Specializing in a beat-driven neo-soul, Mark de Clive-Lowe‘s latest album (his 9th release,) Renegades, is an album that skitters with cool jazz vibes as filtered through an MPC.
Because de Clive-Lowe has been a longtime contributor on an array of innumerable soul productions and because he is a producer and arranger in the traditional sense, he recorded the album in various places all over the world, and enlisted the help of a number of extremely talented and like minded artists, like Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Sheila E, and Dego (4hero). The tracks featuring vocals by Nia Andrews & Ovasoul7 in particular are gorgeous examples of what de Clive-Lowe is doing quite brilliantly.
The warmth of the actual instrumentation and vocals versus strictly digital production (that has become the norm) bring to mind the real time head-bobbing musicality of The Roots, but also the smoothest aspects of The Love Movement-era ATCQ and The Love Below-era Outkast beats. His sound, longevity, and continued growth have made longtime fans of true heads, from Gilles Peterson, to Dam-Funk, to a number of KCRW’s very own skilled selectors.
Renegades’ got vibes for days and is an example of an artist who is a seemingly an endless fount of grooves.
Mark de Clive-Lowe – The Why feat. nia andrews by Tru Thoughts
-Mario Cotto
Editor’s Note: Mark De Clive-Lowe will be appearing at Afro Funké, a weekly residency hosted by KCRW DJ Jeremy Sole, THIS Thursday, December 15. More info here.