Rude Corps - A Little Bird Told Me

Hear The Track Here

OK OK, I know.... This is beginning to look like a conspiracy. I swear that the chances of three of Soundclick's electronica's leading scallywags ending up in line on my review schedule is pure chance. Reflexion X, Alchemystic and Rude Corps all originated from the Soundclick electronica scene between 2003 and 2005 which, as they will testify, was a VERY happening scene back then. Of course, that was a good while ago and things have moved on, both for these musicians and for Soundclick's various communities. Now I liked the older electronica crowd because they had a kind of ethos about them, and it permeated the music of the time but the music of people like those mentioned and long lost ones like Bonamici, dcallen, Adam Fielding and too many others to name. Thankfully most of these musicians are still active (if not on Soundclick) and still deliver the same quality and tenor of music as ever and - as we've seen with Reflexion X and Alchemystic - become much stronger musicians because of it. While those two have both gone off at slight tangents lately, good old Rude Corps sticks right to what works as electronica and - almost as a by-product - cogent, topical political comment.

OK, argumentative will cut it too :)

I first started noticing Rude Corps around 2006 with various collaborations but since then he's kept me steadily entertained with his own material as well as standout work with Stain(ed) Art and a couple of tracks with the enigmatic Sir. Enough for me to know that whatever he's come up with this time is going to worth the listen and that - to my mind - is the mark of a true musician. So imagine my immense surprise to find that Rude Corps has joined the highbrow society, and in such a spectacular manner it absolutely took my breath away. If the thought of Alchemystic turning to classic ballads blew up my skirts, the one of Rude Corps turning to Classical Contemporary pulled down my pants and smacked my butt. Now before this gets all hot and foggy, lets all take a deep breath and....r-e-l-a-x.

Trust in Rude Corps's stance has always been, I found, an integral part of his work and - despite the mind boggling classical part - it is a part of this too. A Little Bird Told Me is a track from 1381, an upcoming album (I presume). The album tells the story of The Peasants' Revolt of the summer of 1381 in England, led by the legendary Wat Tyler, a classic tale of English struggle. In other words, a blood soaked, betrayal filled, utterly dreadful episode that many an Englishman would recognise down the centuries and more power to Rude Corps for breathing some extra life into the subject. As a piece of music, of course it's wow factor had me under its spell for a long time but as the track became more and more familiar to me, it stood up amazingly well to endless repetition and that is due, completely, to the inspired instrumentation and its use. Damn (sniff) fair makes me proud to be English (sniff)...

MUST HAVE classical (and I can't tell you what this is going to do with Rude Corps fans)