For most people, the era of sampling has come to an end. Not only because of the costs which are to be expected from copyright payments, but also because the art of sampling seems somewhat reactionary these days. Hence, it’s all the better if young musicians prepare to prove this notion wrong and instead show us that even old ingredients can conjure up fresh results, as done on Romare’s debut »Projections«. For this record, the British producer Archie Fairhurst was inspired academically by a lecture in American Studies about the works of Romare Bearden. Fairhurst used his picture collages from magazine snippets as an inspiration for his sampling-works and even named his project after the artist. After all, Romare does nothing but weaving blues, gospel, soul, hip hop, house, disco and bass music into free flowing short stories. No matter if he pays tribute to Afro-American musicians like Snooks Eaglin, Jimmy Reed or even Nina Simone, or if he appreciates the disco-era and gay movement with tracks like »Rainbow«: His productions always come out as historically profound hip hop, much too broad to be put into a genre and yet so casually understated that its whole force unfolds only little by little. »Roots«, in particular, is one of those anthems which gradually lift themselves from the dancefloor towards heaven, and which leave the listener more than fulfilled, like great spiritual music does. It’s a classic. It really is.
Projections
