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ALBUM
REVIEWS/ISSUE56
drum & bass
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V/A
- NEW GENERATION MIX - INFRARED
The last 12 months have seen J Majik’s Infrared
label go from strength to strength. Additions to the
camp like Wickaman, Cookie Monster & Futurebound
have helped no end and the release of the two New Generation
EPs have showcased this new wave of talent. One of these,
namely Futurebound, has swapped the studio for the decks
to put together a mix featuring tracks from the New
Generation EPs, sprinkled with a few other delights.
The CD also features the talents of MC E-ll, who does
an excellent job of hosted the mix, knowing exactly
when to chat and when to not, a skill many MCs today
seem to have forgotten! The mix kicks off with Wickaman’s
“Gremlins”, an absolutely slammin’ track
driven by a massive gut-wrenching reece bassline, after
which the Liverpool based dj/producer skillfully glides
his way through the best tracks off the EPs and manages
to sneak “Capoeira” and the ferocious “Pitbull”
in for good measure. The final track of the mix is,
quite fittingly, by the man himself and is entitled
“Pied Piper”. Haunting ethnic style pipes
float over an intro filled with dirty reece stabs and
ominous “Boogies gonna get ya!” vocals culminating
in an explosion of dirty beats and bass, definitely
my favourite track of the mix! Having not heard Futurebound
DJ before, I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms
of mixing ability but he certainly hasn’t disappointed
as mixing is tight and his timing good. Of course, this
IS a studio mix and one would expect it to be as good
as it could be! Overall, a package typical of Infrared,
oozing quality. My only gripe is the length, at just
under 47 minutes long, there’s space for at least
another 15 minutes and it would be nice for someone
to actually use the full capacity of a CD for once!
9
DILLINJA & LEMON D - THE KILLA HERTZ - VALVE
When you listen to a Valve record, there's two things
you can be sure of: big bass & big beats and their
third LP, ‘Killa Hertz’, does not disappoint
on this front. A couple of the tracks are already hurting
dancefloors around the globe with ‘Crunch’
and ‘Fast Car’ being the most notable. "Crunch"
is just nasty, plain and simple! A deceptively serene
intro soon gives way to filtered beats that creep up
from nowhere before the track explodes into amens, distorted
synth lines and deep saturated subs. "Fast Car"
also kicks off with what appears to be an innocuous,
simple piano riff, somewhat similar to the start of
"Twist 'Em Out". The peace is soon shattered
by an ascending reece riff, accelerating car sound effects
and "going faster" vocals, the track then
drops into a call response routine between the reece
riff and pounding saturated subs. In fact this is the
pattern for many of the tracks on the album, deceptively
serene intro dropping into distorted beats and call
and response bass lines. Other tracks of note include
"Good Girl" which features a fantastic intro
with some lovely pads and well sung female vocals, "Hands
in the Air" which has a more rolling feel to it
whilst still retaining the "Valve" sound and
my personal favourite, "Afterlife" featuring
Michelle Gayle, a track which blends smooth vocals and
keys with slightly toned down "Valve"-style
beats and bass. My main gripe with the album as a whole
is the similarity of many of the tracks, this being
due to Dillinja and Lemon D's very definitive production
style. The album isn't exactly pushing boundaries but
I suspect that wasn't the intention to do so, this is
pure dancefloor mayhem and works very well on that level.
8
VARIOUS - SOUL:UTION - SOUL:R
After three very successful EPs and a handful of 12”s,
the Soul:R camp present a LP comprising of tracks from
the EPs and new unreleased material. If you are unfamiliar
with the three part, Soul:ution EP series then here’s
a summary… BBAADDD. With tracks from M.I.S.T. (Soul:R
founders, Marcus Intalex & St Files), Brazil’s
DJ Marky & XRS, Ireland’s Calibre, Austria’s
D Kay & High Contrast, amongst others, the series
is one of the best quality examples of the ‘liquid’
genre. The Soul:ution CD album is mixed by Marcus himself
and features the fantastic ‘3am’ by MIST vs
High Contrast, Marky & XRS’ ‘Real Good’
& MIST ft Jenna G, ‘Lover’ and new tracks,
‘Diamonds & Pearls’ by Calibre & Zero
Tolerance, Nu:Tone’s excellent jazz tinged ‘Ebb
& Flow’, D Kay’s ‘It’s on the
Way’ and MIST vs Marky & XRS’ soulful
‘Back to Love’. An absolute must for the liquid
heads out there and if you’re not familiar with
the style then this is a good way to get acquainted.
9
A SIDES - FOLLOW THE GROOVE - EAST SIDE
A Sides has been around for ages now and his work is
some of the most under-rated in the scene. His label,
East Side has been around for equally as long and has
had too many cracking releases to mention. ‘Follow
the Groove’ is the latest in that string of releases
and is a 4 piece vinyl long player featuring 8 tracks
all by the man himself. ‘What you Don’t Know’
ft MC Fats & singer Regina combines smooth, soulful
strings, Fat’s and Regina’s sublime vocals
with rough breakbeats and driving basslines to create
a track equally comfortable on the dancefloor as on
the headphones, chilling out at home. ‘Helsinki
Nights’ was one of East Side’s finest moments
and may well have been inspired by one of A Sides many
DJ jaunts around Europe. ‘Helsinki2k’ is a
slight re-lick of the original with nice chord riffs,
diva-esque vocals, ruff driving amens, deep subs and
plenty of vibes. ‘Keep Steppin’ features MC
MC on vocals and singing no less! And very good job
he does of it too! His lyrics are complemented well
by ruff amens and stabby saturated subs and uplifting
strings. ‘Riding 5ths’ is a nice contemporary
jazz number featuring saxophonist Nathan Haines and
‘Tabletop’ is a bongo driven, distorted bass
and amen workout. 8
VARIOUS – COCOSHEBEEN - RUMOUR
Hot on the heels of his ‘Lie, Cheat & Steal’
LP, Klute has been roped in by long standing, south-coast,
drum ‘n bass weekly, Cocoshebeen to deliver a mix
CD for their project in conjunction with Rumour Records.
Diversity is the order of the day here with several
tracks from Klute himself including the excellent ‘Evo
Sniffer’ & ‘Candy Ass’ alongside
tracks from Total Science, Optiv & Bulletproof (‘Camouflage’),
Photek’s Special Force guise (‘Sidewinder’),
Infrared ft Gil Felix (‘Capoeira’) and chilled-out
funksters, Big Bud (‘Blu 4 U’ & ‘Soundtracks’).
Overall, a well mixed CD with a selection of tracks
covering the board! 6
REMARC - SOUND MURDERER - PLANET MU
One of the original Jungle dons returns with a 13 track
CD album. This is basically a selection of tracks seeming
to be both released an unreleased from back in the ‘good
‘ole days of Jungle’. Back then we was crazy
about amen, especially of the edited variety and trust
me this CD is a lesson in that! Famed tracks of note
include ‘Drum n Bass Wise’, ‘R.I.P rmx’
and ‘Sound Murderer’. Ragga lacings come courtesy
of the likes of Simpleton, Bagga Worries & Jooxie
Nice on ‘Unity’ and ‘Legalise’ respectively.
This CD certainly makes you reminisce of times past
but there really is only so much amen you can take and
13 tracks for me was just too much. even the up-to-date
‘2:01’ takes modern-day beat editing to a
new level. Not for the faint hearted!
6
HIP HOP
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MARK RONSON - HERE COMES THE FUZZ - EAST WEST
Mark Ronson is known for his genre-blending hip-hop
DJing and remixes, and has remixed tracks for the likes
of Outkast and Jay-Z. Having landed himself a record
deal as a producer, this first album sees him getting
together with some of hip-hop’s finest to show
the world what he can do. This LP is packed with names
that will intrigue most hip-hop fans, including Mos
Def, Nate Dogg, M.O.P, Sean Paul and Q-Tip. “Ooh
Wee” features the stylings of ‘king of the
hook’, Nate Dogg and Wu Tang’s Ghostface,
filled with disco samples and 80’s beats this 1st
single is a sure-fire dancefloor hit. Sean Paul’s
duet with Tweet “International Affairs” takes
the dancehall route, and does it in fine style. From
immaculate Quincy Jones style disco and funk tracks
to distorted guitar rock, Mark Ronson’s production
is original and tight. Its good to see hip hop producers
finally getting the props that they deserve, as record
execs begin to realise that a good track is often more
dependent on the producer than the MC. As well as the
roll-call of hip hop elite on “Here Comes The Fuzz”
there is also some excellent up & coming talent
on there, like nu-soul singer Daniel Merriweather and
the gifted MC Saigon. The rock fusion element is present
on several tracks, and this is what Mark Ronson has
become known for, but this album proves that he is capable
of a whole lot more, switching from one style to the
next with ease. 8
ECLECTIC
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NATHAN HAINES - SQUIRE FOR HIRE
- CHILLIFUNK
Kiwi sax player Haines has recorded with A-Sides as
Sci Clone, returning with the follow up to his awesome
‘Sound Travels’ LP Produced again by Phil
Asher, Haines is more experimental here working with
Marlena Shaw in the title track which is spoken word
jazz groove, and Damon Albarn adds the lyrics in ‘FM’
a Steely Dan cover ‘O Misterio’ is like the
Haines/Asher of old: alto flute, sensual 4/4, lingering
vocals. ‘Springtime Rain’ laid back vocal
groove, and ‘Nothing New’ sounds like the
Brand New Heavies. A tame version of ‘U See That’
appears, a nice latino workout, with ‘Doot Dude’
some average Streets style words from Lady Lil. Haines
shows he can sing in the Sinatra styled bluesy number
‘Oblivion’ Phil Asher’s discofunk influence
is there ‘Right by your Side’ with highlight
‘The Last Dance’ lush flute and sax over a
futuristic Co-Op broken beat. Worth checking for the
sheer diversity. 8
V/A - 4 HERO PRESENTS LIFESTYLES - HARMLESS
4 Hero return with 18 tracks of 70’s/80’s
soul/jazz/funk/fusion in a well overly introspective
fashion. It tries to show you where they came from,
but just can’t quite explain the music they make.
From the sax fuelled Nancy Wilsons‚ ‘Sunshine’
to the cinematics of Capricorn Rising by Richard Evans
with the mad latinny bit. Tracks by Syreeta Wright and
Weldon Irvine are overly sickly, but Mighty Ryders ‘Evil
Vibrations’ is top, the awesome Gary Bartz ‘Music
is My Sanctuary’ is thrown in. Ethel Beatty’s
‘Its Your Love’ which they ripped off as under
their Tek 9 moniker. A very self indulgent compo, with
no breakbeat. One for lovers of retro funk only. 6
BREAKS
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V/A - LAWGIVERZ PRES BASS INSTINCT
- BOTCHIT & SCARPER
For those who aren't aware, the Lawgiverz are R-Kidz
and Noize, both of whom have been in studios all over
the place for far too many hours of their young lives!
Having worked with people like Dave Stewart, Jimmy Cliff,
Oxide & Neutrino, Human League and countless others,
never mind being signed to Leftfield's Hard Hands label,
they certainly have a few tricks up their sleeves. The
tried and tested mix album formula is smashed apart
as they rip through 45 tracks from the Botchit back
and current catalogue. Tracks are present from all the
Botchit roster from T-Power, Freq Nasty, BLIM, Aquasky,
DeeKline, Atomic Hooligan, Jason Sparks, SOTO and of
course Lawgiverz along with other breakbeat luminaries.
Tracks are cut up, scratched over, contorted and stretched
in a totally original take on the mix-CD that keeps
the listener completely locked into this particular
groove from start to finish. ther's also a bonus CD
rom of live DJ footage at Trigger. Any album that starts
with George W.and ends with Rupert Bear has got to be
woth a listen! Law enforcement has never sounded so
good. 8
KOMA & BONES – SHUTTERSPEED
- THURSDAY CLUB
TCR celebrate their 10th year with a storming second
LP from The Bones trio. ‘Take Me Back’ opens
the account with awesome Robert Owens on vocals duty.
Tracing into the mech sound with ‘Donkey Spanner’
and pumping ‘Questo e Sporco’ From the tribal
beats of ‘Bootabang’ to the slow electro brooding
of ‘Pusherman’ it’s a varied ride. ‘Flip
Flop’ is a tribute to the breakdance/boogaloo beats
era, which deplorably is only a skit. ‘Basic Emotion’
is a stormer - dark haunting vocals over some morphed
b-line, the highlight of this solid LP. 7
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