From Jeffery Cohen Sent Thu, Jul 2nd 1998, 08:15
From Jeffery Cohen Sent Thu, Jul 2nd 1998, 08:15
Haute Couture Prophetic - Speaking To The
People Of Orphalese (Clock Wise)
The second release for Clock Wise, is, for
me, the strongest. Not to say that the others are
anything but great, but I've been looking for some
more hip-hop / jungle, with a little more on the
hip-hop side than a KRS-ONE, or Chuck D. sample.
But, even if jungle isn't your thing, you'll want to
pick this up for the other five tracks, showing off
HCP's fantastical linguistical abilities. Orpheus was
a musician in Greek and Roman mythology, whose music
was so beautiful that animals, trees, and stones
followed him, and rivers stopped flowing to listen. I
don't know if this EP is *that* good, but I'll definitely
be following HCP in the future.
A-side.
Check The Style.
A really dope lo-fi hip-hop track, with a line
about the fashion police coming to arrest him. :)
Has the feel of live percussion, IMO.
Manic Session.
Has a garbage-can type of drum to it.
Abstract hip-hop namechecking Moses,
Prometheus, and Ezekiel, not Puffy,
Tupac, and Uptown Angela. Not one
to drop on floors, but one to drop
on your friend who's always lost in
thought.
Lyrical Context
Laid-back, atmospheric, slow track,
rapping about rapping, while morose
strings play in the background, and
sci-fi sounds float around, and work.
B-side.
Down With The Hand-Me-Downs
This track brings J. Stroke to light as
an MC, not just a "twisted beat junkie."
He drops *dope* rhymes about his fashion,
and being an individual, and how he was
"freestylin' with textiles". The beat
kicking around has a middle-eastern
flavor to it, and it sounds to me like
some of his verses are echoed. Is it just
me? Anyhow, another one for the headz,
and right up there with M.F. Grimm, in my
book.
Style Dub (for Avant Garde Listeners)
Basically, Check the Style, deconstructed
with alot of FX that I can't name on it. :)
Manic Session (Drums Debassed Mix)
This track breaks into hip-hop for about
four bars, then takes a turn with a
really tight break, and the vocals of
Manic Session. Bloody wicked (nod to
England :). Hip-hop jungle fusion
done the proper way.
And, that's the first batch of reviews for me.
I'm going to try to keep it up, as I re-listen
to alot of the stuff sitting around, and
listen for the first time to new stuff.
peace.
.jeff / chris.
.do not condemn the judgement of another because it differs from your own.
\-. you may both be wrong .-/