sagebrush Blues”) and-with vocals that sound remarkably similar to those of Garry Christian (of ’80s band The Christians)-soulful, dreamy house (“Everyone’s Sleeping Today”). This is much more than either a house album or a house producer’s album: it’s a completely honest and extremely original composition from an accomplished musician on the path to big things.
Gene Hunt The Next Level
Lucky us: Chicago’s Gene Hunt serves us three sections of controlled, deep and extremely soulful house music for Mike Grant’s well-respected Moods and Grooves. Lil Louis’s bruv provides vocals on “I Live,” a sweet body-and-soul ballad for mature house lovers. Despite the clich?d heavy breathing intro, the way that Gene manipulates the beats and chords on “Skeemin Boheman” is, well, simply amazing. It just goes to prove that this man is in a class of his own.
