Grace Jones - Hurricane

New Albums - Electronica & Hip Hop Albums

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Wow. I haven't heard eighties' diva hits like this since, well... the eighties. But, from the likes of Grace Jones you’d expect nothing less.

"Hurricane" is quite a remarkable album in many respects, not least because it is Grace Jones' first since 1989's "Bulletproof Heart". It is unbelievable to think she was swanning around Studio 54 before I was even born, and yet she has somehow created an album that my generation isn't capable of. The woman is timeless in the truest sense of the word, and "Hurricane" boasts some classics tunes which sound like they could have been produced at her peak two decades ago.

From the tightly-produced and eclectic "William's Blood" and similarly catchy "This is life" to the pure funk of "Well Well Wells”, Grace just doesn’t let up. Mistress of all trades, trip-hop "Corporate Cannibal" and the emotional "I'm Crying (Mother's Tears)" add impressive variety, and perhaps most significantly, not one song grates.

Strike me down for my ageism, but "Hurricane" does not sound like an album from the hands of a sixty year old; contemporary acts still have a lot to learn about keeping up with this Jones.

8/10

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VA – Smoove pres: MO’ RECORD KICKS: Act II

This latest collection from label Record Kicks is easy on the ear.

If it doesn’t have you dreaming of better days in the snap of a second, there is something wrong with you. This record is an aphrodisiac for the modern workplace.

From "The Young Patter" by the Baker Brothers and "Prophets Bound to Christ" by William Joseph Fowler & the Disciples, DJ Smoove mixes up a storm on record Act II. With the types of sounds that would be at home at a funk club in the funkiest of cities in the funkiest of countries, there is no denying that DJ Smoove is, for want of a better description, a cool cat.

A particularly favourite track of this reviewer is "Rags to Riches" by the Liberators, a fresh afro-funk act hailing from Sydney, Australia. The track is so rich with the sounds of Africa, it is a wonder it was not produced in, ummm, Africa.

The Diplomats of Solid Sound have been on my radar for a while, and so have Lack of Afro. So it does not surprise me that the Lack of Afro remix of the Diplomat’s tune "Give Me One More Chance", is an outright classic.

Similarly to a lot of the new releases from the team at label Record Kicks, this is highly recommended!

Label: Record Kicks

8/10