Now we turn to Rexx Shred, who seems to use a different name under which he composes his music. This represents his first EP. Whether it's just his work or that of a band I don't know, but I'm sure he'll enlighten us once this goes live. No information again to hand, so Rexx, if you want to add anything you think we should know, feel free. Here's the music anyway.
EP One --- Urban Shokker (Rexx Shred) --- 2014 (ReverbNation release)
There are five tracks here, the first of which is called “Mothership re-connection” and opens, rather appropriately, with a spacey descending sound (mothership arriving?) then we're hit with a fusilade of funk, with a mid-paced disco beat, nice jangly guitar and fluid bass, a mixture of rap and singing I believe, and if this intrudes on, or indeed is, hip-hop then you'll have to forgive me as I am not at all familiar with that genre. What it reminds me of more is the seventies soul/disco of bands like EWF, Tavares and so forth. Nice brass in it too. Not my kind of thing but I'm sure anyone into this sort of music will, um, dig it. Very nice smooth bass solo there. The vocals are very good, not sure if this is just Rexx or his band, but there are other voices too, though they may be multitracked.
The song is only just over three minutes but somehow feels much longer, and I don't mean that it gets boring or anything, but there's a whole lot packed into it. Actually I'm wrong there, it's nearly six. Sounds more like it. I think I was watching the time count up rather than, as I'm used to, seeing the remaining time. Cool organ outro too. Next up is “Pick a number”, which is very what I would think would be regarded as hip-hop, lots of handclap drums with very much a rap vocal, nice descending synth line. Namechecking George Clinton: cool. Oh yeah, you can just see this on MTV with lots of fine ladies shaking their perfect booties to it, while some big heavy guys stand around, arms crossed and back to back, looking real hard. Very funky, very clubland. Slow sort of pace, with again really clever little bass lines. Also a guitar solo, which I've not heard up to now, and it's pretty damn fine, takes the song to its ending. Like this a lot, despite not being my kind of music generally.
Now, question for ya: what do you think you would get in a song titled “Raise the funk”? Well there's an unexpected short piano intro, then it breaks down into another soul/hip-hop rhythm with rising synth, jangly guitar and sweet percussion. Flashes of the organ too (ooer!) and that grindy little bass is back. It would be interesting to know how many people are involved in this, as there definitely seem to be a few. I'm sure others who are more versed in hip-hop could talk about dropping beats and busting rhymes, but all that language is alien to an old rocker like me, so I'm just going to describe this as best I can. So far I haven't heard anything I don't like at any rate, and the production values are very high apart from anything else.
“Old skool town” starts with a really nice high guitar intro, then the synth takes over as I assume Rexx sings the rap across the music and it sound like a song that takes a different tack to a lot of the gangsta rap as he sings
”Don't need a gun/ Don't need a knife/ Cos a brother like me/ Don't take a life.” Refreshing. I wish I could praise this more, but I don't really feel qualified to review it as this is so far out of my normal wheelhouse. But you can probably at least tell from my writing that it's pretty damn good, even if my attempts to describe it are falling far short of where they should. DJ Chameleon would probably do a great review of this. Where is he these days, anyway? Another really nice guitar break with some fresh bass and we're heading towards the end, not only of the song but also this collection. One more to go.
I must say I love the title: “Star Dawgg (Prime Directive)” and that vocoder at the beginning is really apt. Good vocal chorus and a really funky beat again driven on that bass and some more strong brass. Not sure if it's synthesised or not, kind of sounds real. The vocal is almost spoken here, not even rap, in places. Works really well. More vocoder, very cleverly used, but I'm not quite getting the idea I thought was in the title. Very enjoyable though; the brass really adds something, and it's good he doesn't overuse it, think it's only been in two of these five tracks? The arrangement is very tight: I feel this could be pressed on acetate as it is. Of course, what do I know about production, but it sounds very much finished to me. Like the soaring guitar or maybe it's synth at the end, sort of like an engine. Yeah, good stuff.
TRACKLISTING
Mothership re-connection
Pick a number
Raise the funk
Old skool town
Star Dawgg (Prime Directive)
Like I say, this isn't my bag personally, but I can still appreciate and applaud good music played well, sung well and produced very well. If you're into funk, soul, r&b or hip-hop, you know, Rexx Shred/Urban Shokker may be the next big thing for ya!