HIP-HOP REVIEWS
NEIL KULKARNI, 81 Crosbie Road, Coventry, CV5 8FX
QUICKIES
Ramson
Badbonez
Havoc
Desperation
High Focus Records
Life We Chose (Mobb
Deep Remix)
10
From 2013's last hip-hop
masterpiece, 'A Year In the
Life of Oscar the Grouch' this
is a beautifully balanced,
gorgeously arranged, lyrically
stunning look at street-level
frustration and hopelessness
that remains mercilessly
accurate, massively uplifting
(thanks to Charlie Mac's
sublime warp'n'weft of '70s
soul that's the undertow)and
utterly compelling throughout.
RB's been dropping some of
the finest UK music for years
now but this is a new high for
him and the form. Absolutely
essential.
Action Bronson feat
Prodigy & Raekwon
Seven Series Triplets
Atlantic
8.0
Nice grainy RZA-style production
from Harry Fraud hingeing on
a strange Japanese lute-loop
that breaks over the Axelrodstyle soundscape at all the right
moments: Rae's verse is stunning,
Bronsolini kills it as usual and you
realise your life is kinda bereft
without picking up a copy of the
'Saab Stories' EP this comes from.
AB shows no sign of letting up. Hold
on tight.
B.K Brasco feat Timbaland
& Pusha T
Big Spenda
Soundcloud
8.0
Of course it's Timba's production
that might get you seeking this. No
barriers being broken but he still
knows how to make something weird
enough to keep you hooked — here
it's the snare rolls that seem to pop
off throughout, almost breaking up
the beat into arrhythmic madness,
that keep you coming back for
more. '18th Floor: Thompson Hotel
Edition' is the BB album ready to
drop and if Timba's on this kind of
form throughout you KNOW you're
gonna have to hear it.
Elzhi
Pressure/Can't Lose
NA
9.0
The fact that Elzhi has to use
Kickstarter to get his next album
off the ground is either a blazing
indictment of contemporary hip-hop
A&R or proof that even hip-hop's
most creative talents are having to
find new ways to bring their music
to the people. Either way, these two
070 djmag.com
Nature Sounds
7.5
Image: JAYPEE
tracks that Elzhi's put out there to
build his Kickstarter campaign seem
to have done the trick and for good
reason — they're as musically tight
and lyrically engaging as all his
best work. Go pledge and feel part
of what's surely going to be one of
2014's early masterpieces. Genius.
Kool Keith & Big
Sche Eastwood (feat
Metropolis)
Woman
Modulor/Junkadelic
8.5
From KK's new 'Magnetic Pimp Force
Field' set we're all gonna have to
track down soon as, this is sinuous,
sexy, typically singular brilliance
from Keith, a groove that's slo-mo
but mindblowing, like something
Jaki Liebezeit would cook up
between hits from the bong, the
hook a big slab of atonal buzzing
bass that becomes even more
addictive than the great scratches
and vocal cut-ups that fill in every
remaining space. Great extra cameo
from Met as well. As you'd expect
from KK — unlike ANYONE else,
totally engrossing.
Med & Blu feat Dam Funk
Peroxide
Bang Ya Head Entertainment
7.5
A sidestep from Madlib on the
mix here, an absolutely ungritty
production, polished to an '80s
digi-electro sheen, the chorus a
mind-melting mix of Prince-style
harmonics and rubbery, tactile
Mantronix-style funk. Great rhymes
from Medaphoar and Blu seal off a
strangely compelling deal. Jack it
end-to-end with the Juana Molina
album and thank me later.
The Fallbright Conseratory
8.0
Havoc of Mobb Deep
links back up with his
Featuring Gore Elohim
partner Prodigy for the of 'Are We Thereof Nonduly
(aka Goretex Yet?'
remix to Hav's 'Life We attests.
Phixion), Mr.Complex
Chose' — you might've
and Ruste Juxx with
heard the original feat
Kutmasta Kurt on
Lloyd Banks. This rerub
scratches. Beautifully
is more 'Hell On Earth'
dirty, Miles-style horns
than 'Infamous' but still hanging over the
exerts an icy hold on
groove and delayed
your consciousness for
into infinitude, the
its duration. Pick it up.
groove itself proudly
scratchy and filthed-up.
A hip-hop track that's
Serengeti
somehow managed to
Firebird Logo
Burnco Records
still sound analogue,
8.0
like it was recorded to
tape in a pre-digi by
Fantastic racket —
Mass Appeal Beatz of the
noisier and more
Boombapaddicts out of
deranged than their
Boston. Nicely not nice.
Anticon antecedents,
shot through with a
droney menace that's
utterly unique. Check it.
Mosquito
Sosei Recordings
4.0
A track that piles one
irritating sound, FX
transition and note
arrangement on
top of another, its
titular insect sounds
positively attractive by
comparison.
Akira Kayosa &
Hugh Tolland
Hyperion
Titan Audio
7.5
Like many Kayosa/
Tolland creations
'Hyperion' does have
an air of the familiar.
Bottom line though:
these guys do uplifting
so, so well. Trance like
yo mama used to make!
Nuera
Sensei
Enhanced Progressive
8.0
Great prog-trancer,
which twins lightly
distorted drive with
seaside atmospherics.
The chanted vocal
that tantalises in the
background of the break
is outstanding.
Iversoon & Alex
Daf feat Eireann
Wax
State of Oblivion
Fenology
7.0
Across both its original
and Woody van Eyden's
remix, 'State of
Oblivion' flies high.
That's down in no
small part to Eireann's
vocals, of which the
protagonists make
maximum stock.
Suncatcher
Are We There Yet?
Always Alive
7.5
Always Alive have
been on a roll of late.
Something that the
sun-splashed harmonics
Coalmine Records/Fat Beats
7.5
Blah Records
PozLyrix
From the 'Stupid Poignant Shit' set
and showcasing Lee's inimitable
lyrical & production smarts.
"Tipping a toaster for a crumb/
writing depressing poetry for fun",
Scott & Ill drop depressive science
over a timeles