Braintax - Panorama

by Jim Merrett

Half a decade in the making and Braintax emerges to prove that time spent tinkering in the studio is not wasted

"There are things to smile about, as effortless opener ‘All I Need’ furnishes. By squeezing a massive gospel sound into the relatively restrictive UK hip-hop scene, the true scale of the rapper’s ambitions are revealed"

We all have ways of dealing with frustration. “If I was still 13, I’d be throwing bricks in the mix,” Braintax offers in ‘The Grip Again’. Now in his 30s, the rapper-cum- producer returns to the fold with greater ways and means of getting his message across.

In the five years since debut ‘Biro Funk’, Braintax has as good as locked himself in the studio. As the brains behind Low Life Records, he has been mixing business with pleasure, but with this second long player, the pleasure is all ours.

There are things to smile about, as effortless opener ‘All I Need’ furnishes. By squeezing a massive gospel sound into the relatively restrictive UK hip-hop scene, the true scale of the rapper’s ambitions are revealed.

But this album can be judged on its ability to remain within reach of the common person and the fears that plague our everyday lives have clearly penetrated Braintax’s own recording booth. ‘Can We? Skit’ rolls into ‘Syriana Style’, tackling British and American foreign policies head-on, engaging in a way that the likes of Eminem never will again. Samples of Robert Fisk and George Galloway only add to the potency.  If ‘Anti-Grey’ is punching a way out of a corner, ‘Last Tenner’ is the depressive sigh that we all must have felt as apathy takes hold. What difference can one person make? “Fuck it, let’s go and get drunk,” the solution.

Nevertheless, ‘Panorama’ offers hope. It’s a bigger picture that needs to be heard.

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