Review: Impey - Bangclap / 4titude [S7S002]

It may be too early to call, but with Boofy and Lemzly Dale in no rush to balance out the quality with quantity, Sector 7 Sounds could soon have themselves established as a bag-on-sight imprint. It's been a little wait since the label's acerbic debut, but "worth it" doesn't quite do 002 justice. Those who've had their ear to the grimey ground should already be well aware of lead track 'Bangclap', which boasts a string line that, in other, lazier hands, might have ended life wasted on a Lex-Luger-by-numbers trap beat. Impey's variations are subtle, allowing the emotive topline to retain its catchiness without slipping into the boredom of an overworked loop. This delicate sense of balance transfers also to the careful plumbing of grime's heyday - when the aggression of tunes such 'POW!' was valued as equally as the emotive likes of Ruff Sqwad's 'Together' - in, for instance, the tune's pitch-bent vocal snips. The balance of course noted in the fact that, listening to the record, you don't find yourself reaching halfway through for a tune made nearly ten years ago: 'Bangclap' avoids any cynical nostalgia because it's not a sonic palette that it borrows from so much as an emotive one, invoking something of the energy and feeling that made and, in certain examples such as this release, continues to make grime such an enthralling sound.

To say that the B-side is more of the same would usually make for a nicely back-handed compliment, however when the A- is this good, and the producer this young, it can serve as nothing less than a congratulatory handshake. More brooding than 'Bangclap', and making more of the space between scattered claps and broken drum rolls, '4titude' peddles a similarly astute sense of control and balance and, in the aforementioned use of space, feels more inviting to an MC. Yet with something of a drought - unless you're in Manchester, that is - of really good new MCs in grime, it seems '4titude' will be allowed to revel celebrated as an instrumental cut in its own for a good while longer at least.









Impey - Bangclap


Impey - 4titude


Impey - Bangclap / 4titude [S7S002] is out now on Sector 7 Sounds, and available directly from the BigCartel store.

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Competition: Win an advance copy of Boofy & Lemzly Dale - Catch A Body / Banshee [S7S001]

Icy synths, coarse strings and clapped snares - lots of clapped snares - are what make up Sector 7 Sounds' first release. 'Catch A Body' broods, with Boofy's trademark skittering hats skipping over kicks set deep beneath a taut, Lemzly Dale string arrangement. Lil Nasty, Dot Rotten and Big H are on hand with adlibs and the result, all stop-start rhythms and spluttered bassline, is greaze. The flip, more a AA than a B-side, takes the stop-start and gives it more strut with a swinging kick/clap combination and cascading hats. Both are heavy cuts and, hardly surprisingly, have peppered the sets of Bristol's most recent grime upstarts, including Kahn, Neek, Asa and Hi5Ghost. This is classic era grime resurrected, and what format could be more fitting than a limited press white label?

In the spirit of all things up-front and exclusive, we've got an advance copy of the record to give away for free - simply head over to the Hedmuk Facebook Page and give the competition image the usual 'like and share' treatment. The competition will close on Sunday the 25th of August; the winner will be chosen at random by an independent third party, and announced via Facebook and Twitter on that date.



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