Realistic Crew - Overcome

'Overcome' provides border crossing downbeat dance music from a Budapest collective that deserved a better band name. Signed to one of Berlin's premier record labels, the Realistic Crew bring their neat mash of nice (urban) soundscapes - the recording of a spinning bicycle wheel, for example - and immaculate beats. It's all sound in motion, brought together with elegance and vigour. The more I start to appreciate the music, the bigger the shame of that misleading band name. The vocal contributions do not provide the strongest moments on 'Overcome' - the content being a tad bit pointless and they ruin the cinemascopic sense of the instrumentals. These range from urban dubs to jazzy and electronica sidesteps and are this pretty tall album's backbone. The album holds an excellent charm featuring sounds such as those of waves clashing against a riverbank. The loose and watery flavouring of 'Overcome' suits the jazz, the stripped bare hiphop and glitch-based beats perfectly well. They give room for retrospection and reflection. At their best the Realistic Crew tiptoe on a tapestry of mystery threads. Albert Markos adds to that with his cello contribution when along the Danube east meets west in sound. The album is ample with great ideas of which many get executed very well indeed. As it's on compact disc and available to be programmed, I would suggest separating the vocal tracks from the instrumentals and enjoying these in individual sessions.