Jurassic 5: "Jurassic 5" (Pan)
This is the great leap forward for hip-hop so forget your Puffs and your B-boy posturing for a moment and get with this program. Sunny, joyful, funky positivism from the US West Coast which owes more to Daisy Age De La Soul ideals and Jungle Brother vibes than it does to anything currently in the area, Jurassic 5's debut is a timeless collection of cool breaks and sublime rhymes, just like hip-hop used to be. Jayou is the finest call-and-holler tune to come this way since Public Enemy began to roll (and even they didn't use Bob Marley's Get Up, Stand Up quite like this), Lesson 6 is a cut-and-paste slam-dunk while Concrete Schoolyard is the sassiest anthem of the year. Over a simple gospel piano, Jurassic lament what's goin' on in their genre with style, panache and understated confidence. The rebirth of hip-hop cool.
Jim Carroll
Thievery Corporation: "Songs From The Thievery Hi-Fi" (4AD)
A gorgeous reminder that easy-listening can also go forward as well as lounge in a retro fashion at the side of the pool, this debut from Washington DC duo Rob Garza and Eric Hilton is subtle chill-out music which knows where it's at and more importantly where it's coming from. Plush and exuberant, Songs From The Thievery Hi-Fi combines elements of soft ragga chat, slo-mo breaks, Eastern tweaking, space-age dub and Baeleric doddling without losing the plot. It would be so easy simply to stuff diverse elements into a box and hope that the lid remains on but this Corporation are far too sussed to cut corners like that. Instead, tracks like 2001: Spliff Odyssey, Shaolin Satellite and the wonderful 38.45 create perfect music for late nights or early mornings depending on your time of arrival. The soundtrack for life below Capitol Hill.
Jim Carroll
Various: "Mystic Brew" (Fat City)
Compiled by Manchester's Grand Central posse - one of the big hits of the recent Southern Soul and Disco Festival - in tandem with Fat City, that city's one-stop hiphop shop, "Mystic Brew" is a funky collection for summer carnivals. Diversity is the key as the compilers dig deep in the crates to come up with the goods. After all, where else will you get a Trinidadian steel drum band's take on The Meters' Cissy Strutt and, more to the point, will it sound anything like this? Other tracks to get you on the good foot include the old-skool strut of The Jigmastas, the sampletastic wonders of Concrete Puppy and the delicious riddim of Brooklyn Funk Essentials' The Creator Has A Masterplan. Add a bonus CD featuring Mark 1 and Peter Parker mixing the 12 tracks into a glorious jam and you could well have the compilation of the year on your hands.
Jim Carroll
