Mystic Man & Eshamanjaro – 'In Heavy Weather' Review

Mystic Man, with an approach to production that's just that bit too elusive to put your finger on, has crafted a superb set of sonic canvasses for rapper Eshamanjaro to wave his lyrical brush over, and he does it with the flourish of a true master too. In the art world you'd be hard pushed to find a master without a maverick streak and whilst Esha's lyrics are in someway very grounded, there is something different in them, an intelligence – he has a way with words. Half the time it's like he's just talking and it happens to rhyme brilliantly and the rest of time you're left thinking, 'where did that thought come from?'.

For a debut album, this is really outstanding, it's obvious that this duo have really gelled and used their knowledge of both the industry and their crafts to maximum effect. This is an intellectual effort, something that is reflected in the cultural references (a version of Hokusai's 'The Great Wave' on the cover), the production and the lyrics. As a result, it consciously distances itself from all Hip Hop that I know and for anyone willing to embrace something a little different this will be refreshing listen. Where most 'different' or 'leftfield' artists in any genre fail (and end up being weird and unlistenable-to), Mystic Man and Eshamanjaro have succeeded. It's enough like Hip Hop for a casual listener to recognise it as such but as you listen more deeply, it's obvious it is something quite new.

The album kicks off with 'Chesire Cat' (previously reviewed here) which is a great track to start with. 'The Rambler' does what it says on the tin: lots of rambling jazz samples spliced together (expertly mind you) and a rap that strolls in after 1 minute and 34 seconds. 'Keeper of the Flame' is a favourite due to the eastern sound captured in the samples and the lyric 'You might wonder who that girl is singing//I tell ya, she represents same one bringing//Joy to my life, Pain to my life//Her claims that she loves me cut like a knife' really displays the interaction between producer and MC as well as the more thoughtful take on the usual subject matter. 'Dust' is real UK Hip Hop and 'New Jack Swing' is pure bouncy party starting pleasure.

'Nervous' paints an interesting first hand picture of a guy who has done the dirty with his mates missus and lets us into the mind of someone in this position (whether this is how folk actually feel, I wouldn't know!). 'Minds I' is the second single and whilst it's more relaxed than the first, it retains a sense of urgency and keeps you nodding along although I'm not sure the reference to 'Littlewoods' being a 'Style Catalogue' is exactly accurate! If you want you to be stirred into a range of emotions and have a rainy day to lie and listen to an album in its entirety (it really is best that way) then you'd do well to get a copy of this on Fat! Records. It'll cheer you up, then make you think, then make you drift away and then bring you back home again. Worth your spondoolies, for real. Try before you buy at the Fat! website.

Certified Bangers: 'Chesire Cat', 'Keeper of the Flame' & 'New Jack Swing'
Top Lyrics: 'Beaming my music back to universe//Back to galactic, back to first//Back to verse blow up like bacteria' (The Rambler)

Triple Darkness - 'Anathema' review

Reviewing an album whose title you’re scared of wrongly pronouncing is a daunting task but here I am listening to ‘Anathema’ by Triple Darkness and writing some words about it. According to the wealth of all knowledge, Wikipedia, Anathema can mean any of a few things: “something lifted up as an offering to the gods”, “banished” or “set apart”. Any of those definitions could be the reason for the naming of this album.

It was whilst MC Cyrus Malachi was “banished” from society with what may have been just a dictionary and a book on ancient systems of religion, that he really sharpened his lyrical skills, leading eventually, post release, to the line up of him, Nasheron and M9 (aka Melanin9). – Triple Darkness.

The beats, provided entirely by Beat Butcher and Chemo, really hit hard (as you’d expect) – I don’t recommend listening to this quietly. The production is largely dark and haunting, suiting the lyrics to a T. The guest list features features some high profile names in UK Hip Hop: Kyza, Skriblah and Blind Alphabetz.

The intelligent rhymes are what really “set apart” this crew from the rest, whether commenting on today’s streets or civilizations of days bygone you can rely on them to provoke thought; even if it is ‘What on earth does that word mean?’. The MC’s are not only socially and historically minded; Triple Darkness boast spiritual awareness unrivalled in the UK scene. That’s not to say they’re religious nuts, it’s just that they think of more than the usual carnal delights associated with Hip Hop – the reason why they may consider this album to be an “offering to the gods”, not that it’s easy to tell which gods they believe in.

I really recommend picking up a copy of this well presented piece of work unless, that is, you’re scared of having to think a bit more than during the average Hip Hop listening session.

Certified Bangers: ‘Anathema’, ‘Pyramid Warz’ & ‘Guerilla Penmanship’
Top Lyric: “Certified mic veterans, codex adeptus//With no thoughts of penance, only steel vengeance” (Hook from ‘Anathema’)

Charlie Sloth - 'It's Hard Being Good' review

With a title like that I expected two things. One was ‘I’m not going to like it because the kid is big headed’ and the other was ‘I bet it’s not actually good anyway’. It’s so annoying to be proved wrong. To be fair, the reason why I got in contact with Mr. Sloth was because I’d heard his verses on Teef’s latest and because I loved the tracks on his Myspace page.

It’s surprising that The Source should rate this MC as the UK’s finest; in my experience the average US resident who likes rap absolutely hates UK rappers and Charlie Sloth hasn’t exactly the most likeable voice. But his voice is half his charm and I soon tuned into it; it wouldn’t be as good if he had a generic, boring rap voice.

‘It's Hard Being Good’ has a great range of themes meaning it never gets boring – dealers, travelling, crime, honest living, his come up, youth and truth all get touched on – this is rap with substance.

4 tracks will stick in your head: ‘Can’t Forget About UK’ name checks everyone who made the UK rap scene, I’m always admiring when people do this kind of track. ‘Mr Rapman’ is based around a sample of The Cure’s ‘Love Cats’ and is a funny tale about lying rappers. ‘Guided Tour of Camden’ will have you singing along and makes even more sense with the excellent video. ‘Come on Back To Me’ is a brilliant metaphorical love story, I guessed the twist at the beginning but I wont spoil it for you, I strongly recommend you check this track.

Go and download this, you can even order a hard copy for a measly sum, find a way to support this guy; he really deserves it.

Certified Bangers: ‘Mr Rapman’, ‘Guided Tour of Camden’ & ‘Come on Back To Me’
Top Lyric: “And like to brag about the stuff that you sorta got//Cos all your stuff is financed, with massive APR’s//Just give me my chips you bitch, and make ‘em large!” (from 'Mr Rapman)

Click here to download it for free!

Jon Phonics - 'Half Past Calm' review

Jon Phonics forms beats in the 90’s mould - no bad thing. ‘Half Past Calm’ proves that sampling and flipping classics is still a relevant art form. The beats are evocative, an essential element when working with MC’s – they have to be inspired. The guest list is a nice selection of current names including MC’s from Triple Darkness, Verb T, Sir Smurf Lil’ and Mr. Drastick.

Jon Phonics provides the MC’s with more than decent backdrops for their deep thoughts. Even scanning through the track listing provides evidence that these rappers have something to say; they have been stimulated by the quality of Jon’s music. Each track is a solid head-nodder and at 12 tracks long the formula isn’t tiresome. This CD provides the perfect soundtrack for either an evening in or a car journey and the weight of the beats means that many tracks would sound awesome on a club sound system.

Sets like this should revive hopes of Hip Hop’s health in 2008. If the masses were listening to music like this they wouldn’t be moaning about Hip Hop’s lifelessness. The fact that this brilliant release is totally free does provoke the question: ‘How will Hip Hop survive and stay alive when the music is given away?’. The answer I think is that we’ll have to wait and see, this change is only just beginning to take place and who knows, this new business model may reap many rewards. Certainly, if the free music in question is as fine as that of Jon Phonics, artists should have no problem with garnering a following.

Certified Bangers: ‘Nothing Wrong’ ft. Mr. Drastick & Luc Skyz, ‘The Lion’s Den ft. Cyrus Malachi & ‘Jealousy’s a Bitch’ ft. Mr. Drastick & Verb T.

Top Lyrics: “And there’s no war, but there’s many ills//Over love many innocents are getting killed//over hate, many enemies relate//tryna come to a compromise, they conversate” (Verb T on ‘Alternate Take’)

Download 'Half Past Calm' here!

Mr. Drastick - 'The Gladiators Anthem' review

Drastick’s rigorous training for the Colosseum has been in the form of self promoted street level mixtapes and it’s truly made him battle ready. As any Romanophile will know, Gladiators were allowed to use whichever weapons suited their fighting style and armed with an arsenal of original beats and rhymes that go 5 or 6 syllables deep Drastick is prepared to defeat all opponents.

Chemo produced opener, ‘Give it Up’, is a straight banger, Drastick lays down his manifesto in no uncertain terms. Jaw-dropping rhymes that sound like everyday speech get his message across with ease. This skill isn’t confined to one track - every verse on each song has been expertly written and is impeccably delivered. As well as being extremely lyrical, Drastick knows how to tell a story. ‘The Cycle’ is an innovative track about a son repeating his father’s mistakes.

With a total of six songs on here about women, Drastick’s softer side is on display too. Two of those songs are moral tales intended to provide a warning against the life choices some girls make but the others are essentially love songs and 4 love songs (no matter how good) on a rap album is too many.

Drastick’s raps “I have the passion to succeed in this game”, it may just be true. This album is amazingly listenable and nearly every track is pure heat. I hope he wins the rap emperor’s favour.

Certified Bangers: ‘Give it Up’, ‘Baby ft. Yungun’ and ‘Stuck’

Top Lyric: “The truth is we’re never movin’//We’re just going round in circles talkin’ about revolution” (from ‘I don’t Wanna See’)