DJ Alex Corton – Vinyl Reviews

Good Looking Records 

MC Conrad Presents – Logical Progression Level 4

2001

“The message in the music, is to move you” – MC Conrad. 

    Among the many lyrical lines and words that came from MC Conrad’s illustrious and inspiring career on the mic and in the studio, is this one above, that typified what it was all about. For the next three days I’ll post a lyric, as today we reach an LP that pays homage to Conrad Thompson who devastatingly left our world at the age of 52, on April 30, 2024. 

   When news of his departure came through, I was shaken in a way that still hurts today. Not only had he been a voice of the early 90s with his scratching style of MCing that I had the privilege of hearing on a few occasions, he then joined the partnership with LTJ Bukem that set up the journeys of a lifetime, through the mid 90s and permanently leaving the mark of the unmatched story teller that connected us with the music.

    While it was Bukem who selected the tracks on this LP, Conrad had worked with Bukem long enough to have some say as to why these tracks were chosen. These are tunes that you know Conrad could expel his mastery in words and poetry. A couple of tracks on CD 2 would have been good to have on vinyl though, Intersperse – ‘High Moon’, and Future Engineers – Merge. Nookie’s – Solstice came out on his ‘Oceanic EP’ in 2001.

    The six tracks on this LP continue the exceedingly high level of artists that we had become accustomed to on the Good Looking label. We will work through one record per day starting today with J Laze & Nookie.

   J Laze reinvents how music can transport you with the first piece of enlightenment on Record 1, Side A, with ‘Miles & Miles From Marz’. Rob Blayze seemed to be fueled on something no one else could find in the studio. Proof sits right here with a belter of a track, that has the strongest, pounding bass, spiritually encompassing pads and a few threads that you’d usually hear sauntering on Big Bud’s work. Once the lunar module lands at the breakdown, every single object that feels the gravitation of this sound is held and then silently, and with the most minuscule of maneuvers, arranged to balance the sources of energy with an invisible drift network, signaling the passion and resonance of this tune. J Laze had that gift of producing work with a little panache and zing. An After-Eight Mint in the connoisseurs pick n’ mix of our music. 

   On Side B of Plate 1 we have the man like Gavin Cheung, AKA Nookie, back with ‘Think About It (Instrumental Mix)’. Nookie brandishes his barreling bombardment of drum funk like a fucking trooper on this track. Then we fuse in that raw and crater cracking bass guitar for a trip into the most satisfying helping of funked up jazz flavors. There’s also that element of cliff hanging suspense in here, sweating the palms and raising the heart rate. Nookie’s standard of production really flashes an abundance of supremacy, following the years and years of talented music making he has provided. If you’ve been in the game as long as he has, you always know that the end product will be stretched further than expectations. 

  If you are after the ‘Think About It (Vocal Mix)’ we will be reviewing that one when we reach the Good Looking EP’s as that is featured on Nookie’s ‘Oceanic EP’ – GLREP013V from 2001.

  The photo of Conrad with pen in hand, ready to capture that expressive moment is a beautiful picture on this sleeve. One that showed his constant need to fuel his art and provide the world with the words of a musical hero. As Gareth Jones comments; “Always loved the artwork’s warm tones for this one. A classic slice of Nick Purser. Remember the day Conrad came into the GLR offices to do the shots. It was a super laid-back hangout out and the shots were done in the artwork department itself as we sat chatting. At that point, the artwork dept was upstairs next to Tony’s office (you can well imagine the banter) 😉 Lovely memory. ♥️” – Thank you to Gareth & Nick.

   Record 2 is up tomorrow, as we continue through this Level on the Log Prog series. 

My blog is here, I hope you enjoy reading it: