Some time ago I promised you good people and The Herd that I would review their stunning album Summerland. That was about ten months ago. I’m sorry. I got distracted with uni and other writing projects and, after a while, I felt the moment had passed and it was too late. This morning, however, I was like ‘No, Dammit! That album is still awesome and the people must be told!’ So here it is. The Herd’s Summerland. Better late than never.

The Herd: 2020

Right off the bat we can hear that any of my previous complaints about the Herd’s music and production have been rebuked with extreme prejudice. The opening track, 2020, makes the perfect statement to new and old fans of The Herd. The lush production and amazing performance of the band produce a lyrical and melodic slap in the face, expertly designed to shake the listener out of complacency. Ozi Batla and Urthboy are, as always, stunning in their ability to produce simultaneously moving and entertaining lyrics, while Jane Tyrell continues to belt out the catchiest, most soulful original hooks in Australian Hip Hop. The manner in which the three play off one another is masterfully seamless. In every respect, 2020 encapsulates everything that is great about The Herd. It also firmly establishes one of the central lyrical themes of the album (and that of all of The Herd’s albums), Australian politics and socio-cultural criticism. The title itself is pun relating to both the notion of 20/20 vision and the 2020 summit called by Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd in 2007. This song alone touches on such topical issues as Afghanistan, Iraq, the AWB scandal and the change in government from the incumbent conservative, John Howard, to (relative) political newcomer, Kevin Rudd. Which brings us neatly to the album (and band’s) emblematic anthem, The King is Dead.

The Herd: The King is Dead

In their previous releases, The Herd made their political affiliations pretty clear. In fact, roughly 80% of the content of their previous albums was concerned with condemning the presence and policies of the Australian Liberal government of the time. Howard was, for The Herd and the political left-wing in Australia, public enemy number one. It should be no surprise that, when Howard was defeated after four terms as Prime Minister, The Herd would produce this celebration of the end of a dark era in Australian politics. The chorus is, as is the whole album, the most overjoyed and happy thing that the group has ever produced.

We danced like new years eve
We danced from relief
Everything must change, nothing stays the same

It will be hard for those outside of Australia to appreciate all of the cultural and political references in this song and, indeed, in Australian Hip Hop in general. It is, however, no worse than the American cultural and political references we have to decode when listening to Nas or Dr. Dre. Those interested in a full synopsis of the election which resulted in this song (and album) can find it in the links above, to the John Howard and Kevin Rudd wiki pages. There is much, however, that doesn’t relate to the political landscape of Australia in this album. The greatest and strongest quality of The Herd is their social conscience.

The Herd: Black and Blue

I wanted to end the review with an examination of Black and Blue. The group has an amazing ability to tap into the plight of those who are forgotten, marginalized and mistreated by mainstream society. In the past they have produced offerings such as 77%, The Plunderers, a striking cover of Redgum’s I Was Only 19 and Under Pressure; each offered a plainly sympathetic view on an ignored section of society. While other examples of this kind of song exist on Summerland, Black and Blue is the finest example. Exploring the failures of the education system on children with special educational needs (such as those with autism or Asperger’s syndrome) and the social and mental degeneration which results from such a failure is painfully yet elegantly expressed in the chorus of the song:

I don’t wanna go today,
I don’t care for the punishment you’re teaching me
Your methods are not reaching me
I’ll disappear
This place is gone for me

Even for those who did not experience such educational abandonment, the song is loaded with the pathos of an ignored or otherwise wronged teenager. Once more, the instrumentation, production and vocals are immaculate and completely appropriate to their subject matter. This song, along with the whole album, marks a musical maturation for The Herd and confirms them as Australian Hip Hop royalty. Copies are available on Amazon.com, or as MP3s (US$0.99 a track!) for those who like what they hear above.

The Grey Space, the debut release from Elefant Traks-backed Sydney-side duo Horrorshow, is so named because of its open obsession with the “grey” space between worlds, sub-cultures and people. So it seems overly fitting that this starkly brilliant album should happen to be both the very definition of a out-of-left-field, “indie gem” release that fuels its exploits with a combination of sheer hi-octane musical moxy and that raw, devil-may-care spirit peculiar to those with nothing to lose, while being simultaneously an LP possessing of such deft polish and honed with such a meticulous eye for detail as one only expects from a well-established and tour-honed act.

Horrorshow: Uplift

In a year that saw the release of Bliss ‘n’ Eso’s monolithic Flying Colours, The Herd’s razorblade-laced production bonanza Summerland, Astronomy Class and their full-flavoured, reggae-rich inauguration Exit Strategy, Muph + Plutonic’s And Then Tomorrow Came, Downsyde’s All City, Drapht’s Brothers Grimm, TZU’s Computer Love, Pure Product’s Eviction Notice, Sydney-side compatriots Spit Syndicate’s Towards the Light and The Tongue’s Shock and Awe, The Grey Space is ably capable of trading evenly matched musical and lyrical blows with any of the aforementioned luminaries. Purposefully lacking in the bombast, antics and nigh-glossolalia of B’n'E, vocalist/lyricist Solo instead projects at every level what is, for my money, one of the most sincere portraits of an artist in love with the nature of his work and the turning of his world ever laid to tape, perhaps best captured on the heart-stoppingly charming and mind-bendingly catchy “All Summer Long”. In search of a comparison, it may be fair to suggest he channels Urthboy at his most romantic and his least embittered, even if his sentiment lies perhaps somewhere else, somewhere closer to the momentary and slightly wretched wistfulness of The Tongue (for comparison, sample “That Word”, a highlight from Shock and Awe, an otherwise largely unsympathetic album predicated on The Tongue’s fairly one-note self-imaginings as a roustabout and understated raconteur).

Horrorshow: Put it to Your Head

Producer Adit oversees the installation of incomparably tasteful and surprisingly (nay, refreshingly) prominent bass lines reminiscent of the work of Marcus Miller into feature pieces like “Put It To Your Head”, What’s Going On-era brass arrangements into the undeniably playful “The Headline”, and a searing, funk-laden electric guitar that solos over “Note to Self (No. 81)” and that wouldn’t sound at all out of place on a hot slab of classic Isley Brothers wax. That he is a relative newcomer to the scene is made even more remarkable by the fact that, at his best, Adit can cut a soul track to challenge any in the game, up to and including the work of Plutonic Lab on Muph + Plutonic’s seminal 2004 release, Hunger Pains (”Paracetamol”, for instance, equally notable for its featuring Muph in a moment of rare and bemusingly sincere modesty). As a pair, they’re certified dynamite: the brighter Adit’s flair for sumptuous production burns, the more self-effacing Solo becomes, documenting (with naught but intricate rhymes and an easy, nigh-laconic drawl to his name) a world of sad-eyed girls and ancient-eyed adolescents, vague regrets and small pleasures.

Horrorshow: All Summer Long

Moving with commendable efficiency and yet without undue haste, Solo covers everything from the glamour and the soul-sucking drain of the endless party circuit (”The Party Life”) to nostalgic recollections of a misspent delinquent youth (”Uplift”, “Waiting For The 5.04″, [another "train" song in the Aussie hip-hop canon, and one that compares favourably with The Hilltop Hoods' "Station to Station" and Seth Sentry's "Train Catcher"]) and the ramblings of a depressive (”Celapram”), and between meaty, unabashedly vital verses even finds time for jazzy interludes to make True Live proud (”Days Past”) and a little freeform spoken-word poetry (”Dire Straits Pt. 1″). Though I’m naturally averse to making such a declaration, I can’t manage to get around the simple fact that, from end to end, The Grey Space is that rarest of things: an album, complete in every sense of the word and almost Brutalist in its construction, such is the clinically brilliant and uncompromising nature of its track listing, the quality of which is sufficient to make one wonder wherefore art the B-sides?

The Grey Space: a new and devastating salvo loosed from the ever-swelling and increasingly variegated arsenal of an Australian hip-hop scene that has finally and resolutely come of age. Everything that Eminem is to readily courted controversy, introspection on the vaunted nature of celebrity and meta-textual examinations of the fabric of West Coast hip hop or that Bliss ‘n’ Eso and The Hilltop Hoods are to spirited celebrations of the ties that bind the inebriated antipodean brotherhood of man, Horrorshow is to the tumult of exuberant and irrepressible youth. If you like what you hear, we strongly urge you pick up a copy from Amazon or download it as MP3s for only US$0.99 a track and support some world class Australian Hip Hop.

Track Listing:

1. Uplift

2. Waiting For The 5.04

3. Choose None (feat. Just Enuf)

4. The Party Life (feat. Nick Lupi)

5. Days Past

6. Dire Straits Pt. 1

7. Celapram

8. All Summer Long

9. Put It To Your Head (feat. Fame)

10. No Rides Left.

11. The Headline

12. Note to Self (No. 81)

My sincerest apologies to The Herd for my comments about them below. I have just listened to their latest album Summerland and retract what I said about them never quite reaching their potential. Rest assured, a review of Summerland is be up here, expounding its awesomeness!

I have noticed, since my review of Bliss n Eso’s Flying Colours album, that alot of people seem to be reaching our page by searching for Aussie Hip Hop and that there seems to be some demand for writing about it. So, I’ve decided to follow up with another of my favorite Skip-hop albums of the last couple of years. Settle in and get ready for some smooth, sunny, reggae and dub influenced hip-hop. Welcome to Astronomy Class:

Astronomy Class: A Bright Tomorrow

That’s the stuff. You really can’t praise these guys enough, but I’m going to try. The group is made up producers\DJs Sir Robbo and Chasm, MC Ozi Batla and the astoundingly talented bass player, John Maddox. I’ve never heard such a layered, organic hip-hop album. Sir Robbo and Chasm’s perfectly constructed tracks bleed seamlessly into the lyrical and melodic wizardry of Ozi Batla while Maddox’s thumping bass lines tie everything together. When I listen to this album I continually marvel that what I’m hearing is not a huge live band but the hard work of a handful of astronomically talented individuals (pun absolutely intended, Martin).

I’ve been a fan of the previous work of all the members of Astronomy Class but I’ve never been nearly as obsessed with any of it as I am with Exit Strategy. Together, the group is more than the sum of thier parts. Ozi Batla is famously the politically outspoken frontman of The Herd. I’ve loved Batla’s message in his work with The Herd but just can’t get past the fact that I find much of the production and music on the album to be pretty boring. I’ve always lamented the tragedy that, as a live band (with nine members, no less), they have the potential and freedom to move into some interesting experimental areas but don’t. There are some outstanding exceptions to this (77%, Unpredictable, We Can’t Hear You and I Was Only 19 are all great examples of what Hip Hop can be) but by and large I was disappointed that Batla didn’t have an appropriately awesome platform (or soap-box) to broadcast his lyrical wonders atop of. This is not to say that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy The Herd, I just never felt they reached their potential. It is interesting then that it would take intensive work with producers like Chasm and Sir Robbo to create the progressive and exuberant Hip-Hop album that Batla needed to truly shine.

If my calculations are correct (and you clicked on it) you should be mid-way through Bright Tomorrow, so let’s talk about that for a while. This is one of the sunniest songs I’ve ever heard. From the get-go this is an anthem for the underpaid and under-stimulated (but basically optimistic) youth. Batla recounts the experiences of the teenage summer perfectly. Menial job, check. Quietly confident apathetic swagger, check. The sweet distraction of music and video games, check. This is a song that everyone should be able to relate to. It’s one of those musical moments which perfectly articulates an almost universal human experience. Who hasn’t wasted a teenage summer with casual work and video games? Again, however, it is not merely Batla’s wit and lyricism which floats the song, but the supernatural synergy which occurs with the music that accompanies him. Motown hooks, reggae guitars and video game audio samples form a complex tapestry of sound which has much laying beneath the surface, waiting to discovered by the intrepid listener. There is, however, more to this album than catchy hooks and witty lines.

Astronomy Class: Rewind the Tape

Thankyou for flying Astronomy Class, your friendly skies

Despite popularity and growing support from radio stations like Triple J, the major labels are refusing to invest in the talent which is coming up in this country. This means that it falls to those groups who recieve any level of success within the Australian Hip Hop scene to support unsigned acts and the scene in general. Rewind the tape is a great nod to the masses of people working to create a hip-hop scene in Australia who are receiving no support from the music industry. Best of all, Astronomy Class put their money where their mouths are by giving unsigned MCs lotek and BVA significant track time to display their talents. This good will extends through the entire album with guests appearing on nearly every track. This makes listening to Exit Strategy like looking at a snapshot of the state of hip-hop talent in this country and around the world. It isn’t enough, however, to merely give these underground artists track time. Batla, BVA and lotek’s lyrics meditate on the plight of the indie hip-hop scene:

The steel platters turn, it’s the latest real ditty, cunts don’t listen to the words, and that’s the real pity

These are the words of a cerebral, talented music scene that wants a break. Anyone who’s been involved in any kind of independent music has stared despairingly at music videos, burst into tears listening to commercial radio and lamented the fact that pre-fabricated ‘entertainment’ gets the lion’s share of publicity and distribution. Batla’s despairing plea for people to actually listen to what he’s saying is tragically justified. If most people held lyrical content and deeper meaning paramount to thier enjoyment of music then songs like this wouldn’t have reached number one on the charts. It’s not as simple as what people like, however, but music industry as a whole. As Batla points out:

The paradigm is cleberity status, while making dope music is all that really matters

We’re faced with an industry who have placed the image and commodification of a star above the qulaity of the songwriting. For an industry that deals entirely in songs and music this is a major problem. Surely the musicality and talent of the group or individual should come before the posters and reconstructive surgery. This riling against the illogical and baffling world in which we live forms the topical backbone of Exit Strategy, all the while placing it in front of some of the catchiest music you’re likely to hear. That’s right, folks, they’ve it all. You can have both great music and a great message at the same time. People have been doing it for a some time. To cap this review off, I’d like to leave you with Batla’s plea for civility, Nuthin’ Nice:

Astronomy Class: Nuthin’ Nice

What can I say, it was a lovely day, just a shame some cats don’t let their love display

I don’t know about you, but I often wonder why people just can’t be nice to each other. In fact, fuck nice, I’d settle for civility. As a result I find this song to be somewhat cathartic, having myself been glared at by a shopkeeper or copping attitude from a bouncer. It’s an alienating feeling and, as only he could, Batla sums it up succinctly and skillfully with “scrutiny is new to me in my community”. It’s another example of the humble, poignant and thoroughly human tone the whole album. If you want something that will satisfy your heart and your head then Exit Strategy is for you. Pick it up from Amazon.com and show some love for our favourite dub-flavoured, rich-rollin’ throwbacks to a bygone era.

You can find a copy at Elefant Traks official website or on iTunes.

Australian Hip Hop has had a troubled existence. In its earliest inceptions it seemed little more than a bunch of white Australian tools pretending to be black gangsta rappers and there’s a good reason why it seemed that way; they were. In the last few years, however, there have been a number of evolutions in the genre that have resulted in a more interesting experience. Australian rappers had dispensed with the American accent and began rapping about what they knew about, as opposed to blunts, 40s and bitches we began hearing about commodores, springas and chicks (so basically still cars, weed and women but from a bogan perspective). There was another school of Australian Hip Hop that began to emerge, however, which focused on political issues. And so by the early 2000s Australia basically had its answers to NWA and Public Enemy. In the hedonistic West Coast corner we had the Hilltop Hoods spouting rhymes about getting drunk and laid and in the civil rights East Coast corner we had The Herd with lyrical epics about ingrained racism and the Australian political scene.

This presented me with a problem. I loved the production and wit of the Hilltop Hoods but got sick of them rapping about the same thing in every song. There were a couple of exceptions on their album, The Hard Road, but often they were fairly poorly executed and quickly reverted to the usual display of ego and dazzling puns. Conversely, I loved the message The Herd were putting out and agreed entirely with what they were saying but loathed their production. The music was dull and repetitive with a few notable exceptions. I craved Australian Hip Hop that could be meaningful, musical and entertaining all at once. You can imagine my delight when I heard this:

Bliss n Eso: The Sea is Rising

Catchy hook? Check.

Lush production? Check.

A combination of lyrics and music that make my heart want to explode? Check.

This is legitimate Hip Hop. It shows us what the genre is capable of and puts the half-arsed efforts of hundreds of pretenders to shame. It makes you want to sing, dance and weep with its breadth and beauty. It asks legitimate questions of the society we’ve built for ourselves and it asks them in line after line of what can only be described as poetry:

why are they refusing to listen
why are these troops on a mission
why are they shooting these victims over their view on religion
why do we all search for love like we got cupids addiction
why with politicians you can’t tell the truth from the fiction
why do we pollute where were living
why are these youth put at risk
why is this fool on dominion kept us consumed in this prison

I don’t want them to look back when the future was written
and know we killed ourselves with nuclear vision and stupid decisions
Shit I’d rather an asteroid due for collision then know the planet got fucked by the human condition

All of this adorned with strings, backing vocals and an addictive but unobtrusive drum beat. As if this wasn’t enough, unlike many Hip Hop singles (and many singles in general) when you begin to explore the rest of the album there is no shortage of A-Grade material.  Eye of the Storm, Bullet and a Target and Destiny Lane are all equally delightful. Since I bought this album two months ago I have listened to it every day, all the way through. When I leave the house, I take out my portable music device, find something and begin to listen. Nine times out of ten I find myself switching to Bliss n Eso after one or two tracks because nothing else cuts it.

To make matters worse (or better, depending on your point of view) Bliss n Eso released an exclusive Australian release with a bonus disk. Most bonus disks tend to be a collection of second rate material that didn’t make it to the album for a reason. Not so here. The bonus disk stands up as a complete EP of its own which I always listen to before listening to the album proper because the opening track of the bonus disk, The Dark Tower is a better opener than the one that appears on the main album. Have a listen and marvel:

Bliss n Eso: The Dark Tower

The perceptive amongst you will note the extensive use of the Dexter soundtrack. The deep, foreboding and creeping tone of the piece explodes into the strutting rap of MC Eso and sets the tone for the album like nothing else can. To make matters worse (or better, depending on whether you obtained the bonus disk) this bonus disk contains an alternate, acoustic take of the single Bullet and a Target which not only should have made it to the album but should have been the first single. This is by far my favorite Bliss n Eso song and the fact that its been relegated to a bonus disk is indicative of the talent of this group. I leave you with this track and sincerely hope you consider getting yourself a copy of this wonderful album.

Bliss n Eso: Bullet and a Target (Acoustic Version)

You can get yourself a copy of Bliss n Eso’s Flying Colours at JB Hi-Fi Online and Bigpond Music.