Jazzsteppa - Hyper Nomads

  by Maarten Schiethart

published: 26 / 5 / 2011

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Review

The secrecy surrounding Jazzsteppa is bound to make one suspicious at some point. The 'Hyper Nomads' album once again shows, however, that Studio Rockers pick the cream of the crop. Unlike some of the extrapolished dubstep albums, Jazzsteppa's 'Hyper Nomads' leans heavily on reggae and ragga and yet finds the jazzy balance between topical issues and beats in reverse. 'Hyper Nomads' holds true to its promise of making extreme wandering through styles. Merging electronic riddims, originating from reggae, with minimalistic 2step included, cannot lead away from the roots and dub music found on 'Hyper Nomads'. The prominent brass arrangements leave little to complain about and push forward Jazzsteppa to lead the jazzy parade of the hyper nomads. Jazzsteppa are not as innovative as Burial and Benga once proved, building new styles as they were. One of the centre points of 'Hyper Nomads' is the very addictive 'Holding Ground' which has repetitive keyboard strokes reminiscent of Benga's. With the next track 'Rusty Trombone' you're thrown into the deep again. Jazzsteppa DJ-ed in such unlikely places as Presikhaaf and Utrecht, which leads one to believe Jazzsteppa must be Bong-Ra in disguise. The fact of the matter is that Jazzsteppa goes on to astound with his blasting extravaganza. The driving force behind this exhilirating collection of raggatronics and dubstep is conscious reggae with samples of Linton Kwesi Johnson, for example, on 'Stronger'. 'Naked Lunch' at first seems to pave the way towards a grand finale. Soon enough, the bubbling 2step garage goes to introduce the last third or quarter of 'Hyper Nomads' where all festive sounds come together in one. Touches of hiphop and roots reggae come to replace the dubstep. Genuine dub with a brass section as if it's His Majestic Zion Train in person, such as in 'Lion' for example, take you through this round trip of dub, 2step, dubstep and whatnot. Do not count out the electronic buzz of dubstep, it returns full speed ahead on 'Taylor Rain'. All the time, that bass keeps drilling and by the time the 'Hyper Nomads' are told to withdraw, we get yet another hint it might after all be Bong-Ra. Sophisticated poppy breakcore on 'Wipeout' with the sample from a surf movie closes off this fine session.

Track Listing:-

1 Baby Jesus
2 Raising The Bar
3 Quick And Dirty
4 Baby Don't Leave Me
5 Holding Ground
6 Rusty Trombone
7 Minneapolis
8 Sweet Tooth
9 Do U Lov_ Me
10 Hebrew
11 Investment Decisio
12 Stronger
13 Naked Lunch
14 I-Doser
15 Sewer Music
16 D U B
17 Lion
18 Taylor Rain
19 4,000,000 Years Later
20 Wipeout

Label Links:-

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