req - car paint scheme



warp is one of my favorite labels out right now (anti-pop, boards of canada, broadcast, etc...) so this cd caught my eye. so far it's just what i would expect from that label. avant gard electronic minimalist downtempo breakbeats that you could rap to while smoking a phat blunt or bumping it in your ride (kids, "ride" is what you guys call "whips" these days, no thanks to jay-z) if you wanted. one thing i notice about hip-hop related forms of music is that the english are great at making beats while in america, we've lost touch with our innovative hip-hop music making skills, but we can rap our asses off. i like this CD a lot, but i don't know if i'm entirely into this stuff on it's own. maybe if REQ collaborated with sunspot jonz (see below) they both might have a masterpiece to talk about. on one track we got another cockney MC (Kid Acne) flexing his "skills". a hundred times better than the overhyped two years ago, english rapper, the streets, since this chap can actually rap on beat. bloody good, but still a bit cheesy (the english shouldn't rap...sorry). overall. this is a great downtempo album.

two snaps up!