Stain Online - Digital (Sleepyhead Mix)

Hear The Track Here

Here's an artist who has impressed me considerably from the shaky start Dancing With Death (October 2005) provided us with. The second track I reviewed 'Cradle To The Grave' has proved to be not just a great track but one that has grown more on me over time. It's a truly classic song, with some splendid vocal touches married to a suitably epic theme. I'm not alone in liking it either because this has had a great many people hooked. For my money, its the tracks willingness to mix together rap with a true rock feel that makes it stand out, as much as it's lyrical theme.

It's in the hip hop/rap world that this artist usually falls back on and - as I've said before - this is the UK's version of that genre and Stain Online are a prime example of what makes it so good. There is a hardness to the sound that Stain gets (or should I say DJ Cashback who produced this) that really lifts Digital above the hip hop crowd. It's essentially an electronica workout from there, with some odd noises and swishes thrown in to provide a bit of roughage but when the only thing it has to do is hold up a bit of fiery rap, the sparser the better.

It's in the rap flow, and the provided lyrics (halleuyah!! Someone who posts their words as well as their music) that Stain Online show what makes this 22 year old Newcastle (UK of course) artist worth listening to. It may be that you don't particularly like the genre, in which case I strongly urge you to listen to Cradle To The Grave which is definitely thinking outside the box. If you like the genre, this is primo chunks of venom-spitting, super charged gobbiness backed up by some excellently presented words and ideas that - even for me - finally manage to put down forever that this artist sounds like.... Nope, Stain sounds like Stain and is all the better for it. Stain Online would be a more than even match for someone like The Streets because - dammit - he's a lot more eloquent for a start.

Prime UK hip hop. Recommended