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| 01 | | 00.00.00 | | | | | | | 02 | | Invisible Ink | | | | | | | 03 | | Addration of Kings | | | | | | | 04 | | Eye of The Hurricane | | | | | | | 05 | | A World In Satan’s Ear | | | | | | | 06 | | 186000 Miles | | | | | | | 07 | | Mutatis | | | | | | | 08 | | Answer of Action | | | | | | | 09 | | Quantum Mechanix | | | | | | | 10 | | Minutes Less | | | | | | | 11 | | Song for San Susi | | | | | | | 12 | | Isoteleportation | | | | | | | 13 | | Ego Evident | | | | | | | 14 | | Heaven & Earth | | | | | | | 15 | | Thetawaves | | | | | | | 16 | | 01.01.00 | | | | | |
(Clicking on 'Buy' will take you to the ninjatune.net shop where you can purchase the chosen item)
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What did Big Dada do next?
After the international success of Roots Manuva, it's the turn of the abstract hardcore - New Flesh For Old's album "Equilibrium". A collective of artists from around the UK, the three main members have put together a unique musical document where innovation is the watchword.
From beats to lyrics, New Flesh For Old are ripping up the current cliches of hip hop and replacing them with self-build pavilions for the new milly... On production duties, Part 2 has remade hip hop, from the future electro of single "Eye Of The Hurricane" through the epic sweep of "Adoration Of Kings" the free-jazz decknology of "Quantum Mechanix" and up to the drum frenzy of "Thetawaves". Meanwhile, Toastie Tailor shows his development, flippingdifferent styles like a fickle choc-fiend in a sweetshop. Check "Invisible Ink" and "186000 Miles" for the solo message from the Black Kingfisher Imperial. Then you've got the sheer rhythmic invention and abstracted wordplay of Juice Aleem. From "Mutatis" ("when
the lungs fill grow my gills and I come again") to his incredible opening verse on "Ego-Evident," Juice cements his place as one of the most intelligent and complex rhymers in hip hop.
Add guest performances by the awesome Robotic E.B.U., Out of Order, Crack Monkey (first heard on New Flesh's b-side "International Network"), DJ Paul Weston and drummer Fly Argaric and you've got an album to reckon with.
"Feel the unified field energy matrix/ perpetual motion through planetary spaceships..."
"Your body has already done a lot of changing. But thats only the beginning. The beginning of the new flesh. You have to go all the way now. Total transformation. Are you ready? To become the new flesh you first have to kill the old flesh. But dont be afraid. Dont be afraid to let your body die..." Nikki Brand, 'Videodrome'.
In 1980 Debbie Harry released a rap crossover classic, "Rapture," that people are still sampling today. Two years later she appeared as Nikki Brand in David Cronenbourgs media-snuff movie "Videodrome". Its somehow typical that New Flesh For Old should take more influence from the latter than the former. An intensely convoluted and frankly incomprehensible plot, suitably, turns around the idea of humans evolving by combining (breeding?) with machines. Which is hip hop, maybe.
New Flesh For Old have existed since the early nineties. As a loose collective of artists they have consistently shocked and surprised with the music they have made, earning their tag as "one of the maddest and best Brit crews" (DJ magazine). On "Equilibrium" all their promise comes together in a stunning blast of originality and passion. Wu Tang, Public Enemy, classic Afrika Bambaataa, Aphex Twin, Sonic Youth, Sun Ra, John Coltrane the more reference points you try and come up with to describe the New Flesh sound, the further away from it you find yourself.
"Equilibrium" proclaims the death of the loop. Producer and tactician, Part 2 has brought together his musical education of the last eight years and created a masterpiece, so far removed from the current orthodoxies (both "underground" and "mainstream") of hip hop that it renders sterile debates about the music obsolete. Listen closely you havent heard this before.
Part 2 has been a graffiti artist since the late eighties, in particular as part of the Iconoclast Movement. He was one of the pioneers of a more figurative, hyper-real style of street art and, as a result, has an international reputation. Over the last few years he has also developed a considerable reputation for his music. In addition to his work for New Flesh he has released his own critically acclaimed instrumentals on singles and compilations such as "Deeper Concentration" and remixed a variety of artists including Saul Williams. He has also worked with Roots Manuva, co-producing "Uranium 235" for last years "Black Whole Styles". On "Equilibrium" Part 2's production runs up against the words of at least two world-class MCs:Toastie Tailor, MC, has worked with artists like DJ Vadim and Ice as well as New Flesh. For the new album he has developed a truly unique seven-in-one style recorded without overdubs or studio
trickery. Other MCs just talk about being schizoid. As Toastie skips through his distinct personalities you
can feel it. His live performances are set to destroy.
Juice Aleem was featured on the very first single on Big Dada as Alpha Prhyme. While Toastie comes with the thuggish, splintered style, Juices talents are more subtle, fantastic tone control and rhythm combining with dense, metaphorical content. "Hes not an MC," opines label-mate and friend Roots
Manuva, of Juices talents. "Hes a verbal physician. The finest of fine art, applied neuro-dexterity." In addition, the album features the talents of longtime deck-collaborator Paul Weston, drummer Fly Agaric, one-time full-time member Out Of Order and the phenomenal Ebu Classik (heard on the Roots Manuva posse cut "Skivers Guide"). Forget everything you've ever heard, hip hop or otherwise, American, English or Outer Mongolian. This is New Flesh. But don't be afraid.
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"Clearly one of the UK's greatest hip hop acts."
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"More ghoulish than Wu-Tang Clan, more out-there than Tricky and more futuristically funky than anyone you care to mention."
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"UK hip hop's most sonically and lyrically adventurous album yet."
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"There's true science in their music, a refusal to kow-tow to convention... monumental."
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"New Flesh For Old's equilibrium is to be found somewhere between the underground and the mainstream, between the old skool and the cutting edge. That it takes its influence from all of these things but can't be satisfactorily categorised as any, is because this is a fresh, new sound. Check it out."
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"Epic... twisted Tricky-ish intensity and gruff lyricism. [DJ]
More deep Dada business."
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"A sonic burner of immense proportions."
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"A dark mass of art... cliche free, jiggy free, wanker free, please buy."
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"Psycho-babble intensity... believe."
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"A scything blast of hyper real science fiction. Although hip hop may be the launch pad for their futurist machinations, 'Equilibrium' leapfrogs reference points and becomes a process of dark enlightenment... reminds us once again of hip hop's stunning creativity and ability to provide endless permutations of itself."
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"Once you've been sucked into the rough alien textures of New Flesh For Old's sci-fi sound universe, you'll be hooked... heavy rhyme science... a frighteningly intense sonic experience."
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"It's time to face the darkside. 'Equilibrium' is the perfect title for an album which manages to balance tight lyrics, hard beats and overstanding intellect."
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"Starts somewhere near the shadowy horrorscapes of the Wu-Tang Clan and ventures towards even moodier, broodier extremes. NFFO have sculpted a debut that suggests further new complexities to UK hip hop."
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"The New Flesh Arkhestra reverberates around the head and begins to push everyday perceptions of hip hop to uncharted domains."
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"Without doubt the hip hop album of the year... let's put it this way, if you're only going to buy one LP this year and it's not New Flesh For Old then you're a moron and your record collection will never, ever be as complete as it should be."
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"Breaking out from behind the bars of blandness that so many artists seem content to be imprisoned in, 'Equilibrium' deconstructs hip hop as we know it, pushes it through a black hole and then puts it back together again on the other side... epic voyages into the unknown."
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"The most visionary mindbomb... 'Equilibrium' is a headstunning, bodybreakin' reality shaker of science faction. Reuniting hip hop with the gods of chance, chaos and superheavyweight breaks... essential."
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"In creating in-flight edutainment for earth bored astronauts, New Flesh are unsurpassed... for those seeking an antidote to the current plague of musick, seek solace in the sonic prescriptions of THE EQUILIBRIUM."
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