DJ Drez – Jahta Beat (Sil Music)
Reviewed by Sadie O., 5/23/06
Hip hop DJ from LA does chill Indian and North African beats and flows – really well. It’s in World instead of Hip Hop because although it’s all chill production, the world instrumentations are totally dominant. Not unlike our local Cheb I-Sabbah, who’s passed through our a-file but with more Indian chill than Middle Eastern dance.
No FCC, but a bit of moaning on track 12. I like 2 and 5 best – all are pretty, most are really chill. None are bad, even if I didn’t * em.
1. 1:05 etherial and formless, Indian instrumentation drifting from one channel to the other.
2. 4:22 ***slow, swingy Bhangra beat, calm and flowing yet funky. Female vocals and sitar star.
3. 3:45 *slightly downtempo but very chill. Flute stars, a bit jazzy, also tabla and electronica.
4. 5:18 *slow with sitar and table and keyboards – male and female vocals sounding devotional. Some hip hop at end.
5. 3:46 ***midtempo, WAY funky, some street noises, funky North African horn
6. 4:13 *slow, chill, sitar, no beat for long intro, then flute and female vocals “you make me feel so good”…
7. 5:58 *downtempo, funky/jazzy, gorgeous female vocals. Turns English halfway through.
8. 5:19 drone and sitar, male carnatic singer, very devotional, chill, but with occasional uptempo Bhangra beat overlaid.
9. 3:44 *midtempo hip hop with some drone, some cosmic pronouncements and piano
10. 3:35 midtempo heartbeat riddim with handdrums, rainstick and piano (and something twangy).
11. 4:50 a bit downtempo, jazzy guitar and bass with devotional chanting and tabla.
12. 4:39 downtempo old-school hip hop beat, mixes in with vaguely Bhangra beat, cuica, flutes… a little bit of gratuitous moaning.
13. 2:47 *slightly uptempo tabla, hip hop beat, sitar
14. 4:06 downtempo, sounds like a didgeridoo, maybe a samba singer in the distance, very ethereal.
15. 4:47 **nyahbinghi drums and sitars
16. 2:15 **a bit uptempo, boopy, very random vocals
17. 4:30 **a bit uptempo with some urgency and mysterious horns. A bit of “Fantasia” feel.