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Those will recall that Lewis Parker was a leader in the UK hip hop scene and on the verge of break-through with class releases of the album Masquerades & Silhouettes - and then it all went quiet.

Well, it’s been Brooklyn’s MC River Nelson’s gain as his debut album is as good as hip-hop best beats this year. And it’s caught the ear of Lewis Parker fan, Gilles Peterson and the less likely patronage of a host of BBC Radio DJ’s like Nemone, Lauren Laverne, Gideon Coe, Huey Morgan and Cerys Matthews.

It echoes the golden sound (and days) of pre-bling hip hop Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul with Parker providing the beats and themes such as the astro-harp of ‘Unbeatable Foe’ and the cinematic Schifrin of ‘Moonrise’ and Morricone of ‘Fist Full Of Dynamite’ (nice whistlin’).

‘Ready’ and ‘Man’ are raw by comparison and then ‘Woman’ and ‘Across Town’ hit out with hard urban soul (and horn in the case of ‘Woman’, how feminine). And talking of ladies, the snippet of Panama on ‘The Rise And Fall’ is ridiculously short and hopefully will be re-addressed in some format/context.

Jay Electronica and Theophilus London might be the saviours of hip-hop but the team of Nelson and Parker are disciples with something to say; the only fall on this album is the time of year it’s come out - all rise and buy!

Reviewed: River Nelson - The Rise And Fall Of River Nelson (Dusty Vinyl) Released: November 2010
Tracklisting:
1. The Brother Nelson (Intro) (0:28)
2. Always Winter (3:39)
3. Hold On (3:06)
4. Beautiful Life (Intro) (0:31)
5. Beautiful Life (4:22)
6. End Of The Day feat. Vex Davortex (4:27)
7. Unbeatable Foe feat. Dynas & Lewis Parker (3:54)
8. Moonrise (3:41)
9. Ready (3:44)
10. Across Town (4:22)
11. Man (Intro) (0:30)
12. Man (3:43)
13. Woman (3:59)
14. The Rise & Fall feat. Panama (1:23)
15. Fist Full Of Dynamite (4:15)
16. Fool (4:00)
17. There (5:12)

Links:
www.myspace.com/rivernelson
dustyvinyl.com
www.myspace.com/theworldofdustyvinyl