Very Mercenary

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Editorial reviews

Album Description
With 14 new tracks to resuscitate your dead brain cells, The Herbaliser returns with their 3rd LP, freakin' that pseudo international espionage agent feel to the fullest, with instrumental tracks like "Missing Suitcase" & "Goldrush", (implementing the full 7 piece crew), it's difficult to tell what's live and what's looped.

"Sit back, relax & be cool, recline" Roots Manuva of Ninja Tune affiliated label Big Dada, will help you unwind with "Starlight". Floating in mid-air, ballroom style, eyebrow raising vibraphone lines descend then ascend to a smile. And there's nothing better than an MC who sheds lights with their words & can sing soulfully in tune.

"Life is like a road with many signs, with many turns, many stops, many lines." Words to live by woven through a beat so melancholic you could cry yet surprisingly optimistic. No wonder this uplifting track featuring the Dream Warriors is the single. Philosophy can be quite weighty though, & thanks to The Herbaliser's sense of balance, versatility & good timing, that laugh you needed all day is only breaths and steps away.

In "The Sensual Woman", a track inspired by a scene in "Dirty Harry", you'll find yourself immediately aroused (or just plain embarrassed). Subtley scandalous flute progressions of sexual innuendo slither seductively as hypnotic beats of rhythmic child-bearing hips pulsate lasciviously side to side. (I don't know about the Jello though...).

"sometimes I feel like a I need a little soul" How about you? Track II, "Shattered Soul" ios a quick fix. No words could convey the velocity of this instrumental masterpiece.

The last 2 tracks are milestones for the crew. They never anticipated collaboration with "Queen Order in the Physical" Bahamadia (one of their favourite female wordsmiths), or maverick underground UK rapper, Blade. In "When I Shine", Bahamadia flows fluidly, fluently alongside a funky guitar progression enveloped by mysterious Kamitian undertones. Bitten by the Millennium Bug, Blade's lyrics are feverish with density & conviction in "Mind the Frame", a refreshing change compared to typical hip-hop braggery. But what's so typical about a crew that let's hip-hop be compositionally beautiful yet brutally honest?

Well, what are you waiting for?????

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Customer reviews

review by: rodders20 date: 2006-07-27 rating:
Great from start to finish
this album is the best the herbaliser has offered me to date, i like every track on it, some more than others, but still it plays from start to finish quite happily , no skipping.

nailed... buy this cd or miss out on something quite brilliant

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review by: El Burrito date: 2006-03-04 rating:
Very listenable
This was crazily undervalued at the time of it´s release mainly because this group sit uncomfortably between the hip-hop scene and the type of music you see on extreme sports programmes. Basically they don´t get much credibility from Hip-Hop fans because, "it just ain´t gangsta."
The fact is that they are brilliant. On this record several young starlets of the U.K. scene appear,"starlight," with Root´s Manuva is one of the most lyrically inventive tracks he has recorded. This recorded ambles excellently between biting realism, check out track two and the music that you see when you see this lot live, pure pure funky rhythms.
I love tracks like,"Who´s the realest," and,"Goldrush." There are no words there but it sounds like a very British landscape of our social reality. "The missing suitcase," sounds like something you might hear in a Bond movie, yet it´s strangely infectious.
If you´ve been to university they will have undoubtedly hit your student union at some point. If you´ve never seen them make it a priorty because they´re one of the UK´s most entertaining live acts. Class.

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review by: henerzb date: 2003-08-13 rating:
BYE IT
Amazing these beats funk and groove will just wonna make u boogie all night. In particular track two is the best and thirteen has the best begining to any rap song i have ever heard Amazing.

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review by: date: 2002-05-13 rating:
Classy,Jazzanova beatmeisters
The first time I heard The Herbaliser it happened to be in the u.k. a few years ago and they were seriously good. And when I first heard this album I was not disappointed in the slightest the beats and the rapping are well matched and the beats are chilled with sounds intermingled with Jazziness. With the new album already launched I would rank very mercenary on a par with the new one. I cant wait to see them live again.


review by: date: 2001-02-14 rating:
Chilled blend of hip-hop, funk, jazz and trip-hop?
I'd bought this after hearing "8-point agenda" expecting more of the same, but this is different. A pleasant surprise you might say! Featuring Mc's and Dj's from all over, such as Roots Manuva in 'Starlight'. There's a useful track for all you ladies out there ('The Sensual Woman') as well as some of the most chilled noises to come out of my stereo.

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