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Columbusing

The debut LP from Sheffield’s Scott Moncrieff is a beautiful collage of sounds, genres and moods. The depth in sound and texture highlights the DJ and producer's love of sampled-based music, ranging from the lush, breezy hip hop and nu-soul of 'Air' to the irresistible house cuts he’s built up such a healthy following from.

Another feature from Detroit-based Ta’Raach, a contemporary of clear influence J Dilla, comes in the form of the soulful 'A Fly New Tune', which is just that, with it’s perfectly programmed drums sitting just right for the MC to cruise over. 'I Can Hardly Breathe' is another mid-tempo groove that wraps itself up into an infectious jam, a perfect halfway between the worlds of hip hop and house, where Mr Monkz' styles meet. 'For Bae' starts with a lone drum break before turning in to a monster of melody and percussion. I can picture the likes of 'Jus Anutha Wunna Deez', 'Turn it Out' and 'Take U 2 My House' setting off dancefloors over the coming months and years.

This album does well in picking you up for a dance one moment, before sitting you down for a breather and a gentle head nod the next. With a slew of releases on his Shadeleaf Music imprint, alongside remix work and projects that have been well received here and abroad, these are exciting times for Thatmanmonkz, and Columbusing is an album that the man whose face is on the Shadeleaf logo, Okie Dulo (rest in peace), will surely be smiling down and nodding his head approvingly to.

Joe ‘Zeeni’ Baker