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
REVIEW: The debut release of Chicago beatmaker, guitarist and folk musician continues Cosmonostro label's winning streak
Regular readers will have noticed a love for Chicago and Cosmonostro Records. So it's only correct that the two combine at some point, right?
Enter, 'Blastphemy', the debut release of Chicago beatmaker, guitarist and folk musician walkingshoe which came out last month on the forward-thinking French record label.
Opening track 'Facebearer' mixes delightful, almost easy-listening jazz with an unexpected sci-fi twist in the final third, this tension is then satisfyingly released as walkingshoe brings back the chilled out vibes. Lovely.
The title track is a haunting mix of twisted RnB samples and frenetic drums. The cut hints that at any minute Andre 3000 is about to turn up to drop a classic verse. Again, just when you think you have the measure of the track, Walkingshoe changes it up on you. Beautiful.
'The Falls' is a sublime slice of glitch-hop / gloom-bap which will appeal to lovers of Ackryte. Some lovely chops and synths on here. 'The General' continues the glitched-out feel and subtly increases the drama which comes to a head on next track 'Tennasse'. Bravo.
'Ocasions', with it's evocative jazz samples and quick burst of Neptunes style synths, and 'The Blaster', which mixes a reggae bounce with a lovely vocal sample, end the album back on a more chilled vibe.
Throughout 'Blastphemy', walkingshoe exhibits a strong ear for melody, a fine knack for chopping and manipulating samples, and a great understanding of how tension and release make for engaging music.
walkingshoe has won himself a new fan, and Cosmonosto continue their winning streak.
soundcloud.com/inthisshoe
soundcloud.com/cosmonostro
Regular readers will have noticed a love for Chicago and Cosmonostro Records. So it's only correct that the two combine at some point, right?
Enter, 'Blastphemy', the debut release of Chicago beatmaker, guitarist and folk musician walkingshoe which came out last month on the forward-thinking French record label.
Opening track 'Facebearer' mixes delightful, almost easy-listening jazz with an unexpected sci-fi twist in the final third, this tension is then satisfyingly released as walkingshoe brings back the chilled out vibes. Lovely.
The title track is a haunting mix of twisted RnB samples and frenetic drums. The cut hints that at any minute Andre 3000 is about to turn up to drop a classic verse. Again, just when you think you have the measure of the track, Walkingshoe changes it up on you. Beautiful.
'The Falls' is a sublime slice of glitch-hop / gloom-bap which will appeal to lovers of Ackryte. Some lovely chops and synths on here. 'The General' continues the glitched-out feel and subtly increases the drama which comes to a head on next track 'Tennasse'. Bravo.
'Ocasions', with it's evocative jazz samples and quick burst of Neptunes style synths, and 'The Blaster', which mixes a reggae bounce with a lovely vocal sample, end the album back on a more chilled vibe.
Throughout 'Blastphemy', walkingshoe exhibits a strong ear for melody, a fine knack for chopping and manipulating samples, and a great understanding of how tension and release make for engaging music.walkingshoe has won himself a new fan, and Cosmonosto continue their winning streak.
soundcloud.com/inthisshoe
soundcloud.com/cosmonostro