Mauritian-British musician and producer Joseph Deenamode's self titled album as Mo Kolours' draws upon a wide palette of musical influence, style and sonic attributes, transcending the boundaries and cultural stereotypes that are so often wrapped up and lazily packaged under the guise of 'instrumental hip hop'. His masterpiece of a debut album casts its nets much wider than most, into territory that's both equally familiar and unknown.
Flitting between a world of tempo and melody, electronic prosthesis and organic, instrumental anchoring, the multi-percussionist and producer has explored and indulged in a wealth of musical influence and style, no matter their geographical racial or stylistic qualities, used as the cog-works and bare bones to form an album that demonstrates the artist as a whole, exploring the many different emotions and feelings that form a complex, conscious and socially-aware being, staking claim in a very mulch-influenced, politically-confused UK landscape.
The term 'World Music' has never seemed so derogatory, so watered down and so damn right lazy as it is when trying to describe the bottomless pit that generates Mo Kolour's consistently brilliant music. Sure there's hints of Mauritian Sega, stripped down Lee-Perry style Dub mechanics, weightless house-music prowess and free jazz structure. Yes, you can draw comparisons to that of Flying Lotus' early Los Angeles era work, the forthright and roughly-seamed sound of J Dilla and the free jazz ethics of Courtney Pine. But not for the actual sounds and instruments used, in fact, but more for their deep, intricate textures, endless layering and roughly cut aesthetics, all demonstrating a beat-smith pushing his art deep into the realm and structure of songwriting. These many anchors are all fused together in frivolously grainy, carefree and (best of all), humanistic fashion.
Frivolity, sadness, remembrance and cultural observations all form the humanistic fabric of this complex and at times humorously conceived LP. 'Mike Black's glassy tambourine percussion, slow, cantering tempo and widescreen, enveloping atmospherics providing the dusty backdrop for Mo Kolours' own haunting, yearning lyrics, whilst album opener 'Brixton House' reflects hazy, sunny summer days with major tonal melodic hooks and psych-jazz nuances. '16-bit Slaves' unleashes frequency bending, gritty dub (a seeming counter-move at an over-accelerated technological culture), whilst idiosyncratic, humour-filled stabs at popular British culture unfold in the banging timbres of 'Play It Loud (In Your Car)' and 'Shepherd's hypnotic, 4-4 cascade. Irresistible, bounding and poly-rhythmic steel-drum anchors galvanize lead single 'Little Brown Dog's popular reach and even juxtapositional tales of urban decay manifest on Child's Play, clashing lyrics and foreboding warnings of knife crime with a simplified, daintily skipping beat - a far cry from any hint of a Utopian youth culture that Kolours finds himself surrounded by.
More often than not, it's a world that's judged and juried by material gains, powered by self marketing and an insatiable appetite for finding your 'correct place' in a demanding, rigorously regimented world. Deenamode's music acts as a vehicle for escapism from the regimented rules of being told what to do: a pure trip that takes you to a place where age, race, creed and genre have no bearing on the rich, head nodding timbres enveloping your senses. Not just an album for the heads, Mo Kolour's effortless debut is an album that could (and should) be for everyone.
| Artist: Mo Kolours Title: Mo Kolours LP Label: One-Handed Music Tracklist 01 Brixton House02 Little Brown Dog03 Curly Girly04 Love For You (Humbeat)05 Mike Black06 Lighter Break07 Say Word08 Afro Quarters09 Take Us (Interlude)10 Streets Again11 16-bit Slaves12 In Her Eyes (Funk Heart)13 Child’s Play14 Natural Disasters Wish List15 Other Day House16 Play It Loud (In Your Car)17 Shepherd18 Straight Ruk ft Jeen Bassa Our rating: 9/10 |  |
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