Björn Rohles rohles.net

Fantastic, contemporary hip-hop to download: Worldwide Renewal

Last update: Reading time: 1 minute Tags: HipHop, Mp3, Worldwide Renewal

Besides many beautiful individual songs, every now and then a complete album crosses my path as a free download that inspires me so much that I absolutely want to write about it. This has recently happened with the collection of cover versions by Okkervil River, and for quite some time now, the download album Worldwide Renewal has been doing just that. It has fantastic, contemporary hip hop that reminds me of the time when hip hop could still inspire me. And because it is so nice, here is a short review of the individual songs.

  1. Cool Kids, “88”: This is great hip hop right from the start. A rap, a dry, hard beat, and a guitar sample every now and then. That is all you need for a coherent hip hop song that would have blown the five-star rating from iTunes if that were possible.
  2. Kovas, “Go That Route”: If anyone can figure out what the beat is made of, I would be grateful for a hint. It sounds a bit like kitchen appliances. A fantastic song though, with a nice interplay between the different rappers.
  3. Hollywood Holt, “Hollywood”: The warm analog bass is the centerpiece of the track, together with dry beats and hand claps. On top of that, inspired rapping.
  4. Numeric, “Untitled”: a short interlude.
  5. Diverse, “Escape Earth”: Noisy, old-school-inspired piece with a dark melody line in the background. And nice science fiction lyrics: “We need human contact soon”.
  6. Protons, “Good Guys”: It starts with feverish synths, followed by sighing female voices, spiced up with no-frills rhymes over hard beats and an incredibly chilled organ.
  7. Via Tanja, “On Sawyer”: Musical experiments with digital scissors. No beat and no vocals are left untouched. Still, the track is damn groovy.
  8. Various F_ Vast Aire, “Big Game”: More sweet synth melodies over hard, rolling beats. As it progresses, reduced chimes of bells create true b-boy goosebumps.
  9. Push Button Objects, “Breaker’s Delight”: Hip-hop made with unquestionably computer-generated sounds, with digital charm, plus a single snappy, incomprehensible line and a combination of bass and synth riff. A bit of variety is missing over five minutes, of course.
  10. Push Button Objects, “LXP Bitches”: The bass drum at the start rolls threateningly, then heavily reverberated, dripping sounds create a mood as if it were the witching hour. Shorter and more atmospheric than the group’s first contribution.
  11. Free Moral Agents, “When I Smile”: Starting with gentle lyrics over drums, then a symbiosis of dry hip hop and distorted guitars. Finally fast, drum’n’bass-like beats and telephone beeps. A piece beyond all boundaries.