Hi! I'm Lee. Welcome to my blog. Here we talk music: news, reviews, interviews, tips, tutorials and more. I'm also working on the upcoming podcast Influenced as a guest, writer and researcher alongside music aficionado Mark Williams and friends. Watch this space! I have been a lover of music for as long as I can remember, an amateur lyricist for 25 years, a music writer for 15 years and a hobbyist musician and blogger for almost 10 years. My tastes range from jazz to house to hip hop and I love helping artists from all genres develop their sound. My music, videos, reviews and interviews have been featured in a variety of magazines and websites, including: B-Boy Tech Report Gimme That Beat Humanhuman Audio Skills Dream House Beats Where Did the Road Go Beat Tape Co-Op Push Power Promo Drum Magazine You can find my music on Bandcamp: Monkey Mind Sounds AKA LeeTNB And you can find me on Facebook: The New Beatmaker page Lee's personal page
Many thanks to Jay Bishop for sending The New Beat Maker his latest releases, 'Dual Cassette' and 'The Cassette', both of which I've been enjoying over the past few weeks.
Jay has a created a signature style which incorporates elements of hip hop, trap, rock, soul and dance, in a very personal way.About 'Dual Cassette', Jay had this to say:
'...Dual Cassette calls back to when you could hear a variety of musical genres all without turning the radio dial. A mix of Hip Hop, Jazz, House, Disco, R&B, and even the Trap music of today all seamlessly held together by the steady groove...'
I think this comment sums up Jay's MO perfectly. 'Dual Cassette' in particular mixes big drums - at times boom bap / golden era influenced, at other times, trap styled - with thick bass lines which blur the line between 80's soul and house, and samples ranging from classic soul to 80's rock anthems. Jay makes skillfully blending these disparate styles together seem easy.
From golden-era hip hop to trap, from soul and house to eighties rock, Jay makes skillfully blending disparate styles together seem easy.
Something else that Jay does very well is sequence his projects. 'Dual Cassette' starts with an abrasive hip hop vibe. The big drums and ominous feel of‘The Ratchet’, ‘Make You See’ and ‘Peachtree Beatdown’, immediately catch the listener's attention. The project then cleverly moves from the streets to the dance floor, with the polished ‘54’ and the delightful rock-soul ‘Bull City Groove’. The nimble, catchy baselines and big drums continue on the mellow ‘If Heavy Was Here’.
Jay has a talent for crafting cuts that will work equally well in the club, the car, or the headphones. The Neptunes-esque ‘New Horizon’ has a more uptempo 4/4 beat coupled with a pensive vibe for the listener to enjoy getting lost in.
Jay has a talent for crafting cuts that will work equally well in the club, the car, or the headphones.
‘No Loving Tonight’ has restless flamenco handclaps juxtaposed with a house-style bassline, whilst the melancholy ‘Falling Backwards’ is a lovely mix of RnB heartache and hip hop ruggedness, with the delicate falling strings in the chorus are an especially nice touch.
The high-octane finisher ‘Wonderful’ balances moments of Roc-era Just Blaze excess with striking, stark minimalism to great effect and, at just short of two minutes long, is another track that demands an immediate replay.
Whilst 'The Cassette' is a more ‘straight-forward’ collection of hip hop beats than 'Dual Cassette', there is still a rich mix of diversity to enjoy here.
The haunting ‘Firefox’, mixes more bone-crunching drums, cleverly chopped soul in the style of J Dilla and 9th Wonder and a lovely slab of 80’s synth bass. ‘(Won’t You) Stay Stay’ is another atmospheric, soulful banger with a dramatic change of pace near the end. Elsewhere, 'Neva' is an the infectious foot-stomper followed by the mellow groove of ‘No Refunds’.
Both humorous and touching, the spot-on ol' school love-rap throwback ‘Cassius Clay’will have many a listener rushing to brush off the Kangols and four finger rings whilst waiting for that special someone to call.
With these two projects Jay shows off a lovingly created sound, full of knocking drums, big basslines, hypnotic chords and beautiful instrumental flourishes which, as promised, plays like a mix courtesy of your favourite late night radio show. Rock these 'til the tape pops.
Check out more at: jaybishop.bandcamp.comCredits
Music and image: jaybishop.bandcamp.com
Video:
youtube.com/user/djjaybishop
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