Grand AM – Full Force

If you’ve been in touch with me lately, you may well be aware that since the turn of the year I’ve gone crazy for instrumental Hip Hop. I’ve discovered a treasure-trove of artists coming out of Bandcamp from all over the world, with beatmakers putting together funk breaks, jazz samples and woozy synth effects to create a patchwork of short, lo-fi beats.

One such discovery is this latest effort from Wollongong, Australia based artist Grand AM. Like many in this field, a press-release or write up seems scarce as the assortment of 22 instrumentals do the talking. Tracks are all pretty short, with the entire record clocking in at just 23 minutes making it easy enough to get carried away and listen to the whole thing – the Full Force. There are some real stand-out moments, none more than the laidback bass and piano jazziness of ‘Igbo‘. Other highlights are aplenty but there is particular strength in’Fifty Nine Fifty‘, ‘Trace‘, ‘Resolute‘, ‘Coloboma‘, ‘Big Hand‘, ‘White Sky‘ and ‘Temple‘.