8/02/2009

Freddie Cruger - Just Chillin` In The Spot (2008)

The name Freddie Cruger might be new to most, but for the past several years, Cruger's alter ego, Red Astaire, has been tearing up hip-hop and soul dance floors.

He first got in contact with hip hop when he started out as a break dancer in the early 80s. His electric boogie dancing brother was collecting records at that time, which introduced Freddie to the world of black dance music. Around 85-86 he worked weekends at a legendary import record store in Stockholm called Space (special job cleaning the toilet). At this time he started buying more and more records, mostly electro and rap records but also disco/funk 12"/7"inch classics. After years of work and a great trajectory in important labels (including his own Homegrown label) he became a swedish hip hop legend.

JUST CHILLIN' IN THE SPOT is Cruger's latest album with an eclectic mix of instrumental hip hop/downtempo tracks featuring his signature jazzy and soulful beats. He describes the album simply as “mostly instrumental”, making it a large departure from his vocal driven debut.
But it is bit more than that. It´s a fresh set of instrumental grooves, a nice blend of beats, loads of jazzy elements (horns and vibes), vocal samples, and fantastic rhythms. The beats are always inviting and mixes jazz, Latin, soul and funk without ever falling into one genre trapping or another, always in service of the beats & rhythms. There's a level of warmth here that's lacking in lesser producers, nothing revolutionary just high quality, compelling beatcraft.



Nice work! Nice chilling beats and grooves!


Tracklist:
01. Homegrown
02. Rock That Beat
03. Just Chillin' In the Spot
04. Keep On Knockin'
05. Psycho Cha Cha
06. Wind It Up Baby
07. Jazz Flow
08. Rainy Days (feat. ADL & LINN)
09. Love Like Ours
10. What Ya Sayin' (Nothing)
11. I Got...
12. Take You to El Barrio
13. Ain't Shit

DL 320

BUY IT!

Watch him!
Very short clip but you can fell the vibe of track nÂș10 at the second half of the video.




Catch da groove!

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