Lauded for his debut album, True Colours which was hailed as a raising of the bar for drum n’ bass, High Contrast has again created a stir with this follow-up. High Society sees him borrowing influences from the house world to create uplifting and soulful drum n’ bass like you’ve never heard before. At its best it’s thoroughly addictive – check the opening salvo of “Lovesick”, “Tutti Frutti” and “Brief Encounter” all of which feature vocals and arrangements that would not be amiss on some soulful house anthems.
He gets a bit more rough and ready on “Angels and Fly” which treads that in-between ground separating sparse, blippy hip-hop and jungle that Dizzee Rascal (in my opinion) made unlistenable, but which High Contrast and featured MC Nolay, do a much more palatable job with.

I’m sure d n’ b purists are frothing at the mouth over this release; pointing and squealing at High Contrast’s slick combination of crisp and rolling drum n’ bass beats, with soulful vocals, soaring harmonies, and varied basslines, but to his considerable credit he’s managing to present a version of drum n’ bass (much as Roni Size did before him) that can actually be listened to and appreciated outside of the hardcore fanbase (and of course that’s the very problem some more insular heads will have with it), without compromising the energy and innovation of the genre. I could do without the ‘bonus’ “Basement Track”, but for the 11 tracks preceding it, High Contrast effortlessly makes drum n’ bass fresh and vital again.

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well looky here….was just checking out the excellent Ninja Tune site, listening to the brilliant-sounding Ammoncontact album One In An Infinity of Ways (hopefully we’ll have a review copy of that in our grubby mitts shortly and can tell you more about it), when I came upon a couple of MP3s:
Amon Tobin “The Lighthouse” taken from the thundering Splinter Cell soundtrack.
Airborn Audio “Bright Lights” taken from Good Fortune. Airborn Audio is the two-thirds of Anti-Pop Consortium - High Priest and M Sayyid. Continues in a similar APC vein, abstract, avant-garde and artsy.

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So I’ve known about this site for a while now, but today I really became addicted. If you like your house music, this is the best place to buy downloads. They have all the usual suspects signed up so you’ll find music from Om, Defected, In The House, MoreHouse, Soulfuric and tons more. The track that brought me to the site is the sublime Miguel Migs/Lisa Shaw joint “Do It For You” (the original vocal mix is my fave). But in their excellent Test Pressings section (where they have limited downloads of promo ‘ish) I found a reworking of the classic Shawn Christopher track “Don’t Lose The Magic”, some Kings of Tomorrow samplers, and sweet joys of all joys (!!), fresh tracks from Ananda Project, one of my all-time faves.

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I first heard about this guy on Gilles Peterson’s radio show - he’s been playing this song La Retournelle for a minute. Anyway, the folks over at Music For Robots recently posted it up for your listening pleasure. It’s a really great track, taken from the album Politics which I have not yet heard, and seems only to be available here on import. Good lookin’ out by those Robots on this one…

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Seems to be a fair bit of buzz about this cat One.Be.Lo at the moment. Previously known as One Man Army from the lauded Binary Star crew, his solo album s.o.n.o.g.r.a.m just dropped on Fat Beats….sounds like there’s some nice tracks on there from what i’ve heard.

decide for yourself if its any good…

http://www.subterraneousrecords.com/sonogram.html

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Although I don’t have the time to make this blog a true MP3 blog, I do like the concept -its a great way to utilize the power of blogs to promote music…besides there are already folks out there doing the job more thoroughly than I probably would. For starters, I recommend you to check out o-dub’s Soul Sides mp3 blog. the files only stay up for a week or so, but if you head over there in the next couple days you might still be able to catch postings of mp3s from M.I.A., Lyrics Born, Edan feat. Percee P and Prefuse 73 feat. Masta Killa and GZA, not to mention the new Common track “Corners” feat. Kanye West. Kanye is definitely getting played out - the mere hint of those damn chipmunk vocal samples is enough to start grating the nerves, but fortunately this is one of his better tracks. Still not back to the Common of old, but not bad nonetheless.

You can read and hear more of M.I.A.over at the Music For Robots blog…

Despite saying this won’t be an MP3 blog as such, I am open to posting mp3s, or preferably, links to them from any independent artists (hip-hop, electronica typa stuff) who would like to get the shine…hit us up at the email address over on the right…don’t send mp3s though until we’ve communicated via email.

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Go to http://www.thornbox.com to download a free Infinito 2017 album

6 dope tracks for free….not a bad deal at all!

got this tip courtesy of D.J. Fisher of Domination Distribution….

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here’s some brief reviews of cds folks were kind enough to send over, but we weren’t able to cover in-depth. (btw, if you want to send us stuff to review, hit us up beats AT beatlife.net)

Rafael Lego Rodriguez Aphrodisio Mix v.02 (Aphrodisio)

The vocals of “Reverend Feelgood” open the mix, espousing love and house music. Rodriguez follows suit, sermonizing by way of the wheels of steel, and creating an atmosphere for house disciples to get-down and worship! He lays down a bumpin’ mix filled with infectious, funky house jams that run the spectrum from the cheerfully disco-influenced, to the viscerally tribal, as well as the deep, soulful stompers. Johnny Fiasco, JT Donaldson and Paul Johnson all make appearances on this solid mix that could light a fire under the communal ass of the most lackadaisical crowd. www.aphrodisio.com

mcenroe and Birdapres Nothing Is Cool (Peanuts & Corn)

Canadian white boys make a variety of pop-cultural/societal observations over a nice selection of crispy, well-crafted beats. A pseudo-intellectual slacker tone permeates – they don’t take themselves too seriously but are still sincere about their craft. Their deftly cynical and world-weary tone lends weight to the atmosphere and holds attention, hinting at the next caustic one-liner. www.peanutsandcorn.com

Break Bread Break Bread EP (Peanuts & Corn)

A so-so EP from the Break Bread posse (featuring mcenroe). Tracks like “Grown Ass Men” do a good job of showcasing the individual MCs skills as they collectively ruminate upon the ups and downs of the indie hip-hop artist’s existence. However the round robin spit session of “No Other MC” is pretty much ruined by the annoying commentary in-between each verse. After hearing the mcenroe and Birdapres album, I’d say you’d do better to skip this EP and pick up “Nothing Is Cool” for an all-around better and more polished manifestation of similar beats and themes. www.peanutsandcorn.com

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There’s no doubt that DJ Cam is an accomplished producer capable of versatility- just check his resume for stellar releases like Mad Blunted Jazz, Soulshine, Loa Project Volume II and others. After 10 years in the business, and much eclecticism later, Liquid Hip Hop is billed as a return to his hip-hop roots, although spiced in his typical style with influences from across the musical spectrum. Liquid Hip Hop turns out to be a mixed bag, stylistically and in terms of quality.

Never one to colour inside the lines, Cam runs up and down the spectrum between electronica and hip-hop with ease, although it’s the elastic hip-hop tracks like “6 Sense” and “The L” that are the best. They feature classic Cam beats - nice and crispy with lots of soul and jazz. “6 Sense” demonstrates Cam’s feel for a bumpin’ beat but also laces it with the extra ear candy that many straight-up hip-hop producers neglect. Cam drops chopped up vocal samples in the mix – both rapped and sung to provide variety, and on the instrumental tip, builds out the track with soaring strings and a prominent bassline. “Love Junkee” feat. Cameo and J Dilla is another high point, subversively seductive with a suggestive bassline and Larry Blackmon’s understated vocals.

The distinctive style of famed producer Premier has definitely left its imprints on Cam, and shows up in the sharp drum programming of the better tracks. However, “Premier”, a tribute to the legend himself, doesn’t stand up so well - it lacks the discerning intricacies, of Cam’s better work, for which the competent scratching cannot fully compensate. Likewise “Ghetto Supastar” is a bit on the dark and plodding side with a hint of an electro influence that further grates (on my ears, at least).

The Gangstarr influence re-emerges on “Espionage” which features Guru and harkens back to the Jazzmatazz days with the prominent piano loops and Guru’s typically laidback flow.

Liquid Hip Hop is worth checking out for its eclecticism and Cam’s all-around competence, but it’s not exactly classic Cam and in that respect might be received with mixed feelings by those familiar with his previous releases.

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fat jon is a member of a progressive hip hop outfit hailing from cincinnati ohio called the five deez. in this group he is an emcee/producer/dj. they were first introduced to the world market with their debut 12″ “bluelight special”. they have since gone on to produce over 40 more releases. their critically acclaimed introductory full length “koolmotor” (counterflow) hit shelves in december 2001. hip hop infinity.com summed it up best, “if the five deez continue making music like this, they are looking to establish themselves as the next big thing.” in 2002 to support koolmotor, five deez toured the world extensively hitting france, germany, austria, the czech republic, switzerland, denmark, belgium, holland, poland, sweden, japan and the usa. at the end of 2002 five deez signed with german mega-label k7! their new album “kinkynasti” is scheduled for a fall release.

fat jon has also stayed quite busy by producing several solo offerings. following up his 2001 instrumental opus “humanoid erotica”, fat jon released two instrumental albums in 2002, “wave motion” (mush) and “lightweight heavy” (dimid). he was featured in urb magazine as a member of its next 100, and was also highlighted by a feature story in billboard magazine. he now lives in berlin. he is also half of the numerical super group 3582, where he provides vocals to lush soulful soundscapes. their 1st ep “the living soul” (hum drums) hit shelves early 2002. their 2nd ep “situational ethics” (hum drums) was released in the fall of 2003..

fat jon is also has a new collaborative project with morr music’s styrofoam. fat jon also toured the world with electronic minimalist producer pole. after meeting in 2002, they recorded new material which appeared on pole’s album “pole” (mute). fat jon has also recorded new music for the television show “samurai champloo” which has been released across several soundtracks. another chance meeting in 2002 led to the formation of ‘rebel clique’ which is the group of fat jon and amleset Solomon. Their debut album is being released in the fall of 2005 on fat jon’s new imprint, ample soul.

RETURN TO ALBUM PREVIEW

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