AFRICA EXPRESS | SHARDS | DEF SOUND | BLUE LAB BEATS | MARO

Hello again friends, freaks and fans of future-jazz music of the kind that would totally #StormArea51… if it didn’t get lost trying to drive around Truro in Saturday afternoon shopping traffic.

Have I got some bangers for you this week!

It’s a collaboration-heavy one with no fewer than 16 named artists on the five featured tracks (honorable mention goes to Imogen Heap who’s mentioned twice in the reviews but not credited anywhere).

Jumping out first like a voracious District 9 ‘Prawn’ is Africa Express. Their track Morals mixes 90s hip-hop with traditional South African vocals and it’s your Charm Offensive choice.

Providing a jolt not dissimilar to the anal probing practise our alien friends are apparently so keen on, is Shards. Their track Unrest is your Military Coup; a piece that conjures up all the sinister intent of a well-lubed middle digit through mainly just some impressive human vocals.

Def Sound’s Hide n Seek provides your Peaceful Protest. A mostly-mumbley hip-hop track, it all appears to be humming along nicely until Heap comes ‘chestbursting’ out of it, leaving a glorious mess in its wake.

And bumbling around with all the childlike innocence of E.T. are Blue Lab Beats, who provide this week’s Guerrilla Warfare choice. A jazztronica hybrid featuring, amongst others, Sheila Maurice-Grey, they don’t need a bike to help them take off.

And speaking of Greys (see what I did there), delivering something vaguely humanoid (though still somewhat otherworldly) is Portuguese singer and guitarist, MARO. Her pop-infused track Why is your Quiet Riot.

So, if you fancy being abducted and losing an indeterminate amount of time with any of those weird little bastards, by all means, hear more here…

AFRICA EXPRESS: MORALS
SHARDS: UNREST
DEF SOUND: HIDE N SEEK
BLUE LAB BEATS: STAND UP
MARO: WHY

P.S. You can find all of the tracks reviewed above in the 45 Revolutions per Minute playlist below or click to access the 45 RPM Playlist on Spotify itself.

If you like what you hear (or even if you don’t), please engage in dialogue with me @45rpm_Reviews on Twitter. And, if you’d like to receive updates weekly, please subscribe to the email list to get these recommendations sent to your inbox weekly.

– SV –