Black Grass A Hundred Days In One

Brighton beat junkie Mex, who first turned his love of crate digging into the hip-hop fashioned recording project Black Grass a few years back with then partner Carl Faure, goes it alone for his latest release, A Hundred Days In One, this time moving things well beyond the boundaries of his original concept. The producer establishes the new record’s diversions into all things beat-related from the first note of album opener "Lucha Contra De La Injusticia,” a Latin-inflected club cut that cycles various forms of Central and South American percussion over a driving rhythm speckled with melodic horn solos and subtle guitar riffs. Conscious dancehall chatta Jah Marnyah follows with an urgent warning of life’s troubles behind a punched-up, old-time reggae sample on "Oh Jah” before Mex offers up his best, although unnecessary, rehashing of Portishead’s unmistakable sound with "Don’t Leave Me This Way.” The deep, atmospheric synth mood laid out on "Sweet To Taste” provides an apt soundscape for the accompanying poet’s ominous message, while the slightly old-school soul sound of "So Many Ways” rounds out this record with style, as this budding new beatsmith proves that virtually no sound is beyond his nimble reach. (Catskills)

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