Paul White And The Purple Brain

Paul White was already a great new producer. Now he's definitely an excellent new producer. Folks like the Madlib style of beat-tapes, and it's influence is steadily going global, from Onra in France, to Paul in the UK. And Paul is no *******, he clearly understands the Madlib formula in and out and makes magic from it. Chopped up samples and raw mixing. Gorgeous. So glad to have him. He takes a page from Oh No's book here in using a lot of south west asian/south east european sounding samples, but there's also another flavor here that I've never heard before. It's already been said by others and myself that Paul sticks out among the UK scene, but that doesn't mean he sounds American. Rather as he shows here, half his samples have this sort of quaint folksy british flavor to them. Faerie Boom Bap. It's a nice refreshing taste of a wonderful sub-genre. Nothing but love here. Highly recommended to Madlin, Oh No, and Dilla fans. It's right up your alley.

　　Paul White signing to Now-Again/Stones Throw was very logical because he pretty much sounds just like Oh No. I really dug his previous album which I discovered early on this year, and his affiliation with my favorite label made me quite anticipate this one. And it's pretty good, but I guess I expected something more outstanding as I was expecting him to outdo himself for this bigger push and well it's about equal to his debut album (which is satisfying but high expectations are a *****). The concept of this beat tape is S.T. Mikael, a modern psych-rock artist from Sweden, samples usually revolve around his work (which also contains strong eastern influences). It does make the results a little different from your usual beat tape, the whole thing is very psychedelic (obviously) and can sound flat out weird in parts. Paul White's drum sounds is what I particularly enjoy about him, very reminiscent of Oh No, that sort of modern buzzing thick clapping (they fit perfectly with the eastern/psych samples here). A quite original and enjoyable effort, I just hope that this is the start of a long relationship between the artist and the label as I have the feeling that Paul White has much more to offer in his bag. The fans of Stones Throw instrumental hip hop projects should definitely grab it.