Artist ...... : Ghostpoet
Title ....... : Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam
Genre ....... : Electronic
Label ....... : Brownswood Recordings
Catnr ....... : BWOOD057DD
Source ...... : WEB
Quality ..... : 320kbps avg / 44.1KHz / Joint Stereo
Duration .... : 00:41:24 (95.2MB)
Ripdate ..... : 04-02-2011
Store ....... : www.beatport.com
Tracklist ... :
1. One Twos Run Run Run 4:01
2. Us Against Whatever Ever 4:29
3. Finished I Ain't 4:20
4. Longing For The Night ( Yeah Pause) 3:48
5. I Just Don't Know 3:36
6. Survive It 4:23
7. Gaaasp 5:29
8. Cash And Carry Me Home 3:37
9. Garden Path 2:51
10.Liiines 4:50
Release Notes :
Rarely does a British debut album forge such a fully formed, genuinely unique
direction that attempts to slot it into established scenes prove almost entirely
fruitless. But Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam, the full-length bow of
late-20s wisdom dispenser/producer Obaro 'Ghostpoet' Ejimiwe, achieves such a
feat. You probably have to go back to Original Pirate Material, in fact, for
similar impact.
Dubbing himself "a lad with a lisp with some stories to tell", the truth is a
mite more complex, as hinted by the record's tricksy, somewhat over-self-aware
title. His recent relocation from Coventry to London will doubtless ensure
plentiful parallels with famed West Midlands to Big Smoke migrant Mike Skinner.
But while sharing a knack for anxious streams of consciousness peppered with
endearing everyday Brit culture references, Ejimiwe's subtleties outstrip The
Streets.
Anybody who's had the misfortune to visit Coventry will agree the city is
sufficiently depressing to breed levels of urban dread last equalled in Tricky's
heyday. From stuttering, held-together-with-Sellotape-and-elastic-bands intro
Onetwos onward, Ejimiwe's sleepy delivery owes little to any other UK rhymers,
however, despite an air of a bedsit Roots Manuva, eyebrow-cocked
self-deprecation and all. It's a fact he notes himself on I Just Don't Know,
declaring "Other MCs want to talk about crime / But that ain't me..." before an
off-kilter chorus that catches you so off-guard that gleefully humming along is
the only logical response.
The album builds to a fascinating climax, the whisky-fuelled Cash and Carry Me
Home succinctly encapsulating all the hungover loathing and creeping worry that
follow an out-of-control drinking session, while Liiines is truly
spirit-elevating with its "Life is too short to store up grudges" refrain.
During the latter Ejimiwe complains that "I keep on writing, writing / But them
folk ain't biting, biting". Such indifference, though, is about to change.
Hipster-hating hip hop aficionados may take one look at Ejimiwe and run a mile.
Don't be dissuaded by his fashionable hat and spectacles: Peanut Butter Blues
and Melancholy Jam throws its headgear into the ring as an early contender for
2011's finest out-of-leftfield long-players.