| Melbourne's Curse ov Dialect have been one of the most interesting Australian hip-hop crews for several years now. Originally working with Ollie Olsen, their early shows had more in common in terms of theatrics with Throbbing Gristle than anything hip-hop, and perhaps fortunately they existed and grew outside of the politics of Melbourne's hip-hop scenes. Then came the whole cLOUDDEAD wave and suddenly weird hip-hop was all in vogue. In 2001, Curse were signed to US label Mush, home to cLOUDDEAD, and Lost in the Real Sky is the outcome of this exciting partnership. Having seen Curse live it is difficult to imagine it working well on record, their first self-released album lacked the dynamism of their shows, but on Lost in the Real Sky they have managed to make a record that not only captures the spirit and energy of their live sets, but also has audible lyrics. Whilst everything radiates a strong psychedelic surrealism, at the core there are strong anti-racist, multiculturalist themes - which give the record a very specific Australian-ness. Likewise the beats are drawn from literally everywhere - Arabic, medieval English, and of course Macedeonian - Paso Bionic's immense production skills (often buried in a live mix) are proudly on show. Having seen this record in the shelves of Hardwax in Berlin with a "recommended" sticker on it, is a great sign that Australian hip-hop can be both unique and global. - Cyclic Defrost |
2XLP/Out Of Print