Future Classic: Todd Edwards “Shall Go EP”
I’m officially calling this a highlight of 2012! Thanks to homie Azamat B, who has undoubtedly been paying attention to the ever-growing label Body High (DJ Sliink, DJ Funeral), for making me aware of a new Todd Edwards EP available next Tuesday.
At first Body High seemed like a very unlikely match for the UKG/House legend, but all it took was a few seconds of listening to understand why it makes so much sense. “Todd the God”, infamous for his instantly-identifiable and intricate choppy vocal collages, has obviously been influenced by modern-day bass, ballroom and deep house here.
Whoa, don’t worry! This is not some sad story of an endeared O.G Garage producer creating a “poor man’s version” of himself in a desperate attempt to “stay relevant”. The title track Shall Go sounds nothing like the guy we know and love (Christian themes aside) yet not only keeps up with today’s most interesting and innovative dance tracks, but outshines a lot of them!
Todd purists will be happy to know that he hasn’t abandoned his signature sound altogether! The Stranger and Hold The Faith somehow manage to stay true to form while delivering something that feels like fresh goodies (rather than warmed-up leftovers). Between classic and contemporary vibes, we really get the best of both worlds on this EP. Expect to hear it everywhere.
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8 Comments
Good coverage! but I want to comment when you write, “creating a “poor man’s version” of himself in a desperate attempt to “stay relevant” and, “(rather than warmed-up leftovers)”; although you are trying to say the positives about the artist, me as a reader, when i see these phrases it just sort of associates with him and colors the initial listening process. just a comment!
that’s actually a really good point. thanks for pointing that out in a totally friendly way. i’ll defo keep that it mind next time.
Yeah I agree it’s really weird that you issue praise through negating negative thoughts that people are ‘expected’ to have. It’s like obviously if you think any of those things you are an asshole and just negating them brings us back to baseline. It’s almost like saying to one of your friends ‘You’re not the biggest douche bag ever, in fact, I like you a lot.” Also I don’t think Todd is trying to keep up with anything and probably doesn’t give a shit about relevance or how ‘modern’ his music sounds. ‘modern day bass’ (whatever the fuck that is), ballroom (what about this release is ballroom?), and deep house are probably way more influenced by Todd than the other way around.
I do love that you are “challenging” the writing and that we can all talk about it. At the end of the day what I tell all the contributors at MIMS is to try to mix factual and personal styles. I don’t want these sounding like reviews, which is why : A) we don’t cover stuff we dont like B) we don’t give scores.
I love Todd Edwards but I think Doc’Trin’s entry is cool because it’s from a personal approach. Kind of like a friend talking to a friend.
I probably have the biggest Todd vinyl collection of all the peeps I know but I still sometimes get bored of his trademark style. But in small doses Todd is a genius no doubt.
i decided to share about this upcoming release because it really grabbed me and i only hope others will feel the same way. i’m honored to have MIMS as a forum to showcase and discuss great music.
discussions on how i chose to express my appreciation don’t interest me much (especially when i detect a thinly-veiled invitation to cater someone’s self-important remarks).
bought my first todd edwards record in 1997…..can’t believe that 15 years later I’m still buying his records!….shame there’s no vinyl release?
you’ve still got it Todd! Never stop….
Yeah mang. Todd is Todd, I’m happy he’s still doing his signature sound… Dj Premier still sounds like Premier after 15 years but I still love his stuff.
Hey MIMS fam,
I just learned that Todd Edwards will be spinning in Montreal this Saturday and I am SUPER STOKED!
Also, it reminded me to apologize for some inaccuracies in this review and for a comment I made below. Pinweasl, you are right: “modern day bass” was just a poor/ignorant choice of words. While MIMS writers tend to share great music on a very personal level, we don’t want to misinform or misrepresent.
I do think that Shall Go and This Generation posses heavy-percussive “punches” and “symbol crashes” which would be just perfect to vogue to! And yes, of course Todd has influenced so much. Just wanted to say that a few things may have influenced him in return 🙂
Sorry once again to Pinweasl. I might have taken things a bit too personally back then. I definitely welcome criticism and will take everything into account for my next write-ups! <3