That’s My Jam is a weekly feature where one person from the Selective Hearing staff goes to wax poetic about music that is pivotal to their musical tastes. Whether that would be an album, a song, or anything in-between. We all had to start somewhere.
Release Date: June 25, 2001
Track Listing
- Demonstration
- Hide U
- Catch
- Cover
- Harder
- (Slip & Slide) Suicide
- Empty Skies
- I Want It All
- Resist
- Hungry
- Face In A Crowd
- Pride
- Cruelty
- Let Go
- Gone
- Hide U (John Creamer & Stephane K Remix)
Review
Kosheen is a group based in Bristol, England. They are a trio that consists of producers Markee Substance (Mark Davies) and Darren Decorder (Darren Beale) and vocalist/songwriter Sian Evans. Their first album Resist features the singles (Slip & Slide) Suicide, Hide U, Catch, Hungry & Harder.
Drum & Bass, what comes to mind when you hear that? Maybe high tempo, a bombastic assault on the ears, comes to mind. Perhaps a random Ragamuffin MC waxing poetic in verses so fast you can’t keep up?
It’s probably not the genre you would associate with a Hip-Hop/Soul aesthetic. Well, that’s exactly what you get with Resist. Driven less by pounding your speakers into submission, there is a much more pop-friendly appeal to many songs than one would normally find in the Drum & Bass world.
Outside of the plethora of singles that this album spawned, there are a lot of quality album cuts that are worth your time. Empty Skies is the most noteworthy for blending pop sensibility with Drum & Bass influences. You can also look at Pride if you need a good kick-in-the-pants track that follows the same path.
If downtempo is more to your liking, I Want It All, Cruelty and Resist are displays of Sian Evans’ haunting and emotional vocals. These songs may be a little boring, but if you are one who enjoys, say, Dido’s or Portishead’s slower, more chilled-out tracks then these may be what will suit your tastes.
Resist might turn off a few purists who like their beats rough, bass hard and could do without the vocals and melodies. You’re missing out on a great listening experience if that’s you. If you’re open-minded enough, this is definitely worth your time.
