Review: Since their inception, there are few labels that have been able to tie the fusion of Jamaican system-influenced sounds with the UK underground as well as the Nice Up! Team. We have been absolutely loving their journey in recent times, with this latest selection seeing them gathering some of their biggest hitters for one of our favourite compilation drops of 2021. That list of heavy hitters includes the likes of Danny T, Tradesman, Red Eye HiFi, Taxman, Escape Roots and many more, all of whom contribute a fantastic combination of instrumental and vocal fire. The quality level is so high, from the footwork inspired drum rolls of Casement's 'Mutiny', to Congi's spacious rethink of Origin One's 'Dead & Buried' and even Gray's big room recreation of 'Strangers' from Mr Benn & Tiya X An. There are a couple of clear highlights for us, including Wrongtom's dubwise rethink of Seanie T's 'Veterans', which features one of the most vibrant collections of UK hip hop vocalists we have ever seen. As well as this, the Riddim Punks rework of Think Tonk & General Jah Mikey's 'None Of Dem' is anthem material if ever we heard it. Fantastic work!
Review: Nottingham's finest Origin One comes correct with his debut album. And if so much as your little toe loves rootsical flavours then you need to tune in. A heady melting pot of dub, reggae, dancehall, soul, afrobeat and hip hop, all wrapped up with strong beats and features from the likes of Spyda, Irah, XL Mad, Peppery, Parly B, Gardna, Nanci Correia, double-O badman Origin One has cooked up something special. From the flabby bass of "Where You Come From" to the juiced up jungle skanks of "Tribute" via the system-melting skanks of dubstep stamper "Dread & Buried", sitting somewhere between The Bug and Dub Pistols, this is serious piece of work right here. Listen up. Nice Up.
Review: Nice Up live up to their name with a trio of speaker-melting takes on Origin One's most recent release; the fragrant herbal homage "High Grade". First up are no-nonsense next-gen junglist Selecta J-Man and Kelvin 373 whole flip the gritty dancehall original into a turbo-charged jump-up hybrid, mysterious Manny collective Think Tonk get all wavey and stampy while Canadian operator flips things into a cosmic halftime workout where K.O.G's gritty gravel vocals really shine. Nice work.
Review: Origin One got it together to release album All For The Love back in May, but it looks as though things have slowed down since then. As a result, we just get the one new track, "Good Ganja", here - a laidback dub reggae jam with an authorities vocal from Cheshire Cat. There's four remixes to choose from, our favourites being DJ Maars' half-time hip-hop influenced head-nodder and Juice Foresight's surprisingly lively deep tropical house jam.
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