Modulok & Bare Beats - Two Cities

One of the things I have always loved about hip hop is its ability to pull you into a parallel world that presents you with elements of your own with a distorted, edgy flavour. The visual and aural world created on Two Cities is a perfect example of what I'm on about. An array of beautifully produced music lays out a lush platform from which canadian emcee Modulok delivers intense flows that city dwellers around the world can relate to. The format of intricate yet alternatingly jazzy and punchy beats, accompanied by straight up visual, cerebral rapping is perfectly finished with some great scratching from Jabba the Kut. Standouts for me were the manifesto like 'Intro' over some dope beat boxing takes it back to what makes Hip Hop such a vital phenomenom. 'Trouble' is a lively posse cut, showing dope skills from Modulok and gritty british guests Perry Scaramanga, Karl Sereousz and Smokey with a great cut up of a Jehst sample on the hook. The album is full of dope quotables and observations, and its good to know your not the only one who likes drinking "A pint of Guiness with a shot of whiskey in it". The haunting 'City' provides great paranoid headphone fodder for those late night excursions along train tracks looking for dope pieces; however the standout track for me is 'Origin' a beautifully crafted piece of music documenting a poignoint biography of Modulok, I had that shit on repeat about 8 times when I first heard it. The cover art is intriguing and fascinating; the only real complaint would be a lack of detail in the liner notes, one of the side elements that bring an album to life. That aside, this album demonstrates an immense creativity, heart and dedication to hip hop, self expression and life. Go cop it! www.bare-records.co.uk www.redantsmusic.com www.myspace.com/modulokandbeats

P.S. If you want a taste of what's good these kind people present a free mini-album available to download from the myspace page, go support.