Good Gracious
The Age
Friday March 19, 2010
M-Phazes (Obese) IT SAYS a lot about the popularity of local hip-hop in this country and the reputation of seminal label Obese Records that the debut album of an almost unheard of producer can land in the ARIA top-20 album chart. But Good Gracious, by Gold Coast-raised, Melbourne-based beat master M-Phazes, has done just that with the help of some friends. Established stars such as Bliss N Eso, Phrase, Pegz and Muph & Plutonic and fresh talent such as Mantra, Dialectrix and soul singer Candice Monique combine on this standout local hip-hop release. M-Phazes has built up a global reputation behind the desk, working for the likes of US R&B star Amerie and rap legend Pharoahe Monch, but it's his banging beats, live instrumentation, old-school soulful samples and backing vocals, clever production, flows and relevant issues that make this such a class production. It's not all gold (Pez's The Club Song is even more appalling than his The Festival Song) but tracks such as For What it's Worth, Goodbye Gravity and Take it from Me show how far skip-hop has come.PATRICK DONOVAN
Β© 2010 The Age