SIR BEANS - Miles from Home - 2006 - EP Review

SIR BEANS: Miles From Home (2006)
TRACKS: Miles From Home (ft. Chrome from Def Tex)/ Bring Me The Horns (ft. Otis, Turroe & Dribbla)/ Business is Good (ft. Blaktrix)/ Overdose
SOUNDBITE: / Tunes these days get released too early/ Gas Mark 7 - enjoy that turkey/
RATING: 4/5
So what has Bristol's very own knight of the sampler been cooking up recently? Four dark and edgy grooves featuring a range of UK MC talent - that's what. The thing I like about this is the music - I have to confess that I rarely buy UK hip-hop because I find a lot of the music that underpins the rapping relentlessly dull and unremarkable whereas here the opposite is true. If you want reference points think dark, Red Snapper-style grooves (though this is more layered) or what you'd find on a Viktor Vaughn LP - though this is more fluid. Crisp delivery from Chrome over the title track's ominous double bass sets the tone and is followed by Bring the Horns more laboured beat, a demented be-bop loop and three vocalists. Last track Overdose Pt. 3 features Dribbla rhyming over throbbing rhythms and claustrophobic layers of samples but it's third track Business is Good that takes the honours. Beans knows when less is more and the guitar stabs in the background give it some grit without swamping the rolling break and bassline. All the MCs here rhyme about their superior skills but Blaktrix' caustic lyrics on this track suggest he has more cause than the rest to boast. Miles from Home? Yeah. It's pretty out there. I wish more UK hip-hop production sounded this fresh.