Broken Ill is the latest album by French hip hop producer Ugly Mac Beer who has enlisted the help of MynameisLeonidas, Princess Superstar, TINP, Kara, Fabrice Gilbert and Patrice Dambrine while recording the album.
The album opens with the robotic vocals of Press Ok, we enter the cyberworld that Ugly Mac Beer inhabit, with a 70's synth sound, a deceptively simple keyboard line and the repeating song title.
Broken Ill has a heavy bass sound with simplistic drums, robotic vocals are joined by street gang backing vocals, before the rap adds detail to the trauma of our Broken Ill society.
New Area Ft MynameisLeonidas adds computer games noises, a rap that is a dark look at the Banlieues he has hung out in, bassline gets heavier, the vocals go a bit Thom Yorke, with all sorts of other things thrown in to make it totally compelling.
Dans Tes Yeux is a duet between MynameisLeonidas and Kara who trade verses over a disco beat ,with other at times ethereal elements working around the bassline.
My Name Is Tim Feat OP18 and you like making music with old Atari games consoles, 80's drum machines and walking around with a collection of plastic bags as he makes his mega dish he feeds dolphins, he even samples them too.
Trust My Oh-Oh! Feat Princess Superstar is a full-on banger from the former queen of the UK underground scene. Who doesn't trust anything other than her Uh-Oh to help her navigate all the madness surrounding her, It will take a few listens to get everything in her rap, she gets more out of control.
It's Not A Dream feat MynameisLeonidas & Kara has an 80's rap rock computer games feel, they rap around the reality of their lives in this dark and murky galaxy.
Ai Sucks uses the robot voice to make clear the many reasons why AI Sucks, as well as people sucking too, with long synth tonalities and a clattering drum machine, showing that we will always need humans in the machinery.
Bastille Vichy ft Fabrice Gilbert & Patrice Dambrine (Frustration) take a long hard look at the terrible history of Bastille Vichy and isn't about the young musician, that has a drum and bass feel, with the vocals almost following the tune of Metal Urbains Lady Coca Cola.
Broken Glass the title tune Feat MynamesLeonidas for this post-riot hip hop rap epic motoric anthem to the ills of society.
Wolfie is in love with the Tooting Popular Front and howling Wolf noises that I normally hear in the Wolfpack brewery round the corner from here, the keyboard stabs and cheap percussion instruments are added to, with a banged anvil type sound.
They album closes with FAYP feat TINP that urges us to go with the flow, that in this case is super speedy, in search of a clean slate, it races along at 100 mph, whatever you do don't stress, everything is temporary.
Find out more at https://www.xrayproduction.com/collections/ugly-mac-beer/products/ugly-mac-beer-broken-ill-vinyle?????https://beatsqueeze-records.bandcamp.com/album/broken-ill https://www.facebook.com/UGLYMACBEER https://linktr.ee/uglymacbeer
