Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Stain(ed) Art - No Mans Land (Rude Corps Remix)

Hear The Track Here

Although he's been a bit busy with his new band The Forcefield Kids, the UK's Stain(ed) Art has been involved in other collaborations, like this one with fellow Northerner Rude Corps. Not the first time either, because I also reviewed For Your Own Safety (Rude Corps Mix) (February 2009) and liked that a great deal. Mind you, Stain - as you know - has definitely become a favourite of mine in the ol' wordage department and Rude Corps has titillated my ears a time or two. The combination of the two is certainly striking, the anger and fury of both artists work is shown brilliantly in For Your Own Safety. So, are they playing it safe this time, or raising all kinds of political mayhem as usual.

Me, I prefer the latter...make 'em squirm I say.

Although Stain usually comes under the Alternative hiphop genre, it's an even bet that you will not have heard hiphop like this before - and certainly not a Geordie rapper in full spate. The reason I've championed Stain over the past few years is because he is one of the best rappers/wordsmiths around on Soundclick and as original as they come, and No Mans Land is a prime example of why a) he is so respected and b) why Stain and Rude Corps are such a deadly combination. Much more to my advantage, he is also one of those few hiphop artists to post lyrics online.

The music, as the intro will amply demonstrate, is moody, dark and heavily industrialised but when Stain's vocal comes winging in from left field (as it were) reality snaps in and the beats get to rolling. Stain's gritty delivery kicks the track into a higher gear and its only when its over do you notice how much these guys packed into this track. When the main beat kicks in around 1:30 its a visible charge to the head and heart, especially at higher volumes. I keep wanting to single out one or the other with particular praise but when is all is said and done, this is a real team effort - and that's what makes it special.

MUST HAVE UK (industrial) hiphop (I kid ye not)

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