4 HERO: CREATING PATTERNS
Mercury/Talkin’ Loud/So Dens 2001 ©
This English group formed by Marc Mac and Dego have really outdone themselves this time with their latest record. They have been mainstays on the British drum & bass scene as DJs and producers for a long time now. First off, they released quite a bit of material on the Reinforced label which was followed by several maxi-singles and albums with Gilles Peterson's Talkin' Loud record company. They are now considered as a bit of a luxury item when it comes to producers. This new release is laced with soul, jazz of the future, drum & bass and thumping broken beats. The singing, mostly female, and above all, the amazing Ursla Racker, give a really special feel to this record and makes it one of a kind. Apart from the usual guest appearances (look no further than the song "Time"), you'll find Jill Scott on the beautiful "Another day", electronic soul of the highest quality, and easily understood lyrics. Lady Alma also puts in a showing on "Hold it Down". This one will really get you moving. They finish off the record with a version of Minnie Ripperton's classic , "Les Fluer". This track is fine example of symphonic soul in which they use a string and brass section, drums, percussion etc. This is one record you're not going to get tired listening to; you'll hear something new or different every time you listen to it. "Creating Patterns" goes to show that, despite the many very dodgy electronic music releases doing the rounds today, there are some very talented musicians making records that are true gems.
DE LA SOUL
Many fans of Hip Hop today won't know just how important this New York trio's first album "3 feet high and rising" really was. Released at the end of the 80's, it turned popular music on its head both in the USA and worldwide. A long time has passed since then. The six albums they've released in that time have made them the definitive masters of a certain style of music. They're a little bit fatter round the middle, they've changed their image (remember the hairstyles from the film "House Party") and they experimented with some of the new sounds to be found out there nowadays. They chop and mix Hip Hop and R 'n' B on tracks like "Baby Phat", "Held Down" and "Am I Worth You?". Dave The Dude, E. Yummy Bingham, Cee-Lo and Glen Lewis are some of the guests appearing on the record, but the band still does it their own way with some really fresh sounding songs. The CD starts off with an introduction and the following songs are all linked together as if it were a DJ session. You'll hear voices on the phone, street sounds, a radio dial... the record makes really easy listening from the start straight through to the end. The band's website is also well worth a visit:
