Solemn / Synapz

Local boys Solemn and Synapz from Oakland, founders of the label “SIAS,” come through with a mixture of beats that range from drum n bass to trip hop. Solemn does the trip hop (although he prefers not to label it as such) on the first half of the CD, and Synapz does the d’n’b on the second half. Solemn is into loop-heavy production with some hip hop MCing. Synapz goes the banging and distorted route with his d’n’b beats. Not up my alley on either count, but check them out anyway – they’re local.

Track 1: Speak-n-spell doing a street slang intro. Best part of the album – is that a good thing?
Track 2: Distant trip hop drum loop with muted horns. A little primitive and low-fi.
Track 3: SCRATCHED – at least didn’t work on my system. Play at your own risk
Track 4: String samples over trip hop beat. Vocals sound like old movie samples plus female vox moaning.
Track 5: Well done with some hip hop rhyming, but very low volume.
Track 6: Enter Synapz with the d’n’b. Distorted beats, distorted sound efx.
Track 7: You really have to like distorted beatz to get into Synapz’s production style.
Track 8: Same as above
Track 9: Best d’n’b delivery from Synapz. Still too over the top for me, but some smooth keys and well-placed guitar samples make it interesting.