ParanormL Jazz Is The Fundamentals EP ParanormL is apparently one of the West Coast’s best kept secrets – the man’s got five albums worth of materials yet no-one seems to have heard of him. I’m not sure if this is his first actual release, as the press release won’t delve into much detail rather choosing to lay on some mystery type speech about ParanormaL and his origins. So what about the music? After all it matters little who he really is, as long as the music stands on its own. And well if you like your hip hop jazzy (as if the title didn’t give that away already), laid back and with more than a touch of what made the Native Tongues or parts of the Hieroglyphics crew legends in the 90s then chances are you’ll like ParanormL. The straight up no nonsense boom bap, headnod production comes from Freddy Joachim and Maspyke and is full of smoky loops, upbeat riffs and ‘classic’ drum patterns. Which again is great if it works for you. The lyrics follow the music: upbeat, reflective, at times bordering on the singing with catchy choruses and subject matters as far removed from guns, bling, battle raps and other recent cliches as you can think. I can’t quite decide if this is good, decent ‘jazz hop’ as the press release claims (using other adjectives than me, and a term which is quite possibly worse than trip hop) or if it’s just another rehashing of those classic early 90s vibes, which worked great then but are frankly a bit outdated today. Don’t get me wrong I love some nice jazz influenced beats as much as the next man but there’s something about this EP that doesn’t quite grab you like other more recent offerings have. Including some on the same Altered Vibes label. ParanormL definitely rides a fine line between poorly done deja vu and well executed rehashing. I guess the decision is yours... Rides a fine line between poorly done deja vu and well executed rehashing - Kper © ukhh.com 1999 - 2006