The Twenty Bars have managed to spend over 20 years putting together this album of Slack hip-hop and sampledelic tunes, that they have dedicated to Pat Fish and Tim Carless. The Twenty Bars were originally from Brighton but are now spread all over the place, but have kept in touch and decided with lockdown to finally complete this project, with thoughts of world domination far from the bands mind, released this album on Christmas day. The band identify themselves only by one initial letter each so the Twenty Bars are P. A. J. and B. that keeps things nice and mysterious.
This opens with the slack hop of The Ex-Presidents that features some vocal samples over a very slack hip hop beat, the sample from the film of the same name is well used and makes me want to see the film again as the bank heist unfolds under the music, we all sit on the floor with our hands in the air once more.
Mr. Joyboy revolves around another filmic sample and sort of nursery rhyme style minimal backing, that every once in a while, forces itself forwards and swells like they have stripped back the samples The Verve stole and re-worked them to be slightly less obvious, as the repeating motif keeps returning.
Nigh, Bri has a vocal sample about the book of revelations that goes off at a mile a minute over the minimal backing, that somehow reminds me of William Burroughs and the Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy's Spare Ass Annie album as they could almost be talking about the dream machine and talking assholes.
Flapper has a crystalline and rather plummy sample describing what a Flapper was like, over a odd-hop near jazz style backing that yearns to be on a Giorno Poetry Systems compilation.
Taken, By Me has a blaxploitation bassline and guitar squall that accentuates and takes the vocal sample off into another territory somewhere between The Avalanches and Issac Hayes.
Waterfall has a central bassline that everything else starts to build around in a sparse barely their way as the story of the Waterfall unfolds, you just need to realize that no water is involved in this dark tale.
Interplanetary doesn't use the same sample the Prodigy did, but instead takes a sci-fi film sample that could easily have been used by Orbital as mantra style guitar and super minimal percussion and synth wrap around the vocal sample.
Touched By Christ is a tale of drug experimentation in the name of science and minimalist not quite their hop backing as you wonder where Christ might touch you and if the priest knows about it or not.
Floyd-Keller has a sample about making music and feels like a cut up experiment with the same sort of juxtapositions of re-arranged words and music that might not naturally sit together but certainly do work together to be a good soundtrack to some shock treatment for the ears as the organ line may have you wondering for ages where it's stolen from.
Find out more at https://chemistrysetwest.bandcamp.com/?fbclid=IwAR2c0wVdDQc6memtZjAYMZejB_6-iBB6nWMSx2sQXk_MAVuG05jgWUImglo
