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Their reggae credentials are second to not many. Matching Madlib’s compilation Blunted In The Bomb Shelter with their own, Blunted In The Backroom to appearing at Bestival with Dennis Alcapone. So you can’t blame them for including their version of ‘Blood Fire’ (with Dynamite MC) and getting Niney The Observer out of a 20 year retirement! Note, ‘Let It Be’ is not to be confused with a Beatles’ cover as it goes zuggy, zuggy.

And when comes to friends and family Fat Freddy’s Drop’s Dallas features on two tracks. ‘The Drop’ is very FFD but ‘Did No Wrong’ takes a bit of a shuffle with a great horn solo; definitely a prize track.

Part-Time Heroes have also helped out and at the other extreme, the Rawkus Kidz In The Hall get all inner-city on ‘Knowledge Be Born’.

Alice Russell joins in on the opener but it’s Zarif who steals the soul spotlight, yeah, she’s that good.

It includes the ‘Blood Fire’ b-side of ‘Blood Fire’ (featuring Demolition Man) and Dynamite MC is back with a similarly bouncy riddem to ‘Piece Of The Pie’, ‘Concentrate’.

‘Camera Tricks’ is a change of pace (with more mates Sway and Bridgette Amofah who were both at the album launch at Cargo with Zarif and Dynamite MC) and ‘Memory Lane’ is almost like an 80s soul track (I keep saying soul is coming back) with more great horns.

What could have turned out as a collection of disjointed tracks dominated by guest performances, This Was Supposed To Be The Future’s strength is its high quality production and performances. A sober album without hang over problems belies The Nextmen’s party animal image but whether live or on CD, you can feel the good time vibe with these lot. Blood ‘n’ Fire!!!

Hectic Mix nominations: ‘Did No Wrong’, ‘The Drop’, ‘Blood Fire’, ‘Knowledge Be Born’, ‘Move’, ‘Memory Lane’

Reveiwed: The Nextmen — This Was Supposed To Be The Future (Antidote) Cat. No. ANTCD120 Release date: 11th June 2007
Tracklisting :
01. Let It Roll feat. Alice Russell (3:26)
02. Blood Fire feat. Dynamite MC (3:41)
03. Did No Wrong feat. Dallas (4:16)
04. Tuffen Up feat. LSK (4:00)
05. Knowledge Be Born feat. Kidz In The Hall (3:17)
06. Something Got You feat. Zarif (3:34)
07. Concentrate feat. Dynamite MC (2:59)
08. Let It Be feat. Niney The Observer (4:22)
09. The Drop feat. Dallas (4:16)
10. Move feat. Zarif (4:08)
11. Piece Of the Pie feat. Demolition Man (4:36)
12. Camera Tricks feat. Sway and Bridgitte Amofah (2:55)
13. Memory Lane feat. LSK (4:55)
14. This Was Supposed To Be The Future feat. Zarif (5:23)

Links:
www.thenextmen.com
www.myspace.com/thenextmen
www.antidoterecords.co.uk
myspace.com/antidoterecordsuk
http://parttimeheroes.co.uk
www.oneweektolive.com 11 — 18th June 2007: THE NEXTMEN Perhaps best known for their block rockin’, genre-bashing DJ sets, Brad Baloo and Dom Search are equally nimble in the studio and have been knocking out all manner of hip hop beatery for the best part of a decade.