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This is a great release by the people that brought us Wunmi’s A.L.A. by the vocalist that has worked with Will Downing and appeared on recent releases by Gum Drop and Low Budget Soul releases (‘Fills My Heart’, ‘When I Call’).

If you just thought of Randolph as another folk-soul troubadour, this EP will change your mind. ‘I Love’ certainly starts in this vein but be prepared for the bomb of the strings at the end. This is as glorious as Ashley Beedles’ remix of Future Loop Foundation and one for the Ibiza chill-out sunrise or a late night in Camden.

Talking of North London’s music mecca, we’re told Matthews was born in Camden and his early musical training was at nights like Dingwalls, Paul Murphy’s Electric Ballroom and Norman Jay at the Bass Clef.

Well at any/all of these he’d have been exposed to the music of Bobby McFerrin, Jon Lucien, Andy Bey, Don Blackman, Marvin Gaye and many more. And you can hear all of these influences on this EP but one for the global music stage is ‘Indigenous Man’ on which he sings solo backed only by his guitar.

A certain Mr. Soulblender Jerome is a fan of the track ‘Canvas’ that features some more McFerrineaque beat-boxing and he slips into singing a couple of verses in French. I must hear this on a big system along with the scary but brilliant, tribal ‘Cohon Peace’.

‘Dazed & Confused’ is the most singer-songwriterist of the set and as such loses some of the uniqueness that the other tracks display; particularly the short but intriguing ‘Guitareque’ and the flamenco-paced ‘Angel’. Just love the soul meets sea shanty type lyrics on ‘Angel’ and he gets almost Deep Purple (not in a bad way) at the end. This is a dark angel that likes to dance to the bongos.

This EP is produced by Tony ‘CDR/NEPA/Attica Blues’ Nwachukwu (who knows everyone) so I expect Randolph is probably going to be in even more demand to appear on other peoples’ records than before. I hope he’s going to have time for his own work as this is great.

Hectic Mix nominations: ‘I Love’, ‘Canvas’, ‘Angel’, ‘Indigenous Man’, ‘Cohon Peace’

Reviewed — Randolph Matthews — Randolph Matthews (Documented) DMENTEP002
Release date: 9th July 2007
Tracklisting
1. I Love (4:40)
2. Indigenous Man (4:17)
3. Dazed & Confused (4:35)
4. Guitareque (Interlude) (1:59)
5. Canvas (4:27)
6. Angel (8:06)
7. Cohon Peace (5:17)

Links:
www.myspace.com/randolphmatthews
www.urbandevelopment.co.uk
www.myspace.com/aaronjerome
July 07 — CDR:SESSION TONIGHT Thursday, 12th July, 9-2am Plastic People,147-149 Curtain Road, EC2 Free Entry — In Session: Nwachukwu (NEPA Recordings) Gavin Alexander (Call ‘n’ Response)
CDR:SPECIAL at the Rise Festival Sunday, 15th July, 2-4pm Rise Festival,Underground Stage, Finsbury Park, N4 Free Entry — DJs: Nwachukwu,Gavin Alexander
Live: Duchess, Ear Dis featuring with special guest Omar & MC Spoonface
Check the Rise Festival website for more details www.risefestival.org