Take My Drum To England - a review

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grand central. a well established label, yet for some reason i haven't heard anything prior to this.
do i now need to start investigating more thoroughly ? as this is a lovely album. instrumental hip-hop conjures up all sorts of dread amongst the media .. the ghost of trip-hop, but i dont care. it grooves, it has no raps, and it exudes nothing but a warm glow of calm.

organic real band hiphop grooves, real guitars and basslines interact with the subtle dj tricks, jon may have the skillz of a scratch dj, but these are hidden deep, this is not a turntablism scratchathon.

whisper it quietly but dj shadow has probably been an influence, with several tracks vereing into the cinematic soundtrack territory but without the overserious analytical aspect of shadows recent works, instead jon just goes for a nice tune with a decent groove and instrumental interplay to easy hip-hop beats.

instant highlight is the simple repetive loop on track 7 'brown acid'.. coming on like some old jazzy piano/horns from old school charlie brown+snoopy cartoon ,this just makes you feel that the world isn't a grey miserble dangerous place, but instead swathes of colour and positive emotions run wild.

yes, many aspects of the album can be used as aural wallpaper as this is not going to confront or distress anyone, but, when the melodies are as catchy as on 'secrets of the world' with its summervibes vocals from kate rodgers and a sax line that flows then it a bonus that your troubles ooze into the distance for however brief.

according to the credits jon kennedy played/produced everything, no idea which are samples and which are real instruments but jon has obviously studied his art well and when its a fine as this then, does it matter .. nope.

ok, there are aspects that dont hit the right spots .. the sitar themed 'east is east' has been done to death over the years and doesn't really take the listener anywhere new, and neither does 'way i feel' with its nu-soul vocals, its pleasant enough but doesn't sit amongst the rest of the lp.

but overall this makes an hour at work far more enjoyable. and that must be a bonus ?

little fact: my partner didn't complain once when i put this on - a rare acheivement for anything non-punk/dance related.