Friday, April 3, 2020

StyleXpansion - Gestalten (2003)





This one is for the German homie Denis, since I can't post that Blank per our rules at the moment (check Discogs, there's a lot of copies for sale, that's where I got it).

For today we have StyleXpansion's Gestalten. I mostly picked this one because it's fairly obscure, it's pretty cool, and it's got some English raps as well as German so for those who don't speak it or don't like foreign language rap have something to enjoy, and the English speaking rapper is in my opinion very dope as are the others so even if you were hoping for something else, maybe this will surprise you.

I actually like the 21st century German rap scene a lot. Groups like Saarpreme (2005's Zeitvertreib is hella sick), Conexión Musical (with a few different languages at play and live musicianship there's a lot of reasons to like these dudes) and Materpfahl have a unique style with lush production and melodic raps, not to mention the solo acts like Misanthrop, Audio88, Soda, epilog, Sinok (the Prison Kit 10" from 2018 has absolutely phenomenal production from this guy), Trip, Nimrod, Blank and so on. If I like it enough I look for translations, but often I find I enjoy it just as much without, simply hearing the human voice flowing over dope and beautiful sounds with style and grace.

So back to StyleXpansion. Speaking of Materpfahl, this group is basically their forefather; It's got a number of names you German folks and fans of the weirder American rap may recognize, including Loki, S.L.A.P., Eraze the Borders, DJ Q-Brick and Capital-S, the English speaker who I think has a sound somewhere between Nolto and Myka 9 although not all that similar to either. Maybe a bit more Nolto. Either way he's got a great singing voice and a double time rapid fire delivery. Also his newer work with DJ Q-Brick as Moodbombs is pretty tight and can be bought direct from him here.

Check out this unreleased song from them and see what's up:




StyleXpansion is from almost 20 years back, and it sounds it. This is not the best thing these artists have ever done, but it's interesting and hard to find. Definitely worth a listen at least.

So with that enjoy Gestalten!




2 comments:

  1. Hey Hey, very nice that you still thought of me! very heavy album that I have never heard of. Will be played often in the near future. "Jump & Run" and "Dreamy Days" are awesome! Thank you so much!

    Back in the days I really liked "Materpfahls Incestzombies". I was still very much
    young and the lyrics really impressed me at the time. The CD suddenly disappeared and it took a few years until I could hear "Depressive" again. Crass release ...

    Check it out, if you feel like it: Nice video, beat made "Misanthrop". (My second love :)
    https://vimeo.com/51348611

    Good stuff:
    https://atpcrew.bandcamp.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No problem, I appreciated the links and feel bad that we can't post that Blank. Send me an email if you still need it.

      And actually Misanthrop is one of my favorite producers, some of his beats are mind blowing. He's who got me into German hip hop in the first place.

      Delete