Music Reviews & News
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Sunday, 13 November 2011
Saturday, 12 November 2011
Thursday, 10 November 2011
Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Exile – Intro To The Outro [Mixtape]
Here is the new mixtape from Exile, Intro To The Outro the mix features just production from the man himself and forms a teaser before Exile drops his first self-produced rap album, 4 TRK MIND, in October via Soulspazm/ Dirty Science.
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Thursday, 18 August 2011
Africa Hitech - 93 Million Miles (Review)
Artist. Africa Hitech
Title. 93 Million Miles
Label. Warp Records
Release Date. May 2011
Length. 11 Songs/ 59 Mins
Rating (out of 5). Four Point Five Stars
Africa Hitech, the futuristic music project comprising Mark Pritchard and Steve Spacek, is back with its first (and eagerly awaited) full length, 93 Million Miles. (A reference to the distance between Earth and the Sun - in case you wondered). Following on from the success of their debut EP Hitecherous from the summer of 2010 the duo has been busy in the studio cooking up that eclectic good ish.
As individual artists they both weigh in with substantial back catalogues. Pritchard with more aliases than your average (Troubleman, Global Communications and Harmonic 313 to name a few) and Spacek best known as one third of the group Spacek and his previous work with the late J Dilla.
Their combined sound on 93 Million Miles can only be described as an adventurous fusion of genres and rhythm, from dancehall to afro-beat, juke to grime that will leave you guessing which way to turn next. The one constant in this release however is the polished and sophisticated production. Tracks such as 'Don't fight it', 'Spirit' and 'Light the Way' display Africa Hitech’s meticulous weaving together of Afro-beat rhythms, jazz influence and spiritual vocals to serious effect.
Out in the Streets is the big hitter from this record (also accompanied by a dope video) and recently given the jungle remix treatment with equal success. Africa Hitech add a neat juke/ dancehall twist to Damian Marley’s well-known and well-sampled vocal, twisting and tweaking the Jamrock lyrics in and out of the pounding 160bpm beat.
Aside from this being an eclectic, accomplished and vibrant album and regardless of which genre or label you put to their music, the evolution of their sound and the timing of this release are equally important factors in making this compelling record a contemporary success.
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
Hudson Mohawke - Satin Panthers (Review)
Artist. Hudson Mohawke
Title. Satin Panthers
Label. Warp
Release Date. August 2011
Length. 5 Songs/ 17 Mins
Rating. Four Point Five Stars
Hudson Mohawke aka Ross Birchard, one of Warp records most savvy signings of recent years, drops his latest EP ‘Satin Panthers’ this month, the Glaswegian’s first release since his 2009 debut, Butter.
Mohawke introduces the listener to this instrumental 5 pack with ‘Octan’ a hypnotic, swirling sound-check, but don’t sit too tight, the juggernaut is just around the corner. ‘Thunder Bay’ hits (very) hard displaying a bigger more polished sound than seen in his previous work, bouncy rhythms, crunchy drums and choppy vocal samples, a relentless track that will test many sound systems – this is his ‘Overnight’ for 2011.
Satin Panthers maintains its stride with ‘Cbat’, minimal and cheeky – the type of infectious bass-beat that you could see either Busta flowing over double time or equally becoming the soundtrack to a new HBO comedy.
With ‘All your love’ HudMo maintains his trademark yet evolved sound – sped up vocal chops over sweet pianos and pounding toms. ‘Thank you’ is an epic finale – with its excess layers of drum rolls, synths and pounding sub helping to finish this quintuple off supremely.
Satin Panthers is a concise, sonically sweet and perfectly formed EP, pick it up!
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