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Artist - Flowriders
Title - Russelology EP
Label - (Mr Bongo)
Released - Now / October 07
Posted 29.10.07
Flowriders is the band of producer, beat maker and keys player Vincent Helbers. He started out his career performing, writing and recording contemporary acoustic jazz, and now combines this with hip hop, broken beat and electronics. The original tracks on this EP are taken from the forthcoming hotly anticipated Flowriders album due to drop any day now (also on Mr Bongo), but the remixes are vinyl only exclusives.
Regular readers of these pages will know that this is the type of music that really gets me excited - reaching to the future whilst being rooted in the deep vibes of soul, jazz, afro and funk. The type of music that leaves you both awed and wondering...is it 1960 or 2060?
The original tracks both feature Colonel Red on backing vocals and make me think of IG Culture and New Sector Movements every time. The title track in particular is a freaked up piece of killer future soul that lives on the electronic pulse of the broken beat and is topped by the wicked Afro lyrics of Nia Saw. A hypnotic floor sweater full of both syncopated and 'live' drums under an almost acid bassline, this gets more and more twisted as the groove builds and sounds awesome on a loud PA.
Roll On bobs along on a rumbling bassline and again fuses live instrumentation with the electronic soul of computers. Not as mad, this one would be as equally at home in the backroom as it would early doors when only the true music lovers are around.
Mark de Clive Lowe takes on Russelology, enlists Richard Spaven on live drums whilst he takes the MPC, and lays down some deep keys that wrap the vocals up nicely. He craftily brings Joachim Staudt's sax into his arrangement of mad percussion breaks, freeform jazz solo's and pure techno soul - awesome.
Looking Deep is credited to Vincent himself and Inna Vision - a funky upbeat nu soul stepper that is dowsed in the sound of boogie and is full of his trademark keyboard action. Like a more accessible Likwid Biscuit, Kahil El'Zabar or Son of Scientist, this is up there with the very best of the broken beat crew.
Another winner for the ever great Mr Bongo camp, and the lovely artwork by Straight No Chaser cohort Mitchy Bwoy is the cherry on the top of a very tasty treat.
Rating - 10/10
Reviewer - PT
