"From dusty-sounding jazzy pianos atmospheres through to more glossy electro textures, spooky spoken samples and a b-boy's approach to beat-mashing, Conrad Newholmes has created an album that frequently blends the evocative with a curiously surreal dreaml

12 MP3 Songs
HIP HOP/RAP: Hip Hop, ELECTRONIC: Down Tempo



Details:
Now living on a Mennonite farm in rural Illinois (USA), the eccentric producer better known as Smaze returns as Conrad Newholmes. His mind is a Gordian knot, his life is a can of worms, and his music is one of it's testaments. With previous releases on Chicagoâs Hefty Records (Beneath Autumn Sky), Abandon Building Records (Sheveks Masada) and on his own humble imprint Snakebird Records, Conrad Newholmes unites with the Australian based label Couchblip! and presents his full-length album, Peppermint Styles. Smaze, is sure to receive a warm welcome with his straight up balance of instrumentalism and new-romantic hip-hop. Beatheads.....stay tuned.

SELECTED REVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
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JENNIFER ALLAN - ANGRY APE
âThere's a million and one words to describe Peppermint Styles, but none will quite do it justice owing to the myriad of varied influences, the one constant being the heavy platform of satisfying hip hop beats.â
To read the full review visit: http://www.angryape.com/reviews/2005/12/conrad-newholmes-peppermint-styles

PIETRO DeSACCO - IGLOO MAG
âIt's impossible to keep up with Smaze's influences and stylistic flourishes. Sure, broadly speaking, I can toss this in the "downtempo instrumental" bin or even the "leftfield hip-hop" crate, but that's just junking Peppermint Styles in with the rest of the dross which is filling the stores. This record should be on the front display with a sign under it that says: All You Need. Peppermint Styles is the coy fluidity of exotica making love in the back room to sex kitten cocktail jazz and blunt-blinded hip-hop. At the same time. And it takes 'em both in a DP session filled with minty freshness.â
To read the full review visit: http://igloomag.com/doc.php?task=view&id=1179&category=reviews

EVIL CHRIS - IN THE MIX
"From dusty-sounding jazzy pianos atmospheres through to more glossy electro textures, spooky spoken samples and a b-boy's approach to beat-mashing, Conrad Newholmes has created an album that frequently blends the evocative with a curiously surreal dreamlike edge"
To read the full review visit: http://www.inthemix.com.au/reviews/music/22987/

BOB BAKER FISH - INPRESS
âThere is something quite subtle and playful about the work of Conrad Newholmes, very much operating in a world of downtempo instrumental hip hop, yet simultaneously embracing and somehow transcending the increasingly tired and cluttered genre......Without exception everything feels tightly controlled and carefully arranged. And every track operates on a different level from the one that preceded it -from smoky trip hop to electro disco funk to winsome emotional skitterishness or agoraphobic breakbeats with silly quirky combinations of sound worlds. The only links between his vibrant and energetic worlds are the hip-hop beats....â
To read the full review visit: http://www.couchblip.com/discography.php?catalogno=blip009
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RON SCHEPPER - TEXTURA
âThough his eccentric sound and imaginative fecundity suggest kinship with Daedelus, the Conrad Newholmes style, in fact, has more in common with Malcom Kipeâ¦â¦Don't let Peppermint Styles' casual vibe blind you, however, to the constant flow of ideas which Newholmes pieces together so carefully throughout. Arrangements that may sound casually conceived during an initial listen reveal themselves upon repeated exposure to be meticulously constructed.â
To read the full review visit: http://www.textura.org/archivespages/abcd/conrad_newholmes.htm