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If you heard Ross Allen the other week on Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Show, not only will you have heard he founded Casual Records as an outlet for talent that his bosses at Island couldn’t see. Allen’s talents have since been poached by Domino (home of Artics, Ferdinands, Four Tet, Steve Reid!) but not before he launched Lady Sovereign and released the classic ‘Almighty Father’ by Sunship.

So with that same A&R spirit, they’ve now got the foresight to release a 13 track album that includes some brand new names and a couple of old ones. Concentrating mostly on UK talent, what is clear, it is mostly talent with an eye to the future.

Urban, R&B, Grime, Hip Hop, Rap or whatever you want to call it, are all here. The CD kicks off with a modern take on ‘Gimme Ur Love’ that features Sly Marvin Mayfield (with due respect to Curtis, any relation?) and Amsterdam’s Lloyd de Meza shows he’s got enough to be the ‘next big thing’ on ‘Truth Of The Matter’ (with a guest feature by the ever excellent Dubbledge).

Omar turns up on the closing track by Black Britanyaa but be warned, ‘Libation’ is a tale from the dark side of life, ‘Time’ is a brief history lesson and bringing it up-to-date, ‘Immigrant’ is a quality story-rap by Red Bull Music Academy winner Bubbz.

Loads of Roots Manuva, TY, Rascal influences and there’s a fair bit of Craig David knocking about. ‘Chill And Get High’ is for the smokers but sounds like a Talc production and ‘Wait A Minute’ takes to well-worn path of “I’m better than you” battle stuff by Artcha (One Crew with Sway).

Mr. Hectic (no relation) comes in with the clumsy entitled ‘As For I Have’ but the strings are anything but. Top tune

Of the ladies Miss Camille is all soul, Sophie Johnson-Hill bounces like a Lily Allen.

Inevitably, you wonder why these guys are ‘discovered’ already, some of the lyrics are particularly good, either in humorous or thought provoking way. Also, don’t be put off by ‘urban’.

The album launch at the Big Chill House on 20th November so when this lot are big and famous, you can brag, I saw them when they were unknown.

Hectic Mix nominations: ‘As For I Have’, ‘Libation’, ‘Run Da Carnival’, ‘Gimme Ur Love’, ‘Chill And Get High’

Reviewed: Various — Foresight: Urban (Casual) Cat. No. LOUPE026 Release date: 19th November 2007

Links:
5th November 2007 Casual Back Catalogue On Sale Now!!!!!!!! “In the spirit of Xmas past, present and future, we are delivering to you an early festive treat! We have decided to slash the prices of our back catalogue for a limited time only.
Soul2Soul, Country Got Soul Vol.1 & 2, Country Soul Review — Testifying, & Way Beyond Nashville are the titles we have up for grabs! All titles going for a mere £4.99.
Take advantage of this offer and get your stockings filled quick and early while stocks last!”
Simply goto www.casuallondon.com and click on the ‘Shop’ tab to make your purchase. Happy Shopping!
www.bigchill.net
Ras Kwame :: Tracklisting Wednesday 1 August :: Unklejam session from Maida Vale
Mr Hectic — Mr Hectic
Gilles Peterson :: Tracklisting 18th October :: Ross Allen + Zed Bias