Category: Music

Trunk Muzik
Ghet-O-Vision
www.myspace.com/yelawolf

There isn’t a huge amount that Alabama is famous for musically really. Rich Boy is from the city of Mobile but he’s hardly a name to throw around to big up your States. That’s all changed now though with the emergence of Yelawolf, a half-white, half-Cherokee rapper from Gadsden who dropped his Trunk Muzik this year and has seen his name bandied around by many people in terms of “next awesome rapper”.

Having been signed briefly to a major and been let go without having released anything, it could have been easy for the disillusioned Michael Atha to drop his dream, but his return is a massive mixtape full of bangers and much more. His double-time rapping may be something of an acquired taste but hearing him go on Good To Go, which features the always great Bun B, it’s hard not to bounce along to his flow.

Other highlights of the mixtape include a beat which says “fuck you” throughout the entire song [F.U.], a track called Lick The Cat [I know, right?], a track featuring Raekwon and a brilliant remix of Juelz Santana’s Mixing The Medicine, where he states he’s mixing the medicine, tripping on the mescaline and has moonshine in his bottle. If you were thinking this is some kind of Bubba Sparxxx, you’ve got another thing coming.

Check out the video for Pop The Trunk and try, just try, not to get into it. It’s impossible. With a new mixtape planned and a deal with Interscope signed, this could, and should, be the start of something big for Yeller.

Abjekt.

Immersion
Warners
www.pendulum.com

Since the huge success of their last album ‘In Silico’, Pendulum set themselves a high standard to live up to with this release. Could this be possible, you may ask, and the answer appears to be yes it can. In fact, their new album ‘Immersion’ appears to be their best yet, with the album going straight to number one in the UK charts on its release.

It brings yet more dance and rock infused crowd pleasers, straying even further away from their original roots and is sure to keep the listener on their feet in appreciation and sheer disbelief at how unbelievably good their new music is and just how far they have progressed as a band. Their new album continues with their signature heavy guitar riffs and buzzing bass lines, as well as drawing on inspiration from other genres like dubstep and electro house and combining them with their drum and bass and rock roots to create something magical.

The album kicks off with its opening track ‘Genesis’, which has an immense electro build up before unleashing their full sound in ‘Salt In The Wounds’ which includes a mixture of complex beats and riffs with a strong dubstep breakdown half way through. Other tracks like their single ‘Watercolour’ give the album an element of fun with electronic keyboard sounds and memorable drum beats which mix great with the infamous vocals of lead singer Rob Swire.

The album also features a track with the Prodigy’s Liam Howlett who has recently praised the band on their success and revealed that the band were a huge inspiration on their ‘Invaders Must Die’ album. Howlett appears on the song ‘Immunize’ which is certainly one of the most catchy songs on the album with its Prodigy inspired beats which is sure to be left going round in your head.

All in all, this is definitely among the band’s best material to date, at points you almost feel that, if you close your eyes, you are hearing them live with the sound so crystal clear. ‘Immersion’ certainly leaves you wondering what Pendulum could possibly do next to top it.

Lou Cooper.

Split The Atom
Vision/Divison
www.myspace.com/denoisia

Who would have thought that Dutch, drum and bass trio Noisia had it in them to create such mind altering noise and complex heavy drum beats? Well, they have certainly showed what they can do with their new single, ‘Split the Atom’ which is off their recently released album of the same name.

The band have proved that they are a mark above the rest with this new song and its use of cleverly infused sounds which build up into an epic percussion line consisting of aggressive synths, dark drum beats and reverberating echoes of distant voices; all of which send you into another world. The song completely reflects the band’s personality; it’s loud, intricate and it gives the listener an insight into the creative minds of these Dutch geniuses.

The single release also includes two remixes of the song by Ed Rush & Optical and Bar 9. The Ed Rush remix brings more of a dance element to the music whilst still keeping those strong bass lines and dramatic build-ups. Whereas the Bar 9 track is a lot darker and gives a grimier, dirtier dubstep feel to the music.

All are without doubt great songs and are definitely worth a listen.

Lou Cooper.

With the Purple dubstep sound having been made relatively mainstreamly popular through Joker and ably backed up by Gemmy, it was interesting to see where fellow Bristolian Guido would take it with his album Anidea. Building on a variety of influences, Guido has tailored an extremely listenable twelve track album that is sure to be critically acclaimed across the board.

From the opening track, it’s clear that the producer knows how to pen a tune with a catchy hook. Whilst the title track might not be the most complex of melodies, it’s a head-nodding slow-burner which segues into the defiantely purple Orchestra Lab and Woke Up Early with their flowing basslines and periodic squelches.

He does move into more R&B influenced territory with the vocoder vocalled Beautiful Complication and Way U Make Me Feel but it’s with the fuzzed out Shades Of Blue and 80’s esque brass of Mad Sax that he really excels. He never overdoes the bass, which would routinely ruin his melodies, instead keeping a happy medium throughout allowing each track to glide as a whole through the speakers.

This album was eagerly awaited by many and it’s no disappointment. Check out Cat In The Window below to get a taster.

Abjekt.