http://centzbeats.bandcamp.com

http://www.facebook.com

Origine du Groupe : North America
Style : Abstract Hip Hop
Sortie : 2010

From http://centzbeats.bandcamp.com
20 instrumental tracks that keep your head bobbing, and your foot tapping.& at the same time keep you interested, and wanting more.
    
Tracklist :
1.Immortal (ft. Mitch Lehr) 04:03
2.Feelin' Lost 02:38
3.Beyond The Barbwire 01:14
4.Confessions 06:00
5.Toxic Mix 03:45
6.Concrete Feathers 03:54
7.Never Learn, Never Love 06:06
8.Stargaze 02:24
9.Analog God (ft. Hank Smith) 08:38
10.Droppin' Science 04:00
11.FUTURE COFFEE 02:39
12.Lifetime Story 07:05
13.I & You 03:47
14.Clockwork 04:35
15.Deep Space, Love 06:01    
16.Elixir 05:30    
17.In Clouds 03:22
18.Storm Jazz 05:28    
19.Confabulation 05:55    
20.Classicist 03:21

FREE DOWNLOAD

http://thenewlaw.com

http://www.myspace.com/thenewlaw

Origine du Groupe : North America
Style : Abstract hip hop
Sortie : 2006

From Official Site :

Seattle based producers Adam Straney and Justin Neff have created a unique style of instrumental music featuring organic and synthetic beats combined with evolving soundscapes, dreamlike sax, dusty samples, soaring synths, and pulsing drum machines that can only be defined as The New Law.

Adam began his musical career playing guitar, bass, and drums in punk bands throughout his youth. In college he discovered a new love for Drum ‘n’ Bass music, which soon led to DJing and producing. Justin began playing the piano at age six, picked up the saxophone at age twelve, and has played in jazz, funk and rock bands ever since. The duo met during college while working at a movie theater, and their mutual passion for music of all genres served as a foundation for what would become The New Law.

More than half a decade later, The New Law has been featured as an up-and-coming artist in magazines and websites such as properlychilled.com, textura and 80bpm.net, in addition to being selected as Urb Magazine’s Next 1,000 Artists.

Tracklist :
1.Deconstructed Funk 06:04
2.Highly Sophisticated 06:10   
3.Tired of Feeling Like This 07:26
4.Fa Lude Oh! 05:02
5.The Midnight Sorceror 03:18
6.Afterlife 06:02
7.The Story of the Dragon Slayer 02:50
8.Banshee On Valium 06:11   
9.Black and Tan 07:15    
10.Falling Autumn 05:09   
11.Bloody Mary 06:35   
12.Bad Weather Beach 05:39    
13.Drinkin' Whisky and Playin' Vids 03:15   
14.MCMXXXVII 03:38

http://www.black-grass.com

http://www.myspace.com/blackgrassmusic

Origine du Groupe : U.K
Style : Abstract Hip Hop , Hip Hop , Nu-Soul , Alternative
Sortie : 2006

By Jenni Cole from http://www.musicomh.com

Recent Black Grass single Don't Leave Me This Way - a reworking of the song which has previously been a hit for The Communards and Thelma Houston - was something of a nothing, but luckily his new album is all together better.

A Hundred Days In One more than makes up for the disappointment of the mediocre single, from the opening Latino-style drum beats of Lucha Contra De La Injustica all the way through to the smooth and steady Nobody Knows (It's Sunday). In fact, in the middle of this box of delights, even Don't Leave Me This Way starts to sound good, with Dominique Noiret's sultry vocals adding the perfect air of dark mystery to this slowed down, lugubrious take.

Using Hip Hop as his foundations and framework, Black Grass (aka Mex) fills in the gaps with funk, jazz, soul and reggae, helped out by a host of collaborators, including American and home-bred Hip Hop stars such as Maylay Sparks and Micall Parknsun, MC Blu Rum 13 as well as Jah Marnyah and Rider Shafique from the world of reggae.

The result is smooth, relaxing and laid-back, dipping in and out of the musical styles which comprise it from track to track. Nemesis in particular is a highlight, offering a darker, bassier, trancier downtime after the more energetic Lines of Defence which precedes it, the latter complete with military beats, as its title might suggest.

So Many Ways also deserves an honourable mention, helped along by Okou's impressive vocal range, while the back-to-back patter of Blu Rum 13 and Maylay Sparks on Rest Assured and Don't Try respectively also works well.

If fact, what makes the album so much better than the single alone is its structure. All that was wrong with Don't Leave Me This Way was that it had been taken out of its carefully crafted context and, on its own, sounded too slow and forgettable; here, it's a part of a greater whole which speeds up the beats for a couple of tracks then slows them down for the next, offering lyrically dense Hip Hop next to extended instrumentals that give you time to watch the girl, plan your approach, offer her a drink and a dance and then sidle back to the comfy couches for a quick snog before the evening's out.

Mex took to the decks recently at The Big Chill, and this is an album that seems tailor made for a festival with that name. He's next on show at Bestival and amid the sequins and feather boas he could just provide the honey-tinged smooth respite needed at the end of a weekend when the relentless cheeriness of The Scissor Sisters threatens to become just a little bit too much.

Tracklist :
1. ILucha Contra De La Injusticia
2. Oh Jah
3. Lines Of Defence
4. Nemesis
5. Don't Leave Me This Way
6. Floating Wizard
7. Down And Dirty
8. So Many Ways
9. Rest Assured
10. Don't Try
11. Sweet To Taste
12. Nobody Knows It's Sunday

http://theq4.com

http://www.myspace.com/quadraphoniq

Origine du Groupe : Nederland
Style : Abstract Hip Hop Jazz
Sortie : 2010

By  David Amidon From http://potholesinmyblog.com

Sound Surroundings is, at a glance, easy to pigeon hole. Released on Germany’s jazz rap-oriented Project: Mooncircle, home of projects by John Robinson and CYNE, it’s not an album whose sound will surprise or shock you you. It is what one might expect a Project: Mooncircle, German producer album to sound like. However, under the surface there’s a little more to the record than that. The group’s name, Q4, stands for QuadraphoniQuartet, and it informs just about everything they do on the production tip. As the cover art implies, Sound Surroundings is certainly one of the year’s first headphone albums. There are a lot of details hidden in the pockets of this music that reward a big headphone budget, and when the details are lacking the main elements shine. The fidelity and sample chops here are definitely appealing.

Unfortunately, like all producer albums the MCs leave a little if not a lot to be desired. One thing’s for sure, they add to the diversity of the album. Terryman does a reasonable impression of DJ Dusk on “Goin’ Down” and Curra Suarez provides a pretty dope cut that blends Mediterranean and Latin sensibilities with “Oscuros Angeles”, but BLS’ voice is a natural progression of Aesop Rock that takes too much effort to get into. PAX, on the other hand, is someone I’d just as soon not pay any attention to as pay barely any attention at all. I think it’s going to be no secret to those that cop this joint that the vocals are easily this album’s low point, and it’s ultimately a little confusing why they’re even here. They give Sound Surroundings a bit of a conscious purpose, but they still feel like vocals for the sake of vocals. I’m not sure why the group felt the need to have vocalists on these tracks, honestly.

Not with the Deadringer-inspired “One of These Days” following a great “Intro”, or the dub experiment “Trouble With Me” closing out the setlist. No, this is definitely an album I would have preferred to hear an instrumental cut of. I think the Quadraphonic stuff is a little overrated, but really, what group obsessed with their own so-called unique production techniques doesn’t give off that vibe? Haterade aside I do really enjoy the first three tracks and the last three, but what lies in the middle is too dull and milquetoast for me to truly get behind. Q4 have a future in international jazz rap production if they can keep cranking out stuff like “Intro” and “Split Personality”. It will be interesting to see if they can harness their few unique qualities in the future and churn out a more entertaining album than Sound Surroundings. For now, though, Q4 qualifies as little more than a blogger-download curiosity.

Tracklist :
01. Intro
02. One Of These Days
03. Oscuros Angeles (feat. Curra Suarez)
04. Demagogues (feat. Pax)
05. Look Again
06. Goin' Down (feat. Terryman)
07. My Own Advice (feat. Unorthadox)
08. Pulse (feat. BLS)
09. Split Personality (Part II)
10. Trouble With Me
11. Trouble Dub (Outro)

http://www.chinesemanrecords.com

http://www.myspace.com/chinesemanrecords

Origine du Groupe : France
Style : Alternative , Abstract Hip Hop , DJ
Sortie : 2011

Par Aurore Berthe  pour http://toutelaculture.com

Créé en 2005, Chinese Man est un collectif français de hip hop instrumental, aux influences funk, dub, reggae et jazz. Le quartet composé de DJ marseillais, Zé Mateo et High Ku, et de beatmakers, Sly et Leo le Bug, sortait début avril son nouvel opus Racing With the Sun.

Mise en bouche il y a un mois avec l’EP Miss Chang, qui annonçait déjà des collaborations plus qu’alléchantes avec Cyph4 (hip-hop/jazz/soul, USA) et Taïwan MC (drum & bass/dub/reggae, France), mêlant contretemps reggae (skank) et douces sonorités chinoises, ce titre nous transportait entre rap et ragga joyeusement ficelé.

Au fil de ce voyage mélodique entre Inde et Extrême-Orient, nous faisons connaissance avec différents MC’s californiens (Cyph4, Lush One, Plex Rock et Ex-i), et une confrérie de rappeurs indonésiens (Heru, M2MX et Kill the DJ). Le reste de l’album donne toutefois plutôt dans l’instrumental, avec des morceaux abstract hip-hop sans prétention mais de bonne facture. Parmi les invités, notons aussi la présence des DJ de Scratch Bandits Crew dont les scratches dynamisent le morceau « Down ». Le sample efficace de guitare constituait déjà une bonne base de départ, habilement relancée par des breaks pêchus.

Chinese Man se lance ici dans des compositions personnelles. Les influences jamaïcaines et chinoises transportent dans une atmosphère zen et ensoleillée. Les deux précédents albums Groove Sessions composés de bons mixes calibrés grand public, forcément entraînants, faisaient dans une certaine facilité, avec à la clé un tube connu pour avoir fait la pub d’une célèbre Merco. Nous avons maintenant dans ce nouvel album une tentative de renouvellement du genre. Délaissées les platines, bonjour compo à la chinese mixture !

En référence, nous retiendrons les morceaux « If You Please » ou « Saudade », aux flows hip-hop et aux instrumentaux world, « Stand » et « Get Up », avec un Flex Rock californien dynamisant un ensemble plutôt westernien planant, et l’étrangement calme « Down » porté par les talentueux Scratch Bandits Crew. On restera cependant un peu frustré sur ce titre, dans l’attente d’une explosion sonore qui n’arrive pas. Et cela peut être le reproche majeur à cet album.

En résumé : ambiance toujours chiadée, une multitude de samples bien trouvés, des tonalités arabisantes intéressantes, des guitares ou instruments méconnus issus des pays extrême-orientaux, parfait album de relaxation breakée où l’on se surprend à tout de même battre la mesure. Les interventions et collaborations dynamisent un ensemble qui se veut résolument zen. Redisons-le : le Man se veut Chinese !

Plus que l’écoute, Chinese Man c’est avant tout une formule live autour des deux DJ’s et de quatre platines. En quatre ans, une cinquantaine de concerts entre Paris et Marseille, au côté des plus grands noms des musiques actuelles : Sharon Jones, Asian Dub Fondation, RJD2, Amp Fiddler, DJ Qbert…

Tracklist :
01 - Introduction (morning sun) paroles
02 - One past paroles
03 - If you please paroles
04 - Miss Chang paroles
05 - Saudade paroles
06 - Stand! paroles
07 - Racing With The Sun paroles
08 - Down paroles
09 - In My Room paroles
10 - Get Up paroles
11 - Ta Bom paroles
12 - J.o.g.j.a paroles
13 - The King paroles