New Katalyst single features large posse cut

“All You’ve Got”, the first single from Ashley “Katalyst” Anderson’s forthcoming sophomore solo album looks to be a rather large cut of the posse variety. The slightly vague press release indicates there’s an extended version of the song with verses from seven emcees, four of which – Sleeping Monk, Xela (Good Buhdha), Mr Clean and The Tongue – will appear on stage to perform the track at Dust Tones in Sydney this weekend. Also appearing on the single are RuCL, Hau (Koolism), Nfa and the UK’s Yungun, though it’s not totally clear whose on the album version and who blesses the extended “Sinister Seven” remix.

The 12″ will drop on Invada, the Inertia-distributed label helmed by Katalyst and Portishead’s Geoff Barrow, in May. The album What’s Happening will follow soon after.

Dust Tones, this Saturday 21 April at Sydney Uni’s Manning Bar, will feature sets from Hermitude, Rephrase, Percussion Junction, Mark Walton, Noodles, Noel Boogie and Bentley. Nice!

Review: Hilltop Hoods “What A Great Night” CDS/12” (Obese Records)

Major label isht aside, the CD single is a rare commodity in Australian hip hop, with most acts catering to a core fanbase that are going to buy (or download) the album anyway. ARIA, DMA, and J-Award winners Hilltop Hoods are one of the few who can afford the luxury, which is good news for listeners who appreciate remixes and instrumentals, and DJs who can cop the accompanying 12”.

With a rocking, rattling guitar loop, tinkling chorus, and party-hardy theme, “What A Great Night” is an obvious single choice from The Hard Road, even if it’s not one of the best tracks from the album. Suffa’s verses don’t measure up to the previous two singles, and while there’s a concept, it’s not explored on par with, say, “Stopping All Stations”. The remix from Simplex of Terra Firma adds a touch of drama with it’s flute and a brief, ominous switch up at the start of Suffa’s second verse. The thickly layered chorus is almost, but not quite, too busy and the stripped back ‘rock the house’ outro works a treat. With any luck, this is a sign of some forthcoming Terra Firma material. Funkwig & deNorthwode’s loping remix keeps things sparse, extending the intro and adding cuts from DJs Sum 1 and Kansel in the outro. Overall, it’s a safe choice for a radio single, with remixes to satisfy the heads.

Hilltop Hoods on MySpace
Obese Records

New Australian crate digging blog

Sydney-based DJ Kinetic’s new blog providing brief reviews of Aussie funk, jazz, soul and psych rock gets off to a strong start with a post full of goodies. Among the curiosities is Mandy Sheridan and Terry King’s From The Shark’s Mouth, apparently pressed up by the Cronulla Leagues Club and featuring a version of the Sharks’ anthem “Up, Up Cronulla.” Very Australian. Aussie Funk kind of fills the gap created by the hiatus of DJ Sheep’s Tasman Connection. It remains to be seen how a blog like this might effect the availability and price of the records featured (a la the Soulstrut effect).