Sampa The Great – The Great Mixtape

Aug
21
posted by tommy

This is a record of personal, cultural, geographical and spiritual pride. It’s put out by my buddy Si Jay Gould who runs a label & management agency called Wondercore Island. He’s done all those courageous Wondercore Mixtapes (remember?) and he’s got an ear for the un-Australian. I don’t mean that in the derogatory non-true blue way, but he has an ear for records that are going to transcend our oceanic boundaries and hold their own on a global level. His current blood Jaala dropped a track called Hard Hold recently that’s been making waves o’erseas and you can bet your best coin that Sampa The Great is going to hit her straps on foreign soil too. But Wondercore aside, I think the people are going to need to recognise this on it’s strengths. It’s wonderfully produced by Sydney’s Godriguez to make for a diverse bunch of instrumental sounds and well picked samples. Sampa flows over the top like a gelatinous treat but then cuts angular, ripping her rythms back from you when you think you’ve caught the gist of them. Track’s like Dutch Spring see her sing-songing her way through the center of a song but my favourite is probably The Basics, purely because I love a Wally De Backer concept track. Closely following though is Weoo which oozes raw ritualism and a ceremonial sensation through its sparse, tingling production.




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