(Catskills/Inertia)

The new album from Brighton record store owner, Black Grass, is due to drop some time soon, and his label Catskills have released a couple of big party tracks to whet appetites. From the sounds of things, the new album is set to turn some heads with it’s diverse take on UK beats – from rough hip hop (including a track with Blak Twang) through to downtempo broken beat and breaks.

This first single is pretty damn schizophrenic. The A side features TC Islam (son of the legendary Afrika Bambaataa) on the big party hip hop of ‘Bang! (Turn It Out)’. TC drops some tight rhymes, and while the track will certainly rock it on the dancefloor, it doesn’t really deliver much lyrically.

The AA ‘Reprise’ is where I’d place my loot. Delicious afro beat vocals and warm keys that wouldn’t be out of place on labels like Guidance or Nuphonic gradually build from the intro. Things toughen up when a big bassy new school beat drops in, but it’s all permeated by the same mellifluous afro groove.

The English summer is great – so many premo records at the shops! Too bad we’re on our way into winter I guess, but with tunes like this there’s no need to hide out.