John Samels is Minneapolis beat maker Paper Tiger. He is one of the primary beat crafters for the Doomtree crew which includes P.O.S., Dessa and Sims. He is also Doomtree's live DJ and resident graphic designer. And somewhere in between doing all of that he has managed to find the time to record an album of his own. Made Like Us hits record stores today. It is a sweet set of hip hop tunes with nary a rapper in sight. There are vocals - a couple of tracks with Dessa and one with Maggie Morrison (singer in Lookbook), and a lot of sampled snippets too. Remember the golden days of instrumental hip hop back in the mid '90s? This record totally takes me back to those days - DJ Shadow's Endtroducing is a clear influence. Crisply programmed beats, lovely piano riffs, a hint of some '80s electro flavor and lots and lots of layers will keep you entertained. Paper Tiger has name checked Portishead as an influence and you can see that connection on some of the mellower vocal tracks like Palace. Where a lot of people have tried to recreate that DJ Shadow deepness and failed, Paper Tiger gets it right and then some. I really dig this album. Get yer headphones on and drift away...
__________
Paper Tiger on Twitter and Facebook
Video of Paper Tiger making beats
3 comments:
Cheers for the tip off, will keep an eye for this guy!
love this song!
Sounds like DJ Shadow mixed with Prefuse 73. Like it a lot, thanks!
Post a Comment