|
|
|
|
Most people by now who are interested will have experienced the fine lyrical skills that Jehst comes with. He's been doing this for around 8 years and so has honed his skills to a fine level over others beats, like on the Champions of Nature 12s and guesting on the Universal Soldiers, Evil Ed and Task Force records as well as his substantial first EP - Premonitions on the YNR imprint. Now two years on he has moved up to the Low Life stable and has obviously benefited from the superior production values and facilities they offer. This is a well polished 8 track 12 inch, but has only 4 full vocal tracks. There are two bonus beats and two different interlude beats. Fully self-produced the EP kicks off with what is for me the best track, maybe - The High Plains Drifter. This is an extremely funky, laid back piano loop based track that I just have to play over and over. The drum sounds are super fat with an off beat ride cymbal making the arrangement which Jehst rides effortlessly, beat and lyricist complimenting each other perfectly. 'The herbailist kerb surfer, riding pavement waves'. Next up is one of the interlude beats, which like the other beats, will be useful to anyone wanting to loop it up, but you wish Jehst had done something more with it. 'As we emerge from the big smoke'. This beat is followed by the City Of Industry track which features a high pitched sitar sound which could wreck your bonce. Deeper in sentiments this track seriously serious. The chorus is extra simple, but makes the track with a rising high pitch tone. Check out some of the lyrics: 'You can see me as cynical, trapped in my own gothic vision, encapsulating chaos in this composition, calculating like the lies of a politician, gripping a slingshot I size up the opposition' and 'Jehst gives belief to a sceptic, the truth neglected like open wounds that turn septic, infected by the forked tongue of a liar, now my thoughts are the colour of fire', bwoy, leaves you breathless. The A side is closed down with the bonus beats for the High Plains Drifter. The B side is opened with an instrumental track entitled Bluebells. Slowing down the track has a real dreamy feel and again the production is fat, with the drums sounding big. The track is accompanied by an interesting sung sample where the singer is offering us Bluebells - very surreal, but very pleasing too. Following this is a track 1979 in which Jehst says 'lets takes it back to 1979'. The drums are again outstanding on this track and are mixed with a muted horn, which adds a plaintiff tone to accentuate the lyrics. The final vocal track, The Trilogy sees Jehst introduce the tones of MCs Ricochet and Tommy Evans into the mix for collaboration on a posse cut. Both MCs show and prove alongside Jehst and are welcome additions to a surprisingly guest free release. Bells and Gamelan type sounds make up the major part of the melody, and each MC comes as strong as the next one. To round up the Ep there is the bonus beats from the 1979 track. Overall this is a definite purchase without a weak track and should expose Jehst to a wider audience than before. Not often I will say it, but possibly this is the best record of the year so far.
 Related
Links:
© ukhh.com 1999 - 2000 |
Jehst The High Plains Drifter
EP