Record Label: Imani Records / Tri-Sound
Noel McKoy is no stranger to British soul. See, he’s been singing soul longer than I’ve had one. Therefore it does feel somewhat strange to be describing ‘Brighter Day’ as his debut album. Having fronted the James Taylor Quartet through the Acid Jazz movement, making a critically acclaimed album with his family and also collaborating with artists such as Omar, Beverley Knight, Mica Paris and Vanessa Simon; this is hardly an introduction, it’s fair to say he’s earned his stripes. Therefore there are no surprises in the fact that this album is simply classic soul from start to finish. So much so that it’s almost cliché. Opener and title track ‘Brighter Day’ is a vocal-explosion from just a few seconds in. A heart-grasping opener with traces of inspiration from Sam Cooke. ‘Great Big Gap’ is essentially a re-work of The Four Tops’ ‘I Can’t Help Myself’ with everything down to the song title screaming ‘Motown’ so loud that you forget who’s even singing. Unfortunately from ‘Special Delivery’ onwards, it becomes difficult not to think ‘this sounds like…’ during every track. ‘Fly Away With me’ sounds like the Isley Brothers, ‘Love In The City’ like Bobby Womack, ‘Jealousy’ – Barry White. This is a shame as McKoy’s vocals are unparalleled in today’s industry. His vocal range is incredible; stretching from his deep rasping on ‘Determined Man’ to the sweet spiralling falsetto’s on ‘Merry Go Round’. Ultimately the downfall of ‘Brighter Day’ is that most of it’s problems lie within its pleasure.
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Rating: 7.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Record Label: Immortal Kingdom
“Girl I need you, that’s no lie, girl I need you or I’ll die, girl I need you to make this right, girl I need you.” Hardly the words of a King, in fact, hardly the words of a five year old and that’s as good as the lyrics get. Nevertheless, ex London party promoter King (aka AQ Wolf) has put down his party poppers and returned to his first love, ‘music’. He really shouldn’t have. The aforementioned ‘lyrics’ are merely words loosely tied to an auto-tune drowned melody which are disguised as lyrics. The production is so minimal and linear that it’s an insult to any producer who has ever worked hard to perfect their craft. Sometimes it’s good to try something new, unless you’re David King.
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Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
Record Label: Easy Star Records
Download Album: 
Since their last album ‘Pressure Point’ in 2005, John Brown’s Body have suffered the death of their bassist, Scott Palmer, and numerous line up changes before re-grouping, re-assessing and now resounding through reggae.With their new line up, comes a new sound. Though they’ve always been considered progressive this is arguably their most audacious album yet. Forget reggae revival, this is reggae revamped. The U.S band’s focus on taking reggae into a new age sees ‘Amplify ‘ explore areas of ska and trip hop whilst still managing to maintain a traditional reggae style on tracks ‘Give Yourself Over’ and ‘Zion Triad’. Opening track ‘Amplify’ touches on hip hop with a beat that wouldn’t sound out of place on an old Rawkus record but ultimately falls short of being a successfully crossover due to it feeling somewhat loose with a rap carelessly thrown into the mix. A waste of an opportunity that they have themselves created. It does get better though, ‘The Gold’ sounds like a lost tape from The Specials fully equipped with a great horn section and catchy bass line. ‘Sky Juice’ and ‘So Aware’ are trippy yet tender and fall somewhere between The Stone Roses and Massive Attack. ‘Ghost Notes’, a tribute to late band member Scott Palmer, is chilling but beautifully written. ‘Amplify’ is daring, ambitious and shines a light into new areas that reggae can be taken.
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Rating: 7.5/10 (4 votes cast)
Record Label: Roc Nation
Download Album:
Jay-Z had almost everything before this album was released so it’s a testament to him that he still has such a hunger for producing great music. Having not just sat back and churned out a throwaway album that still would have sold based on previous success. Instead, he’s further cemented his position as the C.E.O of rap by adding ‘The Blueprint 3′ to his repertoire. Jay-Z’s business sense means that he has made a record with a mixture of tracks that will please everyone from the hardened rap fan to the commercial pop market. For anyone else it’s difficult to make that move without losing credibility but Jay-Z instils such intelligence into his lyrics that you can’t help in appreciating him equally as a rapper and as a music entrepreneur. ‘Run This Town’, ‘Empire State Of Mind’ and ‘Young Forever’ are the more commercial tracks on the album but are so well produced and have enough lyrical depth to make them street anthems. ‘On To The Next One’ is a club tune similar to Lil Wayne’s ‘A Milli’ and ‘Thank You’, ‘Death Of Autotune’ and ‘Hate’ all show Jay-Z’s versatility in flow and wordplay. He’s had more number one albums in the U.S than ‘The King’ Elvis Presley; he’s already the King of Brooklyn and now I shall proclaim him as The King of Rap.
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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Record Label: Arista
Download Album:
They say that good things come to those who wait, and Q-Tip’s follow up to Amplified has been in waiting for over 10 years, until now. There is a little history to tell here. Kamaal The Abstract was complete, so much so that promotional copies went out to the press and the release date was set for 23rd April 2002. However, L.A Reid, then CEO of Arista Records, shelved the album for reasons that are still unclear. History lesson over. Skip forward to 14th September 2009 and we have the finest example of how the boundaries of hip-hop can be extended. This is Q-Tip journeying through everything that he has absorbed during time spent with members of the Soulquarians (including J Dilla, D’Angelo, Mos Def, and ?uestlove) and using the innovation of jazz to produce, sing and rap his way into the abstract. Though Q delivers the occasional rap, this is essentially his solo debut as a vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and producer. There are shades of D’Angelo’s ‘Voodoo’ album, which at times leave you blissfully unaware of what direction a song is going to take, or even what Q-Tip is singing, but enjoying the depth and spontaneity of a clavinet solo or guitar riff which seemingly arrives as effortlessly as it fades. Q-Tip has also mastered the Mos Def art of singing which is subtle, organic and refreshing to hear. This album was ahead of its time in 2002 and it still is now.
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Rating: 9.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Record Label: Big Dada
Download Album: Speech Therapy
‘Speech Therapy’ is the debut album from South London rapper Speech Debelle. Since joining Big Dada in 2004, 25 year old Speech has worked hard over the past 5 years pondering all of life’s questions and throwing back her answers using 51minutes and 8 seconds of urban daydreaming descriptions. Speech possesses the ability to present her thoughts, feelings and questions on life, both intimately and completely care free. Managing to switch from heartfelt descriptions of difficulty in life (‘Searching’ and ‘Live and Learn’) to her open, wide eyed views on everyday matters (Check Spinnin’). The production comes courtesy of Lotek Hi-Fi, Tunng and Plutonic Lab all added their own flair to proceedings yet not disconnecting the beats from Speech’s rhymes. The acoustic sections works subtly to pull along the more emotive songs. The production on ‘Go Then, Bye’ whereby the string section cushions the blow of the frustration in Speech’s voice is accomplished with great poise. Speech lyrics give an insight into her explored her youth and shows that there’s a wise head on those young shoulders.
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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Record Label: Big Dada
Download Album: Two Fingers
The first time I listened to Two Fingers I made it through the first four tracks, with my fingers twitching, edging towards the stop button. It all felt a bit messy, the beats were so dark and rhythms so jagged that I felt I had to make an effort to keep involved. After returning to the album two weeks later, I journeyed through, and it was an effort that has definitely paid off. Brazilian beat meister Amon Tobin and Joe ‘Doubleclick’ Chapman have ventured though South America, over to Philadelphia to grab Ms Jade, across the pond to kick back in sunny Brighton. ‘Two Fingers’ takes elements of hip-hop (Sway featuring on 7 tracks, Ms Jade on 2), roughs itself up with some grime and trips itself out with some electronica. In its most relaxed moments this album still manages to contort Bollywood and pound it into dirty club R’n’B hooks. I have to applaud the innovation in this project, it’s just a shame that I really needed to dig deep in order to understand the potential that failed to be executed.
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Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
Record Label: New Bias Industries
Download Album:
As a single I find this incredibly hard to review. ‘Baboon Shampoo’ acts as more of an introduction into Carpetface and Audible than a memorable release. There is no doubt that these two hip-hop purists are very talented both individually and, when combined. However, when they showcase a lot of their skills on this one track, it kind of loses its point. Having said that, it does serve as a powerful promotional tool that’s made me want to hear more of their work. On the track they lay down all the qualities that enable you to understand why they are one of the most exciting UK acts in this field. First and foremost they are both exceptional beat boxers, the bass line runs through this track reminiscent of how Melvin Franklin used to be the heart beat for the Temptations. When you add to this some touches of funk guitar, a little scratching and some jagged MC’ing you are left knowing you have heard many elements of hip-hop but in no particular order. As a single this is a limited press release of their undoubted talents.
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Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
Record Label: Easy Star Records
Download Album: Lonely Hearts Dub Band
Okay shoot me down now, I can honestly say that I’m a not exactly a connoisseur of the Beatle’s back catalogue. I can also hold my hands up and admit that I’m not the most knowledgeable person on modern reggae music. This is the perfect review for me then…Actually, sarcasm aside, having not heard the original in full, I found that listening to this album gave me the opportunity to see it as a piece of work in it’s own right. Having previously released cover versions ‘Dub Side of the Moon’ in 2003, and ‘Radiodread’ in 2006 this is the New York collective’s third album with a complete re-working of the Beatles original in their own reggae/dub style. The biggest difficulties Easy Star All-Stars faced when making this album is how to keep that trippy atmosphere created in songs such as ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’ alive. Even trickier- maintaining the atmosphere and consistency with such a variety of musicians, they do however pull it off incredibly and the versatility of their musicianship as a group is astounding. The album succeeds on many levels. Not only a great cover album, but showcasing the energy and enthusiasm that we’ve all come to love about reggae music.
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Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
Genre: Pop
Location: London, United Kingdom
Recommended Track: Lost In London
Recommended Album: Lost In London EP
Kid British have arrived and are poised to be the light at the end of that tunnel called recession. In a time where the majority of British bands are too self-involved to create music that anyone can relate to, it’s a welcome change that Kid British don’t take themselves too seriously and are clearly having fun whilst still developing their sound.
These four Manchester lads are the sauce to a British band sandwich. They pull together the thick sliced foundations of honest, shout-loud songs from bands like The Madness and Blur yet still manage to cover the acquired taste of storytelling lyrics that we’ve come to know from The Streets. It’s impressive that Kid British manage to remain influenced by some great British bands yet have weaved enough of their own uplifting, street-smart quality into the music, making them incomparable to any singular band.
‘Sunny Days’ released on April 20th, will be their first full single release, and showcases their ability to create sing-along moments, leaving every working class family to fondly remember what it is like to have summertime by the seaside. Also worth checking out is ‘Lost In London’ a track explaining the difficulties of getting to grips with London if it’s not your hometown. Their reggae-pop take on Katy Perry’s ‘Hot ‘n’ Cold’ which is floating around the net at the moment captures their versatility.
Kid British do the simple things very well; however, they currently lack the imagination that would keep you interested throughout a full album. Sometimes when you are made aware of so much that you can relate to, your next step is to seek something beyond that. At the moment Kid British don’t stretch the mind but hopefully more creativity shall come with experience. At least if we don’t have a summer again this year, we still have ‘Sunny Days’ to keep us going.
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Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
ScottColenutt believes that hip hop makes the world go round. When not playing Mario Kart, or eating fajitas, he can be found here, reluctantly trying to force a career out of his scepticism. 
