The writer's block is the perfect excuse, the most distractive alibi when doing an underground hip-hop album. If words don't fit or just don't come out of your mouth like torpedoes, you can always rely on the beauty of instrumental recording. It is mind-freeing and, above all, well-accepted by critics and the streets. It's been a while since the lexicon of the 'hood mattered like anything else in a hip-hop release.
Luckily, the Swiss duo Stade's watermark is neither stream-of-consciousness verbose nor boring soundscapes that go beyond reasonable human standards. In "The Tactile Sessions", pianist Pierre Audétat and drum sampler Christophe Calpini pay a secret tribute to a certain European hip-hop sound that never had the chance to surpass the fetid, long-gone and never-to-be-missed Europop.
Especially in the UK the underground soil grows immensely cohesive fat tracks, as delivered by The Herbaliser, Roots Manuva, Mark Rae, and Smith & Mighty, to name just a few. The Swiss territory is not as productive but Audétat and Calpini may now be named ambassadors of hip-hop in a country better known for its cheese and its white mountains.
"The Tactile Sessions" is a reworking of the duo's previous record "Tactile". Like its predecessor, it features the gallantness of polished neo-jazz (that for late-night, underneath-the-sheets consumption), sparking electronics and distant but steady vocals. And it does so by inviting as many guests as each track seems to demand.
Infinite Livez is almost everywhere in this album, and co-writes some of the grooviest cuts, from the opener "Feu" to the charming, reggae-scented "Reverse Charge Blues", and the mathematical assault on "Looking For". Nevertheless, "Car" has to be one of the most inventive tracks in Swiss hip-hop. It kicks off as the perfect wake-up call for all Bronx sleepyheads, only to, a minute later, punctuate the tone and pace with a cool jazzy extravaganza.
Stade's "The Tactile Sessions" may well be the tightest hip-hop/jazz intersection ever since Mike Ladd put out "Negrophilia". But if you remain skeptical after eleven tracks, the great finale "Your Fire feat. Arvin" will definitely knock you out. A sweet, sweet track – the kind of sweetness that would certainly rot your teeth.
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