Hip Hop / R&B Recommendations May 2012

Review: Allow yourself to wander through the blunted universe of Mo Kolours once again, with this excellent second EP from the London based Half-Mauritian singer-percussionist for the stellar One Handed Music label. Much like his erstwhile label bed fellows Paul White, Bullion and Fulgeance, hip-hop is used as a mainframe from which Mo Kolours springs in several different and decidedly hazy directions. From the opening moments of "Ridda Mountain" it's easy to get sucked into the Mo Kolours world, a delicious sense of beat abstraction complemented by his own unique vocal drawl and all manner of squeegie dub textures. As if there's any need to improve on a perfect set of tracks, the label go so far as to call on Beautiful Swimmers to remix "Mini Culcha" - a excellent choice given the DC based duo's ease for crafting heavily textured house music drenched in blossoming colour.

Review: TRACKLISTING:
CD 1 Unmixed
1. Dial In (Intro) 2. Back In Time (feat. Baron & TRAC) 3. Come And Play In The Milky Night 4. Ice Cream On My Kicks 5. Shine (feat. John Robinson & Jimetta Rose) 6. Shaft In Africa (Addis) 7. Rocket Man (Afrolatin Joint) 8. Swahililand 9. Oil & Water (feat. Notes To Self) 10. Jungle Green Outlines 11. LuAnne From Harlem 12. Funky Fanfare 13. Apache (Battle Dub) 14. Whatever Happened To Peace

CD 2 Hipology Mixtape mixed by Marc Mac
1. Apache (Battle Dub) 2. Shaft In Africa (Addis) 3. Back In Time (feat. Baron & TRAC) 4. Come And Play In The Milky Night 5. Funky Fanfare 6. Jungle Green Outlines 7. Swahililand 8. Shine (feat. John Robinson & Jimetta) 9. LuAnne From Harlem 10. Rocket Man (Afrolatin Joint) 11. Ice Cream On My Kicks 12. Oil & Water (feat. Notes To Self) 13. Whatever Happened To Peace?

5x7":
A: Back In Time (feat. Baron & TRAC)
B: Come And Play In The Milky Night
C : Shine (feat. John Robinson & Jimetta)
D: Oil & Water (feat. Notes To Self)
E: Shaft In Africa (Addis)
F: Jungle Green Outlines
G: Swahililand
H: LuAnne From Harlem
I: Funky Fanfare
J: Apache (Battle Dub)
SAMPLES: http://soundcloud.com/republicofmusic/sets/visioneers-hipology/s-yiD2g

OVERVIEW:
Since the late 80s Londoner Marc Mac has been converting audiences with his sophisticated take on urban soul. A hybrid concoction of breakbeat, nu-jazz, neo soul, drum and bass, and Hip Hop, its a polished sound plugged directly into the emotional highway of 21st century city living. Working under a variety of guises, his prodigious output includes his work as one half of 4hero, Visioneers, Natures Plan and Nu Era. In the late 90's Marc signed to Gilles Peterson's Talking Loud Records with 4hero. 4hero went on to produce two classic albums with Talkin Loud icluding the award winning "Two Pages" & "Creating Patterns" they then set up their own label where the critically acclaimed "Play With The Changes" was released. Somewhere in this timeline, between producing music for Jill Scott to Roy Ayers, Phonte to Terry Callier, Marc started another project called Visioneers releasing a set of limited 7" singles getting the attention from top eclectic DJ's including Jazzy Jeff, Kenny Dope, Gilles Peterson & Norman Jay. Visioneers was then picked up by BBE records who released the debut album "Dirty Old Hip Hop".
While recording this new Visioneers record, Mac began thinking how hip-hop had been a (sometimes invisible) guiding hand in his life. "The music, the fashion and culture. Although producing all kinds of music from jungle to jazz, hip-hop (or at least what is was) has always been a part of what I do in some strange and sometimes very subtle way." Documenting this influence on Hipology.org, his very own digital scrapbook (that has also spawned the record of the same title), it's easy to see the depth of Mac's appreciation of hip-hop. HIPOLOGY; the album includes hand picked guest John Robinson, Notes To Self, TRAC & Baron alongside some featured musicians Luke Parkhouse, Ariya Astrobeat Arkestra & The Support Horns. The result is a real cool, funky eclectic mix of breaks, beats, soul/jazz and freaky squeaks a great follow up to the debut album.

PRESS: Metro Feature confirmed (30/4/12), Echoes Feature in Dom Servini's section confirmed next issue. Reviews confirmed in Wax Poetics, Mixmag, Q Mag, DJ Mag, Bonafide (Feature published with exclusive Dilla Mix), Blues n Soul, Guardian, Jazz Wise.
RADIO: Serviced to specialist radio. Support from Gilles Peterson (R1), Ross Allen (Ministry), Craig Charles (6Music)
MARKETING: K7, BBE & 4Hero database mail-outs / banner ads on specialist sites / press release sent out to blogs / updates on social networking sites and forums
OTHER ACTIVITY: 4hero.co.uk omniverse-records.bandcamp.com marc4hero.podomatic.com www.myspace.com/4hero www.facebook.com/4hero