For this fridays guest mix we have the retro-futuristic duo Futurecop.

Formed back in 2007, Manzur Iqbal and Peter Carol started to create music together that reminded them of their childhood. Since then they have gone on to tour all over the world receiving support and acclaim from the likes of Tiesto, Diplo, Annie Mac, even Kelly Clarkson, and all through out this journey their sense of nostalgia has remained central.

2013 has already been a big year for the Cop with the release of singles ‘Misanthropist Wolf’ and ‘Superheroes’ gaining major support. Plus with the planned release of two albums coming later this year things only seem to be getting bigger.

For their mix, Futurecop have put together a typically poppy retro infused collection of tracks to get your friday off to a good start. Or any day for that matter.

‘Our mix is a collection of tracks we love, vintage, dancey yet heartfelt. All the artists are people we really admire, because they break down genre boundries.’ – Futurecop

Futurecops Soundcloud
Futurecops Facebook

DOWNLOAD mix.

Tracklist
Rilo Kiley – Pictures of Success
DWNTWN – Hungry Hearts
Futurecop! feat. Kristine – Superheroes (Azure Blue Remix)
Futurecop! – Atlantis 1997
Miami Nights 1984 – Ocean Drive
Ocean Drive Lifelike – Discomachine
Pictureplane – Real is Feeling
College – Révélation
Futurecop! – Misanthr:)pist Wolf
Viceroy & French Horn Rebellion – Friday Nights
She – Headshot
Boys Noize – What You Want (Christine Remix)
Justice – Helix
Jamin Winans – The City Surf

After releasing her self-titled debut album — one of the most enjoyable and heart-rendering contemporary reggae albums in recent years — Hollie Cook has firmly become one of our favourite new muscians.

The daughter of famed Sex Pistol Drummer Paul Cook, she has been described by many in the media as tropical pop, but her music feels so much more. Uplifting and heartfelt, it oozes a sense of much needed sunshine as if from some distance tropical destination. Tracks like ‘Cry’, ‘Shadow Kissing’ and especially ‘Milk and Honey’ with her subtle whispers and unique sleepy style create a rare calming affect and irresistible longing for summer nights.

Knowing she was a bit of an island girl and with the album in mind we went to visit Hollie in her west London flat to recreate a bit of that tropical vibe. Albeit armed only with blue tac, printed paper and a creative imagination, we went about turning a random city wall into a Caribbean collage.

Being greeted by Hollie is like seeing her music personified. Charming and enviously carefree she makes the Beatnik crew a tea with a welcoming smile fixed from ear to ear. Hollie is in good spirit. After critical praise across the board she is also still glowing from her performance on Later With Jools Holland.

With the occasional giggle she quickly brushes her big frizzy hair, ties it in a handkerchief, and we head outside.

“It relaxes me and makes me feel warm inside.” She replies to my question on reggae music and why she chose to peruse it.

“Reggae music I think is all about feeling. It’s not a mental or emotional thing. It’s a physical thing that takes you wherever you want to go really.”

Hollie’s choice in musical genre was a pretty organic selection as it turns out. She met the legendary dub producer Prince Fatty 3 years ago, after a friend passed her his album. She quickly asked to work with him and become his regular featured vocalist.

Hollie puts it better though. “I wanted to meet him and find out what he was about and if he was interested in having any girls have a sing song over his rhythms, ha ha”.

After a while the synergy between Hollie’s soft and psychedelic melodies and Fatty’s wide-ranging tropical dub were too good to resist and they decided to record her full length debut.

“It was a natural progression, not an intentional thing.” Hollie explains, “It just happened.”

The debut is a varied listen that doesn’t venture too much from a uniform line. Over Fatty’s curvaceous 60′s-style dub, ska and reggae beats sits Hollie’s gentle and swaying vocals.

“He’s a cool guy and having all the musicians coming in and out of the studio was really special”

Hollie says, turning the conversation to the recording of the album that took place over a very hot summer in 2009, amidst the sea air of Brighton, an hour from London.

“Brighton is like London’s little neighbour. So it’s been nice that the album was made there. It’s got such a chilled vibe and obviously being by the ocean is like the air is different. It makes your brain, work differently. I know we are an island but we’re not a tropical one so Brighton provides I think the needs I have as a island girl.”

The record also breathes warmth into otherwise somber topics like heart ache and solitude highlighting another quality of Hollie’s music, her ability to cheer you up.

But it’s a review even Hollie was surprised to hear.

“It’s nice. I’ve never been described that way before regarding subject matter. So that’s really cool. Throughout my whole singing even at school I got lumbered with that whole melancholy vibe, so to be described as uplifting in any way is amazing.”

“Musically, growing up I went through phases. It would listen to anything from Mariah Carey to The Smiths” she laughs “I liked a lot of rnb, then rock and then punk and then drum n bass. Pretty random I suppose”

“But regardless what the subject matter, reggae has a way of making you feel better.” She smiles again.

As our tea turns cold, we run out of time. So I end by asking about her family’s influence, that famous dad and if there was anything else planned but making music.

“Going to see your dad play was probably one of the cool things” she recalls. “And watching live music has always been a part of my life since.”

“As a kid I use to make up little dances and be into so many different types of music too. I always wanted to perform. I’d get up and sing in-front of people even if I hadn’t been asked. Ha ha”

“He always gave me confidence in doing what I wanted to do.”

“I guess that carried on when I was older.” she continues. “I wasn’t a very self-assured teenager, but I knew what I wanted to do, because there was nothing else really that made me feel normal.

“Its only been growing up and gaining life experience that confidence grows with that. I felt that music and singing was something that definitely felt right – so I kept on doing it. Ha ha

—–

Hollie Cook Website
Hollie Cook on Facebook
You can find Hollie Cook via Mr Bongo

Jono McCleery is not your conventional London based folk/soul artist. Having independently released his debut back in 2008, Darkest Light—a self-produced venture funded by fans—it seems he has ventured to a greater nefarious depth with the sublime There Is.

An album that sees his heart-rendering vocals waltz with moody, cinematic electronic bass its in parts harrowing—but also surprisingly settling, making an exquisite piece of music that made us, amongst others, immediate fans.

Meeting Jono I was slightly taken aback by his humble and subdued character, even shy perhaps. But that’s how he likes it. Softly spoken, Jono leaves any extrovert colours for his music. Positioned in the corner of a giant leather sofa at Ninja Tunes HQ, he slowly and carefully unwraps the meaning behind his debut, starting with his specific musical influences.

“Astral weeks by Van Morrison, What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye. I think Jeff Buckley’s album Grace is also really special. The intensity by which they all experienced their music is so deep yet heartfelt. It really moves me,” he says, explaining the unifying tread between the albums.

“My ultimate favourite musician is John Coltrane. I really love his stance. I see it as a stance because he is so sincere and full of self-belief, but without the arrogance. There is humility in his music.”

I can’t but feel the same way about the man in-front of me. An exceptional songwriter, his play with words are gripping, drawing the listener in with sincerity and abstract thought.

“The way Nick Drake and Leonard Cohen write is an inspiration. Leonard Cohen has a way with words that’s amazing and would translate really well in other genres. A lot of folk music is really well written but I tend to be influenced by the more jazzy stuff for the recording side.”

And there lies your point of reference, that thing that sets him apart from other singers in his immediate bracket.  With There Is, he has joined forces with acclaimed electronic producer and fellow label buddy Fybe, stitching a darker cloak on proceedings. Having witnessed a remix by Fybe of one of Jono’s previous tracks, the label decided it would be a could idea to get the two together once he was signed. Jono explains the process.

“They asked me to come on board and do a record together. I hadn’t done anything like it before so I thought I’d give it a try. It was a new experience for myself and fife and everyone involved, a big risk. And it took along time.”

“A few people are doing it now and it might be seen as cliché, but at the time the only singer, song writer I heard collaborate with a electronic producer was Thom Yorke on eraser.”

“At times it felt quite messy. We weren’t sure where the song was going because of the many directions it could have gone. But we got there in the end. Fife gave my vocals and guitar parts an almost harshness and over time we would soften that, bringing the live band and live strings in and kind of make it all blend.”

Jono turns to some of my favourite tracks on the album and the reason for their inception, starting with the magnificent ‘Tomorrow’.

“I think Matt Kelly came up with this huge string arrangement that everyone loved. It was a single and it’s a long wait for the album version but I think for the album we felt we wanted it to be more of a cathartic experience where you could just lie down and just really take it in. I feel now when it does really come in it has much more of an impact.”

Listening to ‘Tomorrow’ you can’t escape that signature, hair-standing-on-end double bass. Its use comes from another classic track that uses the same emotive weapon of choice.

“Actually I was going to say, when all my mates were into drum n bass, when we were 14 of so, discovering Roni Size and ‘Brown Paper Bag’ was a big turning point for me. I remember thinking ‘wow, these are real instruments.’ I remember how much of an impact it had on me and from that age I sought out music with a double bass on it. I have my own double bass now that I play on the record. So yeah, Roni Size did a good thing for me, ha!”

More animated, he continues.

“I got into 4hero later on, and that’s wonderful stuff. I was listening recently to the jazz loving bass guys Robert Mitchell trio and their 4hero cover. They are brilliant.”

Jono explains two more songs on There Is:

“Home’ was a first improvisation take. I have no idea what’s its about. I got into some dark deep jazz space there, ha.”

“So many of my songs recently have come from improvisation that I’m often left in the dark myself as to their meaning. I can almost shape them into sense afterwards but I often don’t have the incentive.”

“Fears’ is again a bit of a stream of consciousness, a flowing of words. The chorus though is about losing someone.”

Jono has toured with the likes of the late Gil Scott-Heron, Bonobo, Fink, Jose Gonzales, Little Dragon, Portico Quartet, and Jamie Woon, with whom Jono came up on the London circuit. He is already itching to start on his next album—which he assures me is nearly ready—and has taken a Latin direction for this record.

“I’m really interested in the different rhythms you can incorporate the guitar into songwriting, without it turning into something too jazzy or too pretentious. I really want to go that route and see where it takes me.”

He also expresses a keen interest to collaborate with one of our all time favourite wizards, Bonobo. But whatever the outcome, it seems the future is rife with exciting prospects—for Jono, and for us.

——–

Jono McCleery website
Ninja Tune website

If you’re wondering, the record is a bit better than the appalling names suggest. The beats are nicely buzzy and synthy in the vein of acts like Zion I and Living Legends. Elefant Man is a solid MC, too, with a slightly gravelly voice that does quite a bit to mark him out as someone to pay attention to.

And we’ll give these guys credit: they certainly know how to kick things off. Album openers are always important, but they’re even more important when the album is from a largely untested rap group. Fortunately ‘After The Lights On’, a Grouch-featuring thumper, is the perfect blend of atmospheric and neck-snapping; the kind of tune you really would put on just as the party dies down. That’s not a bad thing, by the way, especially when the album seems geared towards introspection and heartbreak.

As for the rest of the album? It doesn’t deviate hugely from the main themes, but it’s pretty good—not a classic, by any means, but pretty good. The beats stay crisp—the kick drums on Getting’ Back in particular will haunt you forever—and Nelly Thelefant and his guests (Gift Of Gab, Kweli, Casual) do a solid job. If you like buzzy, heartfelt indie rap, then you’ll get a kick out of Lostribe.

words Rob Boffard

Lostribe feat. Talib Kweli, Maryann Hunter, And N8 The Gr8: No Other Word

Lostribe feat. Deja Solis: Getting Back

C F O Recordings

With love coming from all areas of the country after a string of brilliant EP’s and their superb debut album Force of Habit resurrecting hip hop lovers from the depths of despair, Beatnik thought it was about time you were introduced to the Boom-Bap Professionals, PROSE, made up of beat supreme Steady and lyrical genius Efeks.

Having met through a mutual friend, DJ Philly, many years ago their friendship was galvanized by a mutual, unquenchable love for hip hop. “Ha, Love blossomed!” Steady chuckles remembering the pair’s first encounter.

“I went to music college then dropped out of school and had been making beats quite a long time before meeting Efeks. I hadn’t really been the type of person to push myself out there as a producer, the type of person to hassle MC’s. I was kinda happy doing my own thing. Efeks was the same. He’d worked with a few people but nothing really came of it. There wasn’t that chemistry,” Steady recalls.

Efeks injects: “I had it in my mind that I would kinda just go on the solo tip. I had bought like an MPC and I was determined I was gonna do it on my own, I met steady and never touched the damn thing! ”

Steady: “Unlike a lot of MC’s who tell you ‘I know what I’m doing’, Efeks would listen to my advice. He doesn’t get offended if I’m like this or that might sound better and he’s the same with me. ‘Originate’ was one of the first beats we made. ‘Born Invincible’ was another. We kinda just gelled, I suppose.”

Efeks: “I had stuff that I had written in the past. As soon as we met up he’d be playing me stuff, yeah that’s the beat I was thinking off. It was nice just to finally unify.”

The unison is one of the most exciting UK hip hop has seen, reminiscent of those great hip-hop partnerships like Pete Rock and CL Smooth, DJ Premier and Guru, EPMD that we all — including Steady and Efeks — grew up listening to. Ask the duo to cite their biggest musical influences and it’s pretty plain and simple.

S: “Being in school people like LL Cool J, Radio, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Eric B & Rakim really caught my attention.”

E: “Hip-hop wise same lines as Steady. That sort of school, LL, Big Daddy Kane, the good stuff. My mum use to play her Motown stuff, my dad played his Italian music. So it’s like a blend of different stuff. Then my older brother sort of got me into hip-hop.”

Early Tim Westwood’s hip-hop show on Capital radio was also something of a religion. Showcasing the latest transatlantic tunes, he also was a pioneer in playing the best homegrown hip-hop, which inspired the duo especially.

E: “We always use to listen to the Westwood show and he’d always have like the UK segment at the end. You’d always wait till the end of the show to hear that heavy little piece. I mean that was standard back in the day. I don’t really know anyone who wasn’t into hip-hop that didn’t use to listen to the show. That was the highlight of the weekend. Getting that tape ready, ha!”

Now of course, they have their own tape. Well, we’re talking a CD and digital release — but the symbolism is just as strong. A deep, introspective beauty that has taken a lifetime to make, the record is one of the most honest and intelligent hip-hop records you will ever see from the UK scene, boasting enough respectability and positivity to reach even the furthest lovers of the culture.

E: “It’s really the joy and pain of the last 5 years.”

S: “We’ve always described our sound as Boom Bap, that’s why we’re the Boom Bap Professionals, but we don’t want to be associated with the return of the back pack. Yeah ‘94 is where we come from, but I like fuck hip-hop as much as Talib hip hop. We argue about what we think is good or wack all the time. That’s what hip hop is about.”

Prose have succeeded in just that. Soaked in that golden nostalgia of the early nineties Force of Habit is not a throwback album, but an updated piece of music for our time that takes influences from the genres most prolific time.

E: “We don’t really make no apologises for the music we make. It is what it is. It is hip-hop and we ain’t ashamed to call it that. It’s always difficult for you to kinda comment on your own sound. To define it. I think we do what comes naturally. Our sound is our representation of the sound we enjoy. It’s in the mould of the golden era of hip-hop, early to mid 90’s. Its music we believe in.”

Production-wise, Force of Habit is a product of The Boom Bap Bunker, a makeshift home studio from Steady’s postcode.

S: “I’m a crate digger and I got into MPC’s back in 97/98. Instead of blowing my student loan on drugs, beer or books I bought my first MPC. I collect and cut records so the MPC plays a big part in my beat making.”

There in The Boom Bap Bunker, Steady creates a dusty canvas of infectious looping bests for Efeks’ autobiographical poetry. Armed with tight metaphors and simple similes, Efeks paints the most gripping and complex of pictures in a tangible and heartfelt way. Tackling issues like religion, debt, becoming a father and battling depression Efeks has truly proven to be one of the most important lyricists of our times.

The uplifting ‘My Baby’, which Efeks dedicates to his first born child, will surely form a lump in your throat. It’s this ability to generate emotions in the listener from but a string of words that makes Efeks’ imagery so powerful. As he so eloquently puts it on ‘For the Love’ this talented duo are here to stay.“PROSE be them two dope boys without the Cadillac/doing this for ally cats/road dogs and anoraks/b-boys and beatniks sitting in front of Apple Macs.”

Through many of PROSE’s tracks you also get a real sense of the sacrifice they have both had to make to arrive at this point. The brilliant ‘Wasted Talent’ on their first EP is a prime example.

E: “It was also aimed at a lot of other people steady and myself grew up around. There was a lot of wasted talent. It was round a time we had both lost people close to us and we were at a period of our time when we were quite introspective and I guess the track was an honest reflection of that.
I have kids, two daughters you know. So it was always that thing when I had my first child: ‘argh this is it now, you’re not gonna be able to do the music anymore.’ It all depends on your perspective on life though and I kind of used that as a catalyst really to be more productive. I don’t see things I do as a sacrifice. Before I was sitting on my laurels, but I feel the pressure of time more now.”

S: “I grew up in the north, were Skinnyman was from, were Low Life Records started and I remember when Braintax was two people. I know a lot of those people from the Leeds scene growing up. The funny thing is I spent a lot of my life sort of having to defend hip-hop. Getting beaten up after school and being called a wigga for loving hip-hop. It’s so ironic now though ‘cos you look at TV today and hip-hop is part of popular culture. I hope someone out there is debating our music, through the love of music and has tuned on to it by someone else. Many fans of UK hip-hop can relate to having to defend our love for hip-hop.”

Unfortunately UK artists, like so many other international hip-hop artists, for so many years have been lumbered with the curse of comparisons to their bigger American cousins, constantly being dismissed as the poorer imitation. It’s an unfair reality that has meant many artists have never truly reaped the rewards of their art and consequently have had to maintain another career outside of music. Indeed only but a handful have had a fruitful career touring Europe and beyond. But helped by today’s digital music platform, places as far as Japan are reachable for diligent artists, and what was once frowned upon — even by hip-hop fans in the UK — is now independent music of worth, regardless of country.

Prose understand all too well the sparse currency their genre is built on in the UK. But when you are not motivated by money but an unquenchable need to be creative the concern — almost — becomes void.

E: “I don’t think we are under any kind of illusion that Russell Simmons is gonna come along and give us a check and a record deal. It’s not really gonna happen like that. We do it because we love doing it. It’s an escape from our 9-5’s. With the hope of that something could come of it.”

S: “We do what we have to do to support our family. We’ve been in hip-hop for years so just to put something down and release it is an achievement for us in itself.”

E: “It’s good to have expectations and ambition but at the same time I think you have to approach it with a certain realism and in that way your world’s not gonna be shattered. It’s like when you hear some people saying that if you get to a certain age and if it’s not happening then I’ll knock in on the head. You can’t have those kinds of expectations. I can’t ever imagine me not writing. That’s a part of me, whether I’m 50, 60. I’m still gonna do it I’m never gonna think I’m too old to do this, I’m never gonna stop. I need to do it. And we enjoy our friendship too much. So we’re always gonna do this. I’m still gonna have to put up with him one way or another.”

Leaving Prose is difficult. I’ve had an educating afternoon getting to know these two hugely talented musicians. I leave humbled by their committed work ethic and passion for a shared love. It’s not often you see such devotion for creating music. As I leave I ask Efeks for a few last words.

“I mean another one man’s broth is another man’s poison. We make music that inspires us and we believe is great. Hopefully like-minded people out there will love it too.”

—————-

For free downloads, including a string of brilliant EP’s and to buy Force of Habit get to Prose’s bandcamp
Prose on facebook

If you’ve never heard of Stig of The Dump, prepare to be knocked the hell out! Stig is our Stella-in-hand-weed-toking-screwed-faced-profanity-munching local hip-hop hero prepared to attack all of society’s woes in superb lyrical style. This is not for the faint hearted, actually scrap that: the album should brand a health warning for anyone with a heat condition. Stig has never been one to numb his opinions.

Here on his new offering, dropping via cool indie Lewis Recordings (Edan), the outspoken northern packs a bigger punch than Ron Jeremy’s briefs with microscopic observations encompassing hilarity, tragedy, angst, bravado and above all else a message of uncompromising individualism.

The release comes timely overdue after his single ‘I Got Game’ got the critic’s rubbing their hands. Guest production on ‘Who’s That Muddy Funkster’ from legendary Jehst says something and features with one-liner intellect Dr Syntax on ‘Give It Up’ and the catchy music industry lambasting ‘I know What You’re Thinking’ illustrate a perfect pairing of tones. A tale of life griped by alcohol, ‘Intoxicated’ holds brilliant charm too.

It’s when Stig perpetuates his return on oldskool nodder ‘Back,’ though, that his bite leaves the biggest mark. With dusty breaks, big scratches and sampled horns this is where Stig best roams.

In truth such is the unique palette required that this album won’t appeal to everyone’s taste. Not all the tracks hit the mark, and that’s a shame. I’d have rather seen a bit more variation, maybe Stig conquering a few more melodic joints—such is his talent (who remembers Stig’s verse on Skreins’ ‘Raise Ya Glasses’). But behind all the shouting, boozy attitude and neck-snapping bangers this album illustrates a rare lyrical supremacy. Stig has been blessed with a knack for storytelling—be it with a delivery that might scare some.

Heartfelt ‘Rise’ is close in line after ‘Back’ as the best on offer. About as close as you’re gonna get to a rest bit from the bombardment aggression, it’s a small introspective window into a rapper with a whole lot of heart. We hold our breath for the love collection sequel.

Words Rob Boffard

Buy Mood Swings

Plenty of gifted performers could have found themselves in the studio with Flying Lotus or under the wings of Bonobo by a combination of talent and chance, and then stopped trying. If circumstances had them in some of the finest company in music, surely they could just continue to ride whatever wave that got them there?

That is where Triana differs. Her debut could have been a Bonobo-produced masterpiece with her vocals on every track. But it’s not. Sure, he produced the whole thing, but the English champion of obscure noises found himself in new clothes; a wonderfully personal soul outfit, sown by Triana herself.

Bonobo’s tracks are more contained than we are used to, fitted to Triana’s clinical songwriting. Strings follow the piano that follows the guitar and the bass of the intro, kind of thing. Live instrumentation trumps scattered samples. Not everywhere, of course; single ‘A Town Called Obsolete‘ is built on quirky sounds that resemble instruments, pieced into a melody on one of the album’s more upbeat offerings.

But as admirable and exciting as it is that Triana forced a sonic readjustment from Ninja Tune’s golden child, her own songwriting is the other crucial component to the debut. ‘Daydreamers‘ jumps a few centuries back just to deal with escapism or futile attempts at it, with the paper thin, cracked vocals complementing the slow arrangement. ‘X,’ which concludes the album, continues in a similar vein, but a more personal one. We end at a point where Triana’s fragility, personal and vocal, is most exposed.

Lost Where I Belong is a succinct debut album, and despite the title, Triana sounds entirely at home on her excursion into heartfelt, organic soul. The album prompts fantasies of how Triana’s next project might turn out – we should probably expect a new and exciting direction.

Words Sven Carlsson
Peep our interview and exclusive photo shoot with Andreya here.
Buy Lost Where I Belong

Travelling to Ghana in West Africa producer and DJ, Richy Pitch accomplished more then the average open eared tourist. Entrenching himself in the beautiful and diverse culture of the region he took on the big challenge of recording a record that drew on the musical experiences during his lengthy two year stay.

Ye Fre Mi Richy Pitch (My Name is Richy pitch in Twi – A Ghanaian language) is the beautiful product that followed. It Bridges modern electronic and Hip Hop sounds with the exciting and many different styles of Ghananain and West Africa music from Highlife, Hiplife to Afrobeat and traditional percussion.

Richy Pitch is known worldwide for his production quality since 1996 having worked with and played alongside the likes of, (deep breath) J-Live, El Da Sensai, Apani B, Mr Complex, Asheru, Macy Gray, Eminen, Black Eyed Peas and De La Soul.
But featuring the cream of Ghanaian music talent from mc’s to singers, in his new project he’s created a window into the feel good vibe and flavoursome melting pot brewing in the country. Producing one of the most interesting and upbeat releases to drop this year.

Although maybe a touch too lengthy there’s a real air of dedication and authenticity here, indicating a real affection for the local culture and music. Highlights include the organ lead and hip shaking ‘Obroni’ – featuring Wanlov the Kubolor along with the lazy trumpets of heartfelt ‘Breathe’ featuring M3NSA and Ndidi.

‘Abanaba’ featuring Kwesi Dankwa is another insightful and moving hidden piece while housing a collage of snapshots from the life of MC M.anifest as a youngster in Ghana – ‘Blackstar’ is retro electronic brilliance fans of Diplo/Swith/Major Lazer will lap up.

Words Ali Raymond
Richy Pitch Myspace
Buy Ye Fre Richy Pitch

First, of course, the original: