ARTIST: Natural Self
TITLE: Let Peace Be The Ruler
LABEL: Breakin Bread
GENRE: Funk
BITRATE: 193kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 46min total
RELEASE DATE: 2006-02-06
RIP DATE: 2006-01-19
Track List
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01. Solomon 3:00
02. I Don't Need This Trouble 4:01
03. The Sound 3:38
04. The Calling 4:01
05. Foundation (Pt. 1) 3:17
06. Meditation (In Tribute) 3:23
07. Song Bird 2:34
08. To The Sun 4:25
09. Fires Were Started 4:49
10. Black Orchid 6:14
11. Soul Communication 3:07
12. The Love Theme 4:07
Release Notes:
BREAKIN BREAD continue to push their brand of "DIRTY, BEATBREAKIN' FUNK AND HIP
HOP" with a groundbreaking album from Natural Self aka Keno 1. AFTER FOUR YEARS
of nightclub devastating and critically acclaimed singles on Tru Thoughts and
Breakin Bread, Natural Self has pushed his distinctive sound into deeper
territory with this long-awaited first album.
A hip-hop and funk DJ of ten years experience, Natural Self broke into
production in 2001 with the furious sample-based batacuda workout The Soul Step.
He followed with a string of singles and remixes developing that record's
blueprint of raw, densely layered percussion, powerful horn lines, and heavy
funk drums. Along the way he's picked up DJ support from the likes of Mr Scruff,
John Peel, Giles Peterson, Jon Stapleton, Quantic, and Ninja Tune's Strictly
Kev.
On Let Peace be the Ruler he's stayed true to his production ethic while using
the freedom offered by an album to chart new ground. There's more than your fair
share of dancefloor destroyers on this record, but it is also, at times,
slow-burning, challenging, cerebral, and melancholy. The album has also profited
from collaborations with a number of live musicians, notably saxophonist John
Styles of the Quantic Soul Orchestra, and soul vocalist Alice Russell.
The Natural Self sound is rooted in hip-hop, funk, jazz, Brazilian and African
music, but can't be seen a crude cut-and-paste amalgamation of those styles. He
says: "I don't want people to be able to listen to a track and think 'that's two
parts hip-hop and one part jazz'." If there is a constant that runs through his
music, apart from soul power, it's his inventive use of percussion. As he puts
it: "In a lot of the tracks the emphasis is on the arrangement of drums and
percussion. I'm trying to find out how expressive percussion can be."