CD review: Flesh & Bones - Scalper

DARK AND BROODING: Scalper's debut album has been worth the wait.

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If you like the spooky intensity of Massive Attack and the paranoid ramblings of Tricky then you'll like this: Meet Nadeem Shafi, a London-born New Zealand resident creating his own brand of brutally dark hip-hop under the name Scalper.

He's been around for a while now and it's taken time for Shafi, a former member of British act Fun-da-mental, to release his debut solo album, but it's well worth the wait.

Thanks to the unsettling, Portishead-style trip-hop beats and frequent use of Middle Eastern strings, Flesh & Bones bristles with tension, and album opener Black Glory - with its warped samples and thudding production - sets up the album's ominous atmosphere perfectly.

Shafi obviously has a chip on his shoulder and it's his gruff vocals about "death knocking on that door" that shine in the bouncy ThreePointOneFour and makes Obsessive Idols darker than a funeral procession. Superior  instrumental Numbers sounds positively chirpy after the thrillingly moody Abacus.

The overbearing bleakness can get a little monotonous but if you're looking for something to soundtrack a thunderstorm at 2am, Flesh & Bones is perfect.

* What do you think of Flesh & Bones? Post your comments below.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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Gordon   #2   09:19 pm Mar 11 2010

Usually I don't pay attention to the reviews here..but I'm glad I gave this one a try. This is a truly remarkable album.

BENSON   #1   10:50 am Feb 13 2010

WOW! FLESH & BONES ROCKS!