swell communications - swell session

29.9.2007 von mk.

Here at last, the long-awaited full length debut from Gothenburg based producer Andreas Saag, formerly known on Freerange as Stateless but now using his former Swell Session guise. The LP has been 4 years in the making and consists of collaborations with like-minded producers and vocalists from around the globe. The collaborative artists include such heavyweights as, Mr Scruff, Seiji, Landslide, Domu, LyricL , Simbad, Jimpster, Capitol A, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Kasio (Nuspirit Helsinki) Earl Zinger and Masa (Sleepwalker).
A homemade (but mightily impressive) movie of the making of the LP is included on the disc and in Andreas’ own words, constitutes half of the Swell Communications experience giving an insight into how the sessions came together in the studio with the various producers and vocalists. As you can probably deduce from the names involved, this is an LP of contrasts and contradictions rather than safe and reliable background music. From deep, leftfield hip hop to up-tempo broken beat to dance hall to jazzy house, all life is here and with a quality that blows a lot of the young pretenders out of the water.
A Heart To Cover For feat. Domu and Elsa Esmeralda kicks off with a brooding lo-slung groove which soon develops into a kind of torch song for the broken beat generation.
Then things shift a gear with Right Off The Bat featuring London’s LyricL going with a dance-hall meets swing mash-up which shows why she’s one of the most in demand female MC’s in the UK today.
Next is No No, a collaboration with Stockport’s most famous beat-maker Mr Scruff who assists Andreas in producing a full-on wobbly charleston track featuring the vocals of Elsa Esmerelda.
Prepared To Go is up next and sees Andreas join forces with the mighty Seiji with the result being a fierce yet sublime broken beat track that will work the floor as well as the radio waves.
From here on in we’re treated to the dancehall funk of Better Work That Body, nu-blues on Had It Comin’ and the mad cap ramblings of Earl Zinger on Doing The Mambo In A Border Town. Elsewhere things get more deep and blissed out with The Girl, All Of Me and the beautiful finale Masa’s Theme.

Label: freerange records

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