Myriad of Now

by Hawthorne Headhunters

I've had Myriad of Now in pretty heavy rotation for the last few months.  It's a collaboration between Black Spade and Coultrain, and it runs the gamut of beat-driven, heavy hip-hop, lighter sung and rapped songs, and some very nice instrumental tracks.

Black Spade is an artist I'd admired since I first came across his work on Nicolay's first album, and Coultrain is someone I've always been aware of from a number of Waajeed's Bling 47 projects.  They compliment each other perfectly on this album.

Much of the production is handled by Black Spade (in his guise as Stoney Rock), and by I, Ced (who I'll admit I've never heard of).  There is also a track by Dam Funk, but unlike a lot of the stuff he does for Stones Throw, I actually like this.

Stand-out tracks include 'Sum People Don't Change', which opens the album, 'If U Were My Baby', 'Yellow Cougar', 'No Cryin' Now, No Lyin Down', 'Fairweather', which features Von Pea and Haz Solo, and 'Hole in the World'.

This album is highly recommended.

Build & Destroy

by Black Spade

Black Spade's To Serve With Love was a great album when it came out a couple of years ago, and it's good to hear some new stuff from this talented rapper/producer/sometime singer.  This mixtape is eighteen tracks deep, and over seventy minutes long, which would usually  be way too much for me, but in this instance, the length is perfect.

Spade has a very nice, very chill, post-Dilla quality to his work.  He handles most of the production himself (under the name stoneyrock), but there are also beats from Dorthy Ashby, J. Davey, and Ced No.  This being a mixtape, he's able to sample The Beatles and Stevie Wonder with impunity.  There are guest appearances from Coultrain, and a few people I've never heard of before.

My favourite track on here has to be 'Fall in Love', where Black Spade sings over the Miguel Atwood-Ferguson instrumentation of Dilla's classic beat.  It's a bit of a mash-up as well, with the lyrics coming off the first album.

The aesthetic of the mixtape is best understood on 'The Cool Out', which keeps referring to itself as "the cool out song".  This is a great summer mixtape.