Cole Connor’s SODA was mixed by FatRat Da Czar and mastered by Stefan Heger in November 2016 and received much local recognition from media outlets like the Free-Times.

From Free-Times: With SODA, his first solo full-length since 2013’s Through the Stampede, it seems unlikely that Columbia rapper Cole Connor was deliberately trying to make a sweeping political statement. But in the wake of America electing an unrepentant bigot to its highest office, the record feels political, if only by simply existing.

Topical shadings do rise to the forefront at times, never more so than on the album’s penultimate track. Racial politics are integral to hip-hop, and “Vulture” finds Connor confronting these issues as he never has — angry, fearless, disarmingly honest: “Went to a school my whole life built on racist ground / The only black kid was my friend, we would play around / But Daddy told my sister if she date a black he’d kill ’em / I thought he’d laugh after that but he didn’t.” Connor’s rage is clearly felt as he bemoans his small-town past and the continued lack of racial solidarity in today’s culture.

But SODA has plenty of lighter touches, too. Straight from the classroom’s back row, “Ripe” is the closest thing I’ve heard to a hip-hop “Hot For Teacher,” and the playful back-and-forth between Cole and LaLisa, fellow member of the local rap collective New Success Culture, about the age-old question “What do women want?” is a highlight. 

As for production and performance, there’s little to complain about. SODA’s beats and hooks are more adventurous than their predecessors, and the pleasure Connor takes in rhetoric is obvious and contagious.

As one of the few white figures in Columbia’s largely black hip-hop community, Connor’s perspective is unique and — as artists look for reason and unity in an era that seems to scoff at such virtues — perhaps more vital than ever. He may not have meant to seize it, but Connor makes the most of his moment.

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Both of the Fall of an Empire Croweater records were mastered by Jay Matheson here at FisheyeMastering. The band released this in two parts 1st “An Echo in the Bone” in August 2016 and now “The Last Wishes of Kings” June 2017. They plan to re release the pair on vinyl as a double LP. Check out the quote from Heavy Planet below.

 

South Carolina’s Fall Of An Empire caused many a head to be turned and an ear to be pricked when in August 2016 they unleashed on to the world their superb and frankly unexpected masterpiece “Croweater: An Echo In The Bone“, a stunning opus packed to overflowing with fuzzy blues tinted stoner/hard rock grooves coated in uber-cool soulful vocals. The EP was warmly embraced by music fans and critics alike making it to a respectable eighth position in the September edition of The Doom Charts. This year the band release part two of  their “Croweater” saga with “Croweater 2: The Last Wishes Of The Kings

Shane Smith’s gnarly bass riff introduces first and title track “The Last Wishes Of The Kings”  swiftly joined by Brad Muñoz’s  solid, busy drums and Cody Edens and Brent Carroll’s  gritty chordal guitar colouring, the four musicians laying down a bedrock of  prog tinted stoner/hard rock for vocalist Kenny Lawrence to wrap his soulful larynx around, the frontman telling tales of kings, thrones and broken bones in honeyed heartfelt tones, the band together creating a virtual Game of Thrones for the ears. 

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About five years have elapsed since Cody ChesnuTT’s last full-length album : “ Landing on A Hundred “ And now his most recent album My Love Divine Degree adds modern flair to soul and speaks to ChesnuTT’s captivating songwriting skills. The single “Bullets in the Street and Blood” features the immensely talented Raphael Saadiq who adds a delicate element to the song.  So it was worth waiting for an album with this timeless-feeling and just like the previous album Stefan Heger could apply analog mastering love to Cody’s new story on romantic themes and the essence of resilience, hope and love. The Vinyl Masters received a separate and more dynamic treatment. https://www.cchesnutt.com/

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Released July 4, 1995, D’Angelo’s Brown Sugar album headed into a new direction for soul music, bridging tradition and innovation and now over 20 years later this neo-soul masterpiece Brown Sugar, is newly remastered and expanded for a 2CD and digital Deluxe Edition to be released August 25. Remastered by GRAMMY®-winning engineer Russell Elevado and GRAMMY®-nominated engineer Stefan Heger Brown Sugar‘s Deluxe Edition adds 21 rare tracks and the original tracks that have received a special analog treatment at Fisheye Mastering. The sources were the original 1/2” tapes of the mix session from Russ. Earlier this year HD Tracks released the Album also in High-Resolution 96KHz/24Bit on their platform. https://blackmessiah.co/

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