I’ve now heard the entire new LP from Mantra entitled Power Of The Spoken on Obese Records and I can safely say that it both lives up to the hype and the symbolism of the album title itself with Mantra, as stated in his press release, blazing a lyrical path “driven by the importance of the verbalised thought.” The production didn’t hit me at first, but after a few listens it has truly sunken in… and how! Mista Savona, Count Bounce, Zim, Joe Louis and M-Phazes all supply a varied soundscape of different style beats which all compliment Mantra’s flow and subject matter perfectly.
Following hot on the heels of his excellent debut LP of 2009, Thorts has dropped a new EP called Louder Actions Are Needed. 11 tracks deep, it plays more like a full length and Thorts has been very generous by offering up the entire release for free at www.myspace.com/thortsthescorpion. Production comes from Proph 1, Efmp and Saint Surly with guest slots from Aetcix, 1/6, Kadyelle, Reach and Aamir.
Heading down the bass music path I highly recommend two new EPs on Planet Mu. Firstly, Jamie Vex’d under his Kuedo moniker with his amazing Dream Sequence EP. Full of colour and fuzzy distortion adrift over thumping stuttering percussion, this is brilliant and vibrant stuff. Likewise, and even more neck-snapping, is the new EP Ultra Heat Treated from broken-beat specialist Slugabed. Tunes like Skyfire, Titan and Quantum Leap build the perfect bridge between a tough hip-hop aesthetic and deep resonant bass music. Absolutely mind shattering! Also just released is the new double A-side single on the ever dope Blunted Robots label featuring two big tunes from Bok Bok and Brackles + Shortstuff respectively, each melding dubstep basslines deeper into jittery garage influenced house.
Outta Minneapolis is the new album from Mux Mool on Ghostly International. Skulltaste is IDM-tinged electro nostalgia with plenty of dub and hip-hop mixed in. A highly original sound chock-full of inspiration and tweaky, jangled sounds to keep your ears interested.
Just on the horizon we can expect new albums from Sadat X who returns with Wild Cowboys II after a stint in the slammer. Beats come from Will Tell, Diamond D, DJ Spinna, Nick Wiz, 9th Wonder and Buckwild. Pete Rock, Rhymefest, Kurupt and Grand Puba are guesting too, so it’s quite a lineup. The first Wild Cowboys is a personal classic, so looking forward to this one.
Marco Polo has teamed up with Rustee Juxx for a full length on Duck Down entitled The Exxecution – should be dope. DJ Rev is on the cuts, while Rock, Freddie Foxxx, Black Moon and Sean Price guest.
To hear music from all these releases and more, tune to The Antidote on 2XX 98.3FM every Tuesday night from 9.30pm.
