King Britt's entry in the producer-friendly Beat Generation series from BBE is a real Philadelphia experiment, the type of hip-hop record that the former Digable Planets DJ, Sylk 130 leader, and producer extraordinaire, had always wanted to make. More than a decade of gig traveling had introduced Britt to some talented rappers, and his long list of contacts sparked a host of great features here, for familiar names as well as a few fresh Philly faces. Though he included a few straight vocal tracks ("for the people that know me for doing songs and working with fantastic vocalists"), most of these are rap tracks with few pretensions, just King Britt's textured, keyboard-heavy production, and a dizzying range of beats that puts commercial rap trackmasters to shame. Britt apparently likes working with distinctive rappers, and he called on a few of the best: Quasimoto, Posdnous & Trugoy from De La Soul, Bahamadia, Cherrywine (aka Butterfly from Digable Planets), and Capitol A. His production behind Quasimoto's "Spaces" is appropriately bizarre, just as good as a classic Lootpack track. Capitol A's "Caught Out (There)" is excellent too, the whole production (and vocal) hinging on a repetitive split-second female vocal sample. Cherrywine's "The Sound" brings back the unjustly neglected Digables main man, sporting a classic breakbeat straight off Blowout Comb. Rappers with lower profiles, like the solid spitter Dice Raw (a peripheral member of the Roots) or the abstract Rilners jouegck: dacered onnle (yes, that is his name), get features that are just as good -- if not better -- than the ones doled out to those with major-label deals. Adventures in Lo-fi isn't as immaculately produced as a Sylk 130 LP, but the street-level grittiness on display definitely works to Britt's advantage; he purposefully keeps it raw and actually did much of the post-recording work on a laptop. ~ John Bush
Adventures In Lo-fi is King Britt's official return to Hip Hop. Since his stint with Digable Planets, King has been on a musical mission that has made him an anomaly in the music industry. Inspired loosely by John Sayles 'Brother From Another Planet', Adventures in Lo-fi asks its listeners to look around their immediate community critically and to do the same musically. From astute verbal wordplay, accessible spaced-out soul, affecting prose and delectably referential yet original production, Adventures in Lo-fi has what too much music currently lacks, heart! BBE. 2003.
This is part of BBE's "Beat Generation" series.
Recorded at The Hut, The Studio, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Includes liner notes by King Britt.
Personnel: King Britt (Fender Rhodes piano, keyboards, Moog synthesizer); Grand Agent , Lady Alma, Moses Gunn, Quasimoto, Hal, Capitol A (vocals); Chuck Treece, Baz (guitar); Larry Gold (cello); Ivana Santilli (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, vocoder); Wechsel Garland (keyboards, xylophone); Doc Gibbs (percussion).
Audio Mixer: Jeff Chestek.
Recording information: The Bomb Shelter; The Hut, Philly; The Studio, Philly.
Photographer: Mike Diver.
Personnel: King Britt (spoken vocals, keyboards, programming); Ivana Santilli (vocals, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, vocodor); Rich Medina, Lady Alma, Will Brodie (vocals); Pos, Trugoy, Grand Agent, Rob Life, Kai Chi, Capitol A, Cherrywine, Dice Raw, Quasimoto (rap vocals); Miss Saigon (spoken vocals); Chuck Treece (guitar, bass, programming); Georgio Piaza (guitar); Larry Gold (cello); Wechsel Garland (keyboards, xylophone); Obafunke (keyboards); Baz (bass); Doc Gibbs (percussion).
Vibe (5/03, p.162) - 3 out of 5 - "...ADVENTURES has moments of cinematic-audio bliss, where conventional rap and R&B tempos are thrown to the wind....It's a ride worth taking..."
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