Category: Archive
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R.U.E.D.Y. album review – Flowriders
Vincent Helbers, the Dutch dude behind the Flowriders, appears intent on sabotaging his career. Take, for instance, his moniker. Flowriders sounds more like a lavatory cleaner than a cutting-edge band — it’s hardly memorable. R.U.E.D.Y.‘s opening interlude, The Story Part I, doesn’t help his cause, either. It’s a dated slice of Acid Jazz that’s followed […]
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The Real Thing: Words And Sounds Vol. 3 album review – Jill Scott
This album should be dire, since Scott has been preoccupied of late. While recording The Real Thing, she appeared in Tyler Perry’s comedy drama Why Did I Get Married?, before auditioning for the role of Precious Ramotswe in an adaptation of Alexander McCall Smith’s novel The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. And, if these distractions […]
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The Art Of Love & War album review – Angie Stone
Even though she came to prominence on the back of the success of neo-soul artists such as D’Angelo and Erykah Badu, Stone has never sat comfortably with those incense-burning cats. For starters, her material had far more crossover potential than the offbeat offerings of her Afrocentric peers. So it comes as no surprise that her […]
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The Politik album review – Bêmbè Sêguè & Mark de Clive-Lowe
You might not have heard any debates or seen any rallies, but you’ll no doubt be already familiar with The Politik. For years, keyboardist Mark de Clive-Lowe and songstress Bêmbè Sêguè have elected to campaign on a soulful broken-beat ticket. With this in mind, you’d expect their musical manifesto to be awash with choppy, skewed […]
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Collaborations album review – Jill Scott
Her warm smile may adorn its cover, but don’t be misled, this isn’t a full-blown Jill Scott release. As its title suggests, it’s a collection of her collaborations with the likes of Lupe Fiasco, The Isley Brothers, Common, Will Smith, Al Jarreau and George Benson. (Inexplicably, 4hero‘s Another Day isn’t included.) But the sum of […]
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Ma Fleur album review – The Cinematic Orchestra
Jason Swinscoe, the man behind The Cinematic Orchestra, has never been one to serve up cheerful tunes, but his sombre mood has plummeted to new depths on this recording. Ma Fleur‘s a soundtrack to an unmade film, but if it were ever shot, it’d no doubt be a tragedy. There’s no denying that this is […]
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One Sweet Life album review – Brotherly
Even if you’re steeped in the hip environs of the leftfield music scene, you may not know of Robin Mullarkey and Anna Stubbs, aka Brotherly. Their anonymity will not doubt continue if, as Commercial Break’s been told, this CD remains misleadingly plonked in the R&B section of some stores. True, this is a vocal album, […]
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Play With The Changes album review – 4hero
Since 1998’s Twin Pages, Dego and Marc Mac (the producers behind 4hero) have been known for their refined blend of beats and strings, a mix that earned the pair a Mercury Prize nomination that same year. Since then, little has changed. The duo follow the if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it school of music — as evident on this album’s […]
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Back In The Dog House album review – Bugz In The Attic
Bugz in the Attic’s début album has been creating a huge buzz among those urban trendsetters who tune into jazz-dance shows such as Radio 1’s Worldwide. The west London producers are leading exponents of broken beat, an achingly hip niche that’s noted for its irregular rhythms which, as one DJ remarked, resemble ”the sound of […]
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Return Of The Rogue album review – Domu
Not only is broken beat, musically speaking, a jazzed-up cousin of urban bad boy drum ‘n’ bass, but the scenes share further similarities. Both, for instance, spawn a sprinkling of decent singles, but only a few artists are entrusted to make an entire album. Luckily for Domu, he falls into that elite camp — and […]