Recorded and released in record time, Koolism’ third album is overlong and unnecessarily bulked out, but it also features some of the duo’ best work to date.
The title says it all: New Old Ground takes it back to the old school, a boogie down groove familiar to the turntable-and-mic-driven Canberra crew, without compromising their distinctive sound (see Run DMC tribute In The Place or Ultramagnetic MCs-sampling Double O).
Having moved interstate – Danielsan to Melbourne, Hau to Sydney – the record was thrown together on consecutive weekends midway through 2005. Compared to Part Three, which had several years to percolate, this had less than six months. Unsurprisingly, the sequencing is less effective and several songs (such as Raw Steak) shouldn’ have made the cut.
But despite starting with the bitterly anti-thieving Talents (Koolism lost years’ worth of music when their gear was nicked the year before last), this is a major pick-me-up of a record.
Danielsan’ production brings together butt-dragging garage and dancehall-influenced production with an intuitive awareness of hip-hop’ swing. That’s already established, but the progress is in the sample selection and layering of horns, drums breaks, softly shimmering beats, screwed down vocals and the way he skilfully deploys all that alongside sharp cuts and scratches.
The bond between his production and Hau’ vivid storytelling is crucial to Koolism’ appeal. And Hau is at his best telling deeply personal stories, or letting it out on hands in the air party tracks. Conversely, he’ at his most monotonous on chronological run-throughs like the preachy Tapes.
Something Special is a perfect example of the former, but the album highlight is All of the Above. Over a beat that could soundtrack Peter Sellers high in the clouds trying to get into heaven, Hau bigs up himself, his crew and his departed friend Scott Bain, in the process coupling laugh-out-loud funniness and touching poignancy in the way only Koolism can.
Matthew Levinson
