Rustie - Jagz The Smack

His boom-bap electro is just dying to be played through a stack hard enough to handle cranking it way beyond sensible.

Album Review by James Blake | 10 Jul 2007
Album title: Jagz The Smack
Artist: Rustie
Label: Stuff
You might know it, but Rustie's début for Stuff Records is what you need. He wants you to go with him as he 'Jagz the Smak', and he doesn't give you a single reason not to on this record. His boom-bap electro is just dying to be played through a stack hard enough to handle cranking it way beyond sensible. The production is luscious and harsh all at once. The tunes are fairly slow to put in a electro/techno set, but a quick slide of the pitch control soon sorts that... All the tracks save the last on side A would work within a hip-hop set or with a rapper, and the final bang wouldn't be out of place at a dubstep night. Rustie says the EP is hip hop and electro influenced, and the inspiration is clear.

It's hardly surprising Rustie has already been apporached to provide beats to some US artists, or that his logo looks like the Run DMC bars. His tunes belie his b-boy stance, and it sounds likely he owns a pair of Air Max, or at least some Air Force Ones. When we asked about his collaboration with MCs Buddy Leezle and Cerebral Vortex, Rustie made it clear he's like to do a lot more of that sort of thing. More "dope MCs from the US" and elsewhere are welcome to approach him. He hasn't let anyone use any of the beats on Jagz The Smack yet, but he says "if I thought someone was good enough and suited the beat then I'd let them use it." He also says he'd "like to work with more singers." Nothing on this EP leaps out as needing a vocal, but we're sure he'll have something that will.

Rustie is a stalwart of the Glasgow scene, and you can tell he's been at this a while. He's clearly figured out what works out and what doesn't, and he's confident enough to throw out some big ravey synths without shattering the vibe he's creating. Pendulum is some proper acid inspired hell-ectro, and when we finally get to the last track, Response, it's no more settled.
It's no wonder the likes of Tigerbeat and Modeselektor are singing the praises of this Stuff Records release. It's more than likely you soon will be too, if you're at all a fan of the latter. The former, home of Kid606, have even asked him to contribute some remixes off the back of the bangers on display. Kid 606 liked it, an accolade Rustie says works well for him 'because he's famous'.

With his tongue so firmly in his cheek and his skills so widely desired, you can imagine him taking this stuff all the way, and with this EP he's made a good start. The next step is a slot on the impending Wireblock compilation. Wireblock are connected to London's Werk via North South Divide, a team of labels, and so the distribution on that is likely to be large. We reckon you should get this EP now so you can tell everyone you were in there first.
Jagz the Smack is on Stuff records and distributed by Rub-a-Dub, and is available on limited press from Rub-a-Dub Records.

www.stuffrecords.co.uk
myspace.com/rustiebeetz http://www.myspace.com/rustiebeetz