Revelling in the past is all very good, but the best music, or the most original and forward-thinking creations, are made by people looking to where everything goes next rather than where it has already been. It’s all about evolution, and it’s about passing the sonic baton forward. This is important, necessary, vital even. This is the way the world turns. Calsocold is the sound of the world turning and music moving into new pastures.

On Ukiyo! Calsocold pulls together various urban strands, from glitchy percussive beats to modern hip-hop rhythms, from dexterous lyrical flows to strange electro-grooves and musical motifs. There is even room for a few sultry R&B tones and plenty of smooth, late-night, smokey vibes. And most of all, a futuristic and spacious take on the urban sound.

The twin themes found here are those of Christmas, always a time for reflection and more profound thoughts and of relationships, of love, longing and even loss. Be Mine This Christmas is a dense and delicious collection of skittering beats which drive the music forward with energy and intensity, From The Heart is spacious and brooding, and Should I Text Her is a busy and bustling collection of beats and musical layers, evocative tones and heady textures.

If ever rap music spoke of the inner thoughts and challenges of those trying to find their way in the world, then this is where it is said most eloquently and in rap’s own first language but a language being re-written by excellent and cunning linguists such as Calsocold.

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Musician, scribbler, historian, gnostic, seeker of enlightenment, asker of the wrong questions, delver into the lost archives, fugitive from the law of averages, blogger, quantum spanner, left footed traveller, music journalist, zenarchist, freelance writer, reviewer and gemini. People have woken up to worse.

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