MC JMP excited me from the very first second I heard his mic voice. At a time when American Hip-Hop was the staple, and the sound of it was well ingrained in the brains of those of us who followed or were part of that movement. While most UK rappers were spitting out lyrics with a USA-washed accent, Pat found a fine line between his own local UK accent and a more polished mic delivery that I still say could have gone up against any of them. "Musical Melody" was the other side of "The Theme" and when we were called on to perform on "Top Of The Pops" (see the performance below) we were told that the BBC didn't want an instrumental track playing on the TV show, suggesting that "Musical Melody" would make for better TV. I can't argue with that decision, JMP was an amazing frontman, but it did nark me, just a few months later, to see 808 State perform one of their instrumental tracks ... Pat & I were at the same middle school, the age difference between us meant we weren't schoolmates. We went on to different upper schools, and so it would take a few years for us to properly connect. Pat & I wrote the lyrics for "Musical Melody". My job was to stitch JMP's killer stage lines, that were part of our DJ sets, and add some new content to help form a story, which I think we did nicely. I still say Pat's voice is unbeatable - JMP - The physical, quizzical, critical, digital, musical lyrical. Cut-it!
0 Comments
Don't let those nerdy synth geeks fool you! There are MANY things more exciting than getting a new piece of studio kit, but it IS rather delicious, that first hour, sitting down with a new toy and dragging new sounds out of it. That's where this track came from. "Look At Me" was never meant to be a release, it was just a demo track, me messing around on my brand new Nord Lead keyboard while the DAT machine rolled on in record. This is a track that was never meant to be a track, born out of a couple of hours of happy sonic play-time! Searching through old, dusty DATS, on my search for long lost mixes and passes for this new album, I came across this demo and played it for the first time, probably since it was recorded. I instantly re-loved the rawness. The ever present "Unique bleeps" and the dirty break took me back to 2005 and a place I remember fondly. Still unsure that it was "finished enough" I employed the ears of our Mr Magic Re-Masterering Supremo - Mike Humphries at Mastertraxx Mastering, who convinced me it should be added. So pop-pickers, here is an unreleased "DAT box find" just for your audio delight "On The Wire" came about during a long and very annoying musical dry spell for me. Against the far stronger will of my insular, hermit other-self, I was pressured into visiting the Leeds venue "Wire" to see and hear my dear friend Bob Bhamra aka West Norwood Cassette Library. Bob played a pretty awesome Deejay set that night and the venue was jumping to some pretty dirty, deep underground House. I woke up the next day totally re-inspired and with a head full of fatness, humming the start of what would become the bass line running through this track. "On The Wire" was first released on the "Picture, No Sound" album but this re-mastered version really does jump out of the speakers, much more than the original did. * watch on YouTube here
|
Details
Press ARCHIVEOnce upon a time there were magazines made of real paper ... Archives
July 2020
Categories |