Description

Jadell - How Do I Do

Reviews

Logo

The coolest of a post-millennial wave of soundtrack albums for films that never were, ‘How Do I Do?’ draws on the legacy of James Brown, David Axelrod and Lalo Schifrin, plugging into a cinematic groove with admirable skill. Whether he’s nodding to such gems as Bullit (‘To Morning’), Boyz In The Hood (‘Testify’ with a vitriol-spitting turn from Kasper Gomez of Bad Magic) or The Dirty Dozen by way of John Lee Hooker, Perry Como and Bollywood (‘Ones That Stack’), the results are uniformly impressive. Under the James Brown huff of ‘Come On & Get Some’ a disembodied voice calmly states: ‘A lot of funky shit was goin’ on y’know’. Too true.

Ministry

Now here’s an album which is regularly moving the air around these parts right now. With ‘How Do I Do?’, producer Jadell has fused the approach of soundtrack funkster Lalo Schifrin with an urban sound of beats which owes more to the reality of 21st-century sensibility than it does to a second-hand sensation of what the 70s were like. Which certainly makes for a refreshing change. Hence ‘Lets Me Know You’re Listening’, after three minutes of amiable, smoky vibes, is able to burst inot a hard-gambling, womanising James Bond epic of intense funkitude, and is sounding startling and fresh. The album’s stuffed full to the brim with it, being both intensely musical and dang groovy to boot. Purchase with confidence. 9/10

Muzik

Somewhat surprisingly, Jadell’s second album surfaces not, as expected, on Ultimate Dilemma, but on Deadly Avenger’s Illicit imprint instead. Fortunately, Jadell’s knowing way with a phat break and a well placed sample remain intact, and ‘How Do I Do’ reveals itself to be a more than satisfactory follow-up to his 1999 outing ‘Gentleman Of Leisure’. Choice moments come courtesy of the slick Rose Smith – Vocalled ‘Let’s Me Know You’re Listening’, the boogie bounce of ‘Spanish Fly’ and the bar room brawl of ‘Hip Joint’, and the whole thing hangs together as well as you’d expect from such an adept producer as Jadell. The boy done good!

Q

Cinematic funk and ‘70s cop-show cool have long been high on hip hop’s list of obsessions. Jadell’s DVD collection must be better than most, as this predominantly instrumental second album contains the most painstakingly authentic suspense soundtrack never to have appeared in a film. The shady grooves, rumbling breakbeats and brooding orchestral murmurs of Rainduck scream impending doom, while To Morning, with its chilling twist from sweet downtempo groove to dissonant strings raises goosebumps. So good are his thriller themes they almost become a creative straitjacket. Even the slightest deviation – Testify’s rap, the hazy vocals of Lets Me Know You’re Listening – becomes merely a diversion from the main theme. 3/5

Seven

The Gentleman of Leisure does a mean Herbaliser impression and continues to offer funk for thought with pensive, delicately poised workouts such as ‘To Morning’ and ‘What Else’. Jadell’s mood is always positive, seldom sullen and likes nothing better than upping the ante with carefree surges of abandon, typified by the super-slick Latino powerhouse ‘Spanish Fly’ and the ultra-funkular James Brown-borrowing ‘Come And Get Some’, a real waist winder with added Brazilian Party parading. With an extensive instrument armoury that begs to sound the bomb live, the answer to Jadell’s question would be ‘bloody great mate’.