MC’s on Funky

There has been quite a bit of debate on whether grime MC’s should jump on funky or not. I for one don’t mind it if the music is good, MC’s spitting on good rhythms is kind of what they do best. But anyway the recent talk about this has generally not really interested me, neither has the music to be honest, until I stumbled upon an old documentary on Hip-House in Chicago in 1989 and it turns out there are a hell of a lot of parallels to what is going on today on the UK underground. Watch it for yourself bellow…

Cooly G – Narst / Love Dub Refix / Love Dub [Hyperdub]

Original writen for the Sonic Router bass blog and all round good egg, it just had to go up here aswell as I'm a sucka for Cooly's beats and I wrote about her self released EP a while back here Vol.s 2 & 3 of which are out now, but here is the big one the Hyperdub 12".

UK funky is making moves on the underground with its soca infused beats, house tempo, big bass, smooth grooves and that all important hint of dirt. It’s the juxtaposition of light and dark vibes that makes UK funky interesting, plus the massively danceable beats of course.

Singer and producer Cooly G hailing from South London where so much UK bass music has been pioneered before, drops her debut 12” for forward pushing, genre spanners Hyperdub who always have their ear to the ground for new and exciting hybrids. This platter shows both sides of funky while also helping to push it in new directions.

The first track ‘Narst’ comes on like a dirty grime infused dance floor shaker reminiscent of recent instrumentals from Nocturnal fed via old school Chicago house. It kind of sounds like the most gritty of super hero’s theme tunes, but one with a bit of slinky class like Cat Woman. The strings build and dub out before big house kicks propel everything forward and the other percussion funks it up into a big danceable beast before the chest beating bass throws down on you.

The flip which features ‘Love Dub’ and its refix is defiantly a highlight the intricate soca drum patterns flow, shake, bump and groove in all directions and make you want to wind your body in new and sexy ways. This is the smooth loved up end of UK funky, pure vibes. Cooly G sings snippets in her sweet and slinky way as smooth loved up chords get all warm and fuzzy above and the bass punches bellow, its all so spaced out mellow and minimal yet insanely danceable. The original and refix aren’t to dissimilar they both bring dubbed out vibes and amazing percussion with the soulful feel but the refix kind of steps up the kick a little.

Cooly G takes funky in new directions here by really stepping up the production values and making some really minimal forward thinking sounds all of her own.

http://www.myspace.com/coolyg

Fabric 45: Omar-S DETROIT

The next instalment for the fantastic and I must say well back on form Fabric mix series is from Detroit native and FXHE owner Omar-S. This guy is all at once a bit of a throwback and a pioneer. His productions hark back to the hay day of Detroit techno with it’s high tech soul edge yet there is something kind of new and refreshing by this approach in this day and age.

All sixteen tracks in the mix are original Omar-S productions from his FXHE Music imprint. I suppose you could compare the approach to Villalobos’ on his Fabric mix in which he pretty much made an original album that would probably be a bit lazy though. Plenty of DJ’s will play exclusives to keep their sets fresh and in demand, and Omar-S has a lot of freshness of his own that really needs some hype.

You really can hear echoes of Chicago house and Detroit techno throughout the whole mix. Tight punchy retro beats play off warm tweaked out synths in a really organic old sounding way. You can hear little quick edits and lo-fi glitches at times that just make the mix sound more human. It sounds like it could have been made any time between Strings of Life and the invention of the Gameboy.

The whole mix is a highlight to be honest but some stand outs have to be, piano led ‘Oasis 13 ½’ which sounds like a long lost E-Dancer number which then blends seamlessly into the brooding darkness of ‘1 Out Of 853 Beats’ with it’s bubbling synth lines and building beats. Tracks like, ‘Psychotic Photosynthesis’ are just irresistible and draw you in with their beautiful melancholic robo-soul chords.

Omar-S really knows how to get you hypnotized in the mix, clicks, bubbles, blips and a whole array of tricks skip around the tracks with a warm minimal sound. Then to throw you out of that collective mass all swaying to the techno beats a soulful vocal comes out of know where like on, ‘The Maker’ and makes you look around and feel that human side to the dance. It’s a living breathing beats he has managed to create here.

Cadence Weapon – Separation Anxiety

Mixtape time now this time in the form of Canadian rap supreme Cadence Weapon doing a pay what you like scheme not unlike the most recent Girl Talk album and Radiohead before it, I may as well mention Nine Inch Nails too while I’m at it hey.

Grab it from here:

http://www.cadenceweaponmusic.com/

It’s a really clicky electro house kind of affair really with loads of tracks / remixes / appearances all cobbled together as big hip-hop meets dance crossover party.

Artists involved in the mix up are people like A-Track, Herve, The Cansecos, Final Fantasy, Sally Shapiro, Sinden, RJ2D and Roots Manuva to name but a few highlights.

I really enjoy the hip-house style cross over stuff he does not enough hip-hop is really dancey anymore so it’s a nice refreshing change to see Cadence Weapon jump on some of these beats. Saying that a lot of these tracks are more like electro house remixes than anything remotely hip-hop. His remix of Rise Up by The Cansecos is a good example of this with subtle old skool pumping drums and electro abuse in a 8-bit sort of space invaders way.

When he does jump on the mic though he does it in his usual geeky pumping style talking about hipster and partying. The electro banger produced by Sinden, Count and Herve is a snap shot of this party style. A real highlight is the track right after Pretty Girls Make Raves, it’s the Final Fantasy collaboration that I have posted about before on this very blog. The violin skills of Final Fantasy meets the party beats and rhymes of Cadence in fine style with a killer hook.

The mellow melancholic tones of Italo songstress Sally Shapiro is another highlight for me, I’m pretty much in love with her sound though and this adds nasty bit of dirt to the proceedings which kind of makes me like it more.

No mixtape would be worth it’s weight in hip-hop history if it didn’t have a mellow girly number about heartbreak and girls and Cadence dos this with The Morning After which is all about a girl leaving, and it has a sad orchestral vibe to it.

Kennedy Curse is a wicked track with a well nice guitar loop and one hell of a flow. He makes me laugh by comparing lots of rappers to Girls Aloud as well, pity its so damn short. It drops into his jacking remix of Kid Sister that loops and jacks it up house style again but with some nice verses from the girl her self on top of some Rock The Bells break samples and electro bleeps.

The acid demo of Shout Out Out Out Out is an undisputed high light for me, I’m a sucker for a 303 bleepy bloop fest and it works so well with the rap and 80’s Esq. synth chords.

Chinball Wizard is pretty good as well but I only think I like it as the mad little horn loops remind me of that track used in the Spaced clubbing episode, you know the one where Brian breaks his fear of dancing and the starwars club manuva’s dooo dooo do do dooo dooo do do!

House Music Medley is a low slung dirty fucker as well, it takes the party central original version into down right dark and sloppy territory and though to bassline and allsorts of stuff like that it’s a medley like Jive Bunny and the mixmasters.

This mixtape is a little hit and miss in places but there is more that enough here to keep you interested and justify the price (ahem). Hip-hop mixtapes are usually a little all over the place in quality so I’m not to surprised about this, but then Cadence Weapon isn’t really your average hip-hop mixtape maker is he.

But if you are after a nice party sound track at a price you can choose then you really aren’t going to go to wrong with Separation Anxiety.

Beat Pharmacy - Wikkid Times (3Barfire Review)

More 3bar business in the form of this review of Beat Pharmacy's Wikkid Times, it's a really nice album check it out now!

Beat Pharmacy – Wikkid Times

Brendon Moeller is the man behind Beat Pharmacy, he hails from South Africa and this; his fourth album under the Beat Pharmacy name, drops on Francois K’s label Wave Music.

This is deep dub techno at it’s best, you get the driving four to the floor house style beats, mixed with echo drenched chords played by sweeping synths in a Basic Channel kind of way. There seems to be a lot of this kind of thing around at the moment, not only in techno circles by the likes of Deep Chord and Shed but dubstep as well with the likes of Appleblim and 2562 bringing the vibes. What makes Wikkid Times stand out is the big vocal influence.

Vocalists include legends of the dub-techno hybrid Paul St. Hilaire AKA Tikiman from the Rhythm & Sound crew from Berlin. Also featuring is the Kode 9 collaborator Spaceape, who happens to be one of my favourite dub poets out there.

The tracks come across as a mix of a dub-reggae-danchall protest songs in a deep house or dub techno vibe, and I must say the hybrid works a treat.

Rooftops opens the album in catchy style, which features the vocal styling of Coppa. I find myself humming this little ditty sometimes; the chorus just gets in your head. The bassline has a nice bump to it while the deep echo chamber dubbed out synths offset the rhythm and give it all a sweeping hypnotic atmosphere.

Spaceape’s first track Strangers is a stunner and one of the highlights on Wikkid Times. A deep acid bass tweaks in the low frequencies and there is a dark paranoid feel to it that ups the tension of the album subtly. The vocals deal with the troubles of modern life through a kind of personal perspective.

Sunshine featuring Paul St. Hilaire is another definite standout track. This has a warm feel to it as it does its deep house thing. St. Hilaire is on good form here brining subtle melodic tones to the dubby backing track.

Other tracks of note include; The Ras B collaboration Hope & Frustration, this track deals with the ups and downs of life in general it gives the beautiful techno sound behind a brilliant and human feel to it. These tunes are both grounded and uplifting it’s pretty refreshing to hear. The slow pulse of the melody and bass are just sublime.

Each track follows a similar template and could be seen as being a bit samey at times. The flow and mood of the album ebbs subtly all the way through, yet with a driving vibe that the house beats bring to the table. So if you are in the mood for some deep dancehall protest techno you really can’t go far wrong than grabing yourself Beat Pharmacy’s Wikkid Times.