MJ Cole
Sincere
- Island Records
Release Date: 2001
Fast becoming the posterchild for UK two-step, MJ Cole is finally seeing his
Mercury Award nominated "Sincere" released in the U.S. With a classically
trained ear and keen production skills, Cole shows overwhelming flair as
well as deft control of his two-step juggernaut. He effortlessly snakes
around the street-cred grittiness of hiphop and ragga ("Bandelero Desperado"
and "Slum King"), the sweat-inducing sexiness of deep house (top 10 UK hits
"Sincere" and "Crazy Love"), and pure R&B pop sounds that make the songs
immediately memorable. To his credit, more than most garage producers, he
brings enough old skool dnb flavoring and breakbeats to be refresh tired
house tropes, makes R&B listenable again and brings the jungle sounds out
from the production studio and back out onto the dance floor.
Besides Cole's personal talents, much of the praise should also go to
the capable duo vocalizing his ideas. His cohorts deliver a stunning
performance and bring personality to these "new" sounds. Elizabeth Troy's
soulful vocals put her at the top of her diva-class, and Cole's MC, Danny
Vicious, drops just enough tight ragga/hiphop rhymes to keep the street
attitude flowing.
While all of these standout traits make this a record a solid investment,
buyer beware. "Sincere" still suffers from the same problems that plague
almost all other electronic LPs. While the original 12"s make an impression,
some tracks are simply wallpaper and filler. But, buy the record solely on
the strength of these tracks. Buy it because Sincere is a landmark record.
With every new strain of electronic music, folks on our side of the pond
need blueprint albums to summarize the new mutations. For ambient, it was
"The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld," trip hop had "Blue Lines," and
for drum and bass, it was Roni Size's "New Forms." Not always the first or
the best, these releases introduce and explain a 12" culture to the CD
crowd. They present a listenable set of songs which, as a whole, cohesively
represent the full spectrum of the genres' capabilities. Now that MJ Cole's
year-old and much lauded "Sincere" is finally seeing its stateside release,
let the introduction begin. America, this is UK garage.
--Miguel Banuelos
banuelos@outersound.com
