In... Turned On (World Domination)
- Simon West
Los Angeles-based artist/producer/remixer/composer The Angel is nothing if not prolific, popping up as remix producer for artists from Frente to The Pharcyde, solo and collaborative tracks on the Gridlock'd and Playing God soundtracks, and now two full length releases within a month of each other, as 60 Channels and part of Jaz Klash.
Recorded back in 1996 and released in the US in September 1998, Thru The Haze is a collaboration between Bristol-based duo More Rockers and The Angel, as Jaz Klash. More Rockers (Rob Smith and Peter D) are veterans of the Bristol scene - Smith is one half of respected drum and bass team Smith & Mighty. The end result of this collaboration is Thru The Haze, in which More Rockers' drum & bass and dub style combines with The Angel's hip hop and jazz leanings to brilliant effect, on one of the albums of the year.
Live musicians, including jazz veterans Jacky Terrasson and Brian Auger, combine with the breakbeats of drum and bass, hip hop beats and jazz melodies, and the occasional vocal from The Angel or guest vocalist Cockni O'Dire, creating a record that's a cohesive fusion of these diverse genres, rather than a load of samples banged on top of a couple of jungle loops. Smoky, laid back and cool, Thru The Haze is genuinely new music. Get it if you like jazz, get it if you like drum and bass, hip hop, whatever.
The 60 Channels project is similarly progressive, combining trip hop, hip hop, jazz, funk, soul and drum and bass. It's a more vocal affair - The Angel provides lead vox on most of the tracks, with guest appearances by Cockni O'Dire, Asian Dub Foundation's Navigator, Frente's Angie Hart and Japanese vocalist Monday Michiru. Real instrumentation is used here again to good effect, particularly Louis Russell's guitar. An Angel project proper rather than a collaboration, Tuned In... Turned On , like Thru The Haze, showcases her unique style and talent to similar effect. Styles and beats flow in and out of the tracks, but again, there's a cohesiveness here that sets 60 Channels above the crowd. Standouts include the single, "Ride With The Flow", the ominous guitar riff, blowing horns and sultry vocal of "No Come Down", and the funk of "Laid Back & Eazy".
Conclusion? Buy both. Thru The Haze is jazz/breakbeat fusion at its finest, with a jazz sensibility missing from many of its peers, while Tuned In... Turned On is more progressive still - the atmosphere of trip hop, the pulse of drum and bass, the heat of funk, the attitude of hip hop and the cool of jazz. An astonishing talent.
