Icon. Probably an overused word. But fully deserved in this case. Gil Scott-Heron’s instantly recognisable street poetry comes to the fore in this Makaya McCraven remix. It takes the brooding, sinister energy of the original and raises it onto a vaguely beautiful plain. Extra points for flute.
The original:
Bonus album: impossible to post about Gil and not get this out there. Jamie xx made a full remix album based on I’m New Here. The sound of 2011. Full taste.
Every Sunday I bring you something a little more downtempo to ease you back into the world.
Two albums today from French trip-hop producer Wax Tailor (Jean-Christophe Le Saoût). He has a signature downtempo sound, with heavy use of looped samples from Hitchcockian classic films, but he also produces a couple of throwback hip-hop gems. These albums will take you on a buzzy, hypnotic, confusing journey through time and space. Yep.
Every Sunday I bring you something a little more downtempo to ease you back into the world.
Now then, Bristolian trip-hop legends Massive Attack. Their latest album from 2010 is a varied, wondrous number. Definitely worth a re-visit.
Historical note: Heligoland is a tiny island just off the North coast of Germany, rendered uninhabitable by bombing in the latter stages of the Second World War. Now you know.
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