Taken from 'The Tonic 2' EP out now
www.drsyntax.bandcamp.com Video by Si Haze Films Stellar cameo and real life motivation from Isaac Roberts fka Sleaze Da Don PRE ORDER “CONFESSIONS OF A CRUD LORD: https://highfocus.lnk.to/Crud_Lord
Detax teams up with Loop faction once again to tear every page from the diary that documents the life of an artist struggling their way forward and chucks them at the screen in his latest video; MOVES.
Explaining how the drive finds him more than he finds it, Detax makes it clear how not everyone is the same in this scene and how he's one with plans to claw their way up the food chain. From the basic beginnings to capability in current times, we hear the story of those who choose paths one finds easier to travel yet with a lot less returns on - where you find people whining lots and achieving less. Instilling the harsh truth that progress demands aching muscles and tired eyes, the realest lesson to teach any aspiring artist is hammered in as Detax directly calls out every right and wrong trait in detail. Loop faction provides a beat that brings a strong, consistent rhythm that nails the feeling of a constant but slow movement. A boom-bap kick and snare are the mallet that drives the posts down for a simple drawn out bass riff that sets the 'no-nonsense' simplicity of how the grind is to be approached, while a repeating melody keeps your mind engaged as it subtly shifts at the end of each four bars. Samples are expertly scratched in between verses to complete the beat and the message of the track. As every synapse for auditory cognition is occupied by the track, our eyes are taken on a tour through a huge derelict. coated in rust and peeling paint, and graf covering every wall, the words 'underground' are fully visualised. Other shots go to a more literal representation of the highs and lows through busy night-time high streets and desaturated sunsets. Movement is constant and cleverly cut while steadily paced, capturing as much of the locations as possible while still not losing focus on the artists. If ever the grind of personal pursuits becomes difficult to find the drive for, MOVES is a track that will bring out the fight in you to push through the challenges! And after a day's work, it's a good track to appreciate how doing it sets you apart from your peers.
Slard teams up with illternal beats to quickly capture a chaotic situation and document the scene before he moves on. Drawing attention to issues surrounding all of us as we try not to fall victim to the messes ourselves. The overall tune bringing that feeling of passing scenes of an overcast light, where one knows if they don't make an effort to move with it, they'll left wondering where they've ended up.
Bosh is back! After a while away, it is great to see Ronnie return with those classically stabbing vocals that we couldn't imagine Contact Play without. He's got a few things to tick him off but they definitely aren't holding him back as he drops two full-power sixteens that fill us in on where he's been, and how it's only made his fires burn brighter.
The verses are spat over an engaging but smooth beat - courtesy of Dirty Dike which brings mix of simple guitar and a 'trickling' synth over a classic Boom Bap, kick, snare, and sub. All expertly packaged in a video that will keep your eyes locked on with minimal elements and constant movement! Click here to grab yourself a digital download of this single at a bargain price! ![]() It's time to get lost in an ocean of funky waves in the most appetising sharer plate to come through your speakers over the last year. Pitch 92 produces a variety of loud but easy-listening beats for the bases and gathers over twenty vocalists of varied styles to lay down various poetic, lyrical, and melodic bars to provide the toppings. 'Third Culture' is Pitch 92's debut full album and it’s definitely one to leave an impression! Showing his versatility, Pitch produces Hip Hop, Grime and R&B tracks that all bring a different feel. No track on this album is too much like another, yet all consistently hold that Pitch 92 sound. Which is able to hold true throughout songs that are almost entirely synthesised, featuring subtle samples from the analogue world to serve purely as the salt and pepper on an electronic main course. And also in tracks where this arrangement is reversed to allow a sax or soft-voiced electric guitar to take centre stage. Pitch never goes completely digital or analogue - they are always working together with varied proportions throughout the album. The constant adjustments song-to-song are guaranteed to keep your curiosity stoked. The elements are a small number of carefully chosen stems. A minimalist bass builds the foundation and the rest of the elements reside mostly in the high-end leaving the mid-range wide open - allowing lots of space for the vocalist to stretch in, or DJ to scratch in. And this simple formula is competent for bringing the big and loud sound for Jehst in '3rd Culture' that takes me right back to watching a Jehst set in 2018, the heavy sounding stamp-tracks such as 'Drama Ft. Sparkz, Foreign Beggars & DR. Syntax', and 'Overly Fresh Feat. Fliptrix', and the softer, lighter feeling tracks like 'Criminalised Ft. Coops' and 'Wise Man Ft. Confucius MC and Lyamah', the lyrics in which carry a more rhetorical message. And of course, Verb T comes in on a couple of tracks to include the sound that worked so well in 'Good Evening'. There's something for everyone in this album, and if you're like me every track is for you for a different reason. ![]() Though this album serves primarily as a demonstration of capability and is in no way a concept album like that which we have grown to expect of Ramson Badbonez or Fliptrix, it's not one I can see myself cherry-picking from for everyday listening. Every track, though different, shines bright in what it's aiming for. I would say the overall feel of the album is generally chilled. It does have tracks with enough energy present should any of it be played live and need to get a crowd moving - certainly some songs are better than others if they're to be played at parties. But for a BBQ, meeting friends over beers, having on in the background while I work or to compliment an end-of-the-day wind down, I would let the whole album play from start to finish! 'Third Culture' is available for Pre-Order on Vinyl, CD, Tape, and Digital over at the High Focus store, and you will not regret grabbing a copy for yourself when it drops on 28/02/2019! - Fire@Will - OneLion Sound ![]() Badbonez is back once again with horrorcore concept album of old-school 'spooky' themes mashed into contemporary production styles titled; Mic Day The 13th Leaping from the ethereal and varied dream-like scenes of Hypnodic, Mic Day The 13th zeroes in on a solidified underworld setting into which the different topics he chooses to talk about are dragged kicking and screaming. The whole album feels like it's going on in various sections of a single location - take your classic horror game's 'remote island' with a derelict mansion' setting and replace it with a local underground venue. It's certainly an unconventional twist of sounds that call back to films that by today's standards are cheesy, flipped around by Ramson un-ravelling the bandages of the reanimated humours mummies to reveal much more concerning present day racists and homophobes. Ramson Badbonez brings in the experimental flows we expect of him, and really pushes it on this one. Stuttering Psychopath is unlikely to be for everyone, and I'll be honest, I can't figure out what it means, though the title does suggest that was the intention all along. Other tracks, though still playing with a variety of flows, are a lot more direct. You get a good set of references to what boils Badbonez blood in Halloween Rap Regime delivered in an ever-varied flow. Followed up by Machete Madness where he blows his lid and draws more blood and guts than a demon-themed anime from the bodies of the aforementioned racists and powerful icons of injustice in our world, over an instrumental that put that anime idea in my head from the start. If Hypnodic was an album where Ramson finds clarity in the chaos, Mic Day The 13th represents an unaddressed tumour of anger erupting from the depths of his soul and ripping everyone in its path to ribbons. ![]() Production is shared among four artists; the appropriately named Skeleton Key and Mark Fear Beats, with Illinformed and Jazz T. Old school horror vibes are utilised in tracks like Ghouls & Goonies and Sticks & Stones to create post-modern stomping beats to compliment Ramson's vibe and set an ideal backing track for his army of marching skeletons. Other tracks carry a much more modern collection of synths and to mention the central duo-tracks again; Halloween Rap Regime includes crashing symbols which in my experience are really under used in the rap genre, followed by Machete Madness which is like a contemporary take on the intro tracks to the Streets of Rage games on the Sega Megadrive. The style shifts seamlessly from track to track and they are all very much engaging. This album is a hardcore collection and does not want to see any listeners leaning back... Or looking back (He's behind you). Any track you pull from this album will stand strong on its own, but once again, Ramson Badbonez has released a collection you will want to experience all at once. Like any well-made horror, it's a rush to sit through and get fully immersed into with the lights off! Mic Day The 13th drops on 31/01//2019 but is already up for Pre-Order on Vinyl, CD, and Tape over at the High-Focus store! You can also check out two music videos; Sticks & Stones and Face Down Floating, to get an appetizer of this heavy release! - Fire@Will - OneLion Sound New visual lifted from Baxters Touching Scenes Album! In our opionion Bodyslam is one of the hardest hitting tracks from the recent release and popped off when performed in Exeter on his recent tour with Sammy B-Side and Datkid and OLS support. Video directed & edited by Above Ground
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AuthorsJoe Read Archives
September 2021
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