Something Wicked This Way Comes [CD]

Part of our Two CDs for £9 offer*

Though there's no-one to match What What (on Blow Your Headphones) here, the UK MCs acquit themselves very well. These are great times for UK hip-hop, so it's only right that The Herbaliser employs some the best of British MCs on this album. Blade stands out in particular on Time 2 Build.

The instrumental tracks are great too. It's the sound of an ultra-tight band twanging the bass and blowing their horns for all they're worth. Jay Kay would probably kill for it.

All in all a fantastic party album full of juggernaut beats, quirky samples and big band bombast that'll keep you listening for some time to come.

All tracks on Something Wicked are fresh and intense. I especially like Distinguished Jamaican English and Blade's Time to Build. The samples are wicked also - check out The Hard Stuff for the funniest sample ever.

Just awesome - if you like the Ninja Tune Label and The Herbaliser you should definitely check this album out.

Admittedly, this album is a slight departure from the old Herbaliser sound, being less sample-based and with more emphasis on instrumentation - but the cheeky samples from old movies and public information films are still there, as is the clever scratching, catchy beats and awesome guest rappers. In any case, it's not as much a departure as a logical evolution of their style.

I suppose the only way you could dislike this album having been a fan of their previous work is if you are the sort of person who would dislike Barry Adamson's 'Murky World of...', and hence you probably wouldn't appreciate the cinematic lounge-funk-jazz hybrid that the backing to the Herbaliser beats has become.

I personally think the additional instruments give the album an epic, live feel, and shows that the Herbaliser are much more than just purveyors of high quality ambient hip-hop. Basically if you like quality hip-hop with stoned grooves such as Aim, you'll love this. If you are into bands like Quantic, Bonobo, Kinobe, Blue States - you should love this album too.

Whether it be the chilled out and euphoric sound of 'Something Wicked' which features the haunting vocals of 'Seeming To.' or it's incredibly funky 'Turnaround' this CD is simply...Amazing. The Herbalizer do justice to their already distinguished 'jazzy' sound with the enlightening 'Unsung song' and the truly superb 'Battle of Bongo Hill'.

This album also features some of the most talented MC's from both U.K and U.S hip-hop. Phi-life Cypher demonstrate yet again that they have some of the smoothest and fastest mic skills to date in the amazing 'Distinguished Jamaican English' and 'Blade' gives them a good run for their money with his unique lyrical content in 'Time 2 Build'

If hip-hop is your thing, then buy this! If funk is what you like, then buy this! If you feel you need a new, refreshing sound to keep your ears smiling then make sure 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' is soon to be a member of your Cd collection.
Top Class!!!

However this one seems to be leaning towards (slightly pretentious) jazz. Basically it is full of random doodlings and very little quality hip hop, and very few "songs" (just lots of ideas). Not a terrible album (there are some highlights - Something Wicked and Good Girl Gone Bad) but those expecting the usual full on Herbaliser (like me!) will be disappointed. Stick to the aforementioned albums unless you're a completist (sadly like me :)).