The London-based duo 4hero is a major name in jungle and drum'n'bass, and it's as strong and pioneering as Burial and Kode9 will probably be in two decades for the dubstep/grime scene. Even geography plays in favor of this oracle – the epicenter is the same, the English capital, and the fuss it caused in the early 90s when the styles were still being shaped is just as heart-accelerating. Now that London is once again an exciting lab for music in the making, it's nice to look back and delve into the wonders of one of the most seminal acts' past and present influences.
That's the kind of journey Dennis McFarlane (aka Dego) and Mark Clair (aka Marc Mac) take the listener to in the third installment of Sonar Kollektiv's "...Mixing" series. Kicking things off is a funky and sweaty little number called "Fat Cat", delivered by Bootsy Collins, who in his early years played in James Brown's band and was part of Funkadelic and Parliament. You can't get much funkier than that, or so you think!
Then comes INT's "Beat 8", nothing more than a 1-minute prelude to "Game Over", a contagiously sickening track done by Dabrye and documenting the good ol' hip-hop the folks do in Detroit. This cut is so tight you can almost picture yourself as a character in a computer game being chased by demons with eyelids dripping blood. The first segment of the record is concluded with the late and great J Dilla doing "Over the Breaks", taken from the posthumous album "The Shining".
Later on, Dego and Marc Mac spin the glass ball for a hedonistic dive into the glossy, funk-driven disco of Two Sisters, Face, and Raymond Scott, who has been, as the press release assertively reminds us all, a great influence for the likes of Aphex Twin and even Robert Moog. However, as any revivalist mixtape is also a crossover of sorts, reggae, dub and roots is what follows in the menu. "Blood On His Lips" pays the electricity bill as cut by Hopeton Brown, here credited as Scientist, but it's "Roots Dub" by The Skatalites that truly shatters all codes and reconnects our collective ear to the Jamaican soil.
Sa-Ra's reworking of "On the One" is worth mentioning as well, as are the loosely tepid waters of Little Brother's "Nighttime Manoeuvres". But Detroit seems at times to be the new London as producer Waajeed comes in to gently dismiss everyone with the great finale that is "Make Doe". Needless to say, each track is glued to the following as in a tremendously good live set.
If you ever thought 4hero was the consciousness of a certain electronic sound with a tendency for both self-indulgence and numerous creative links, you're probably right. In "...Mixing" they reunite a clan of critical musicians and make their work available at a wallet easing discount. You won't see this happening again this year.
http://www.properlychilled.com/music/release/profile.php?view=595
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário