Rhythm & Booze An online music webzine created by music lovers for music lovers.

28 April, 2014

Frankie And The Dreadnought-I Want It All

Filed under: hip hop / rap,pop,Recorded Reviews,singer-songwriter — Tags: frankie and the dreadnought, I want it all, new single — willmunn @ 21:10

Franco And The Dreadnought is a Manchester based singer-songwriter  who has to date achieved a great deal of success performing across the UK and in recent times he’s completed a twenty-one date tour to the US as well as collaborating with a number of huge name songwriters such as Pam Sheyne (Corinne Baily Rae, Christina Aguilera, Miley Cyrus) and Marcella Detroit during that jaunt.

Frankie was also handpicked by Desmond Tutu to write a song for the late Nelson Mandela for his birthday, resulting in the bishop presenting the former president with the track Inayaniso (Truth).

Back late year Frankie with his trusty Dreadnought released a collaboration with fellow Mancunion MC James Gill entitled I Want It All and it’s another one of those tracks that deserves more than a second glance.

The song opens with a glorious blast of muted melodic trumpet before a hip-hop beat drops and MC James Gill delivers a smooth expressive, introspective rap over a gorgeous down-tempo groove, before Frankie joins the mix with a heartfelt, emotive crooned chorus, whilst the aforementioned horns rejoin the mix, creating a stunning contrast to the rapped verses, providing the listener with an instantly memorable hook and a number of reasons to hit repeat.

The single is backed with Aftermath, a track that showcases a somewhat rowdier side to Franco’s sound, as he creates a hard hitting club banger (and that could be dance club or indie) with strong meaty beats and a raw vocal that belongs to the night revellers the world over and perhaps deserves to be released in it’s on rights as a stand alone single.

The music of Franco And The Dreadnought is full of twists and turns, always compelling and catchier than the common cold, if you like a singer-songwriter who’s not afriad to mesh together influences and genres to create something a little unique I suggest you seek out Manchester’s finest. If Franco “wants it all” whatever you do, don’t bet against his, this guy is going to be huge!!

Rhythm & Booze Rating 8

www.francoandthedreadnought.com

 

 

15 August, 2012

Phil Marks-Baddest One

Filed under: hip hop / rap,Recorded Reviews — Tags: Baddest One, Phil Marks, single — willmunn @ 09:32

Phil Marks is the latest name on the New York hip-hop, he originally found a love for music at the tender age of 15, when a friend showed him how to make beats, from those baby steps Marks was encouraged to try his hand at rapping. From just 17, Phil began recording his cuts at a friends basement studio, he recorded a track entitled Call Me, which began to receive attention from his local peers and from there, he naturally gravitated to the stage, performing and collaborating at numerous open mic sessions.

Marks latest single Baddest One has already received support from the likes of Foxie 105FM in his native US as well being featured on DJ Kutt Throats ILMP Japan Edition Volume 1, now Phil is looking for further exsposure as he releases it over here in UK.

The single itself is a fairly inoffensive, infectious slice of funk ridden hip-hop, complete with a contagious beat, a smooth vocal flow and a catchy choral hook that I’m sure fans of rap and club bangers, the world over, will find plenty to get excited about. But for me, I’m not sure that Phil has fully developed his sound yet, there’s not much to separate him from his peers sure track is catchy enough, but there isn’t that “grab you by the balls pull factor”.  He’s got all the right moves just needs to pull out something a little different to help him stand alone, it’ll be interesting to hear if he can carve out a unique hook to really propel his recording career forward onto the hip-hop super leagues.

For now Baddest One is a decent enough stepping stone but let’s see if Phil Marks can continue to climb and grow as a artist in his own right, Its early days so keep an ear out Marks could be making serious waves in the future.

Rhythm & Booze Rating 6

www.philnomenon.com

8 June, 2012

J-Sol – Alien

Filed under: hip hop / rap,R&B / Soul,Recorded Reviews — Tags: alien, J-Sol, new single — willmunn @ 05:46

Alien is the debut single by new up and coming R&B superstar in the making J-Sol, a young singer-songwriter fresh out of the acclaimed Brit School (Amy Winehouse, Jessie J, Adele, Kate Nash, etc) to date he’s performed with the likes of Wretch 22, Boyz 2 Men and Chipmunk. J-Sol also recently managed to get nominated for a Spirit Of London award through his achievement in music, alongside the likes of Tinchy Stryder, Jemaine Defore and Stacey Solomon.

J-Sol has racked up over 100,000 video views on youtube has already been described as the UK’s answer to Usher, as his reputation continues to grow even before the release of his debut single, Alien.

The track itself should see J-Sol’s profile rapidly rise to the top of the R&B game, the track opens with an infectious synth riff before the beats kick in and J-Sol unleashes his stunning soulful croon, sure their maybe a little bit of Usher in his delivery but the way the track is structured the use of electric guitar and the rapped outro combine, Alien brings to mind recent smooth-groove sensation Weeknd (which my opinion is serious high praise indeed).

I have to be honest I don’t really listen to that much R&B, but when a track hit……… (the same with any genre of music) and Alien smashes the ball out the park, it’s a stunning debut that showcases J-Sol to be one of the hottest urban prospects out there right now, this has everything, a killer vocal delivery, wonderous hook an arrangement that performers all their life have been searching for.

Rhythm & Booze Rating 10

http://www.jsolworld.com/

11 October, 2011

SMOD-Les Dirigeants Africains

Filed under: acoustic,hip hop / rap,pop,Recorded Reviews — willmunn @ 16:04

Smod are a Malian trio who blend heart felt harmonies, rap, pop and acoustic guitar to create a wonderfully infectious, organic, rich sound, that seems to be captivating audiences everywhere the band tread. Smod have already caused quite a sensation in world music circles with their first two albums and now with their self-titled third, the wider world seems to be sitting up and taking notice  of theri impressive wares, with the new release receiving plaudits from everyone from Rolling Stone Magazine to The Guardian as well as receiving regonition at this year’s MOBO awards.

Les Dirigeants Africains is the latest single to be taken from the aforementioned Manu Chao produced,  self titled album and it’s something of a winning choice to boot. The band weave a wonderful tapestry of semi rapped vocals, acoustic guitar, subtle percussion and their sensational vocal harmonies to create an immediately, contagious, groove laden track that hooks the listener in, demanding repeat spins as the simplistic yet effective instrumentation leaves you yearning for more, whilst the infectious vocals transcend any language barrier by the pure passion and expression in the collective voices of SMOD.

Les Dirigeants Africains is a wornderful, evocative introduction to Africa’s finest puveyours of hip-hop, if you like rap but fancy something a little different from the normal watered down Americanised trash thst seems to be force fed to us, I highly recommend giving SMOD a spin.

Rhythm & Booze Rating 8

http://www.myspace.com/smodbamako

16 August, 2011

Public Speech-Publicity

Filed under: funk,hip hop / rap,pop,punk,Recorded Reviews — Tags: anti-folk — willmunn @ 12:24

Public Spleech are a Dalston (London) based three-piece who blend pop, punk, hip-hop and funk to create an addictive, high octane sound that has already seduced various radio stations and attracted all sorts of media attention, even managing to provoke The Sun and courting London’s finest with band’s video to their toast to the recent royal couple on their former single Queens Speech.

The band formed when singer Joe Pollution joined forces with drummer Bill Austin and bassist Kevin Byrne, having served time in the fabled Hackney hip-hop wars under the banner of 3rd Rok.

Joe takes the experience from those formative years in the hip-hop world and ups the ante by adding a collection of loud spiky rock  riffs and a heap load of attitude to create a brilliantly addictive collection of biting social commentary and witty obsevation, whilst Bill and Kevin lay down a frantic yet often funky rhythm forming one of the most instant and infectious sounds I’ve heard in a wee whilst.

The album opens with the frenzied punk of Shoot Em Up, a glorious upbeat pop punk anthem complete with a massive hook, a big shout a-long chorus and a few nice vocal harmonies thrown in for good meaures, as statements of intent go it’s pretty damn flawless and had me bouncing round the room like a loon. Block Party offers up that first sighting of the aforementioned hip-hop and funk influence as the band deliver an infectious slap of elastic bass whilst Joe unleashes a contagious lyrical flow with a delicious Cockney charm that had this reviewer happily reminicising of fellow London agit-pop/punk/hip-hoppers Milk Kan.

The massive hook-laden choruses, tasty rock licks, crazed scratching, pucnhy swagger and souped up funk comes thick and fast with each of the ten tracks offering up Joe’s quickfire delivery and the bands instant groove, picking individual highlights is rather difficult when everytime I spin Publicity I land up singing (well hollering out of tune would be more apt in my case) along to each and every track, but I do have to mention the gloriously funk smoothered Expenses, a stunningly addictive ode to goverment expenses, the swaggering swaying Tribute Act, the computer geek baiting Twitter complete with the catchiest chorus known to man and the riotous Bitch In A Mag, but like I said I could have picked any of the tunes on here.

If you, like me are rather partial to tongue in cheek, punchy, punky, provocative pop you’ll love Public Speech, Publicity is a brilliant confrontational debut that’ll have you grinning from ear to ear whilst punching the ceiling.

Rhythm & Booze Rating 10

www.publicspeech.co.uk

 

 

Older Posts »

Powered by WordPress