Blockhead

Following up his last release, Music By Cavelight, Blockhead (aka Tony Simon) has served up a piece of energetic simplicity with Downtown Science. Its muse, Downtown Manhattan, a place Blockhead says is his environment, both romantic and violent.

Dropping instrumental hip-hop on the masses, Blockhead leverages his hometown of Manhattan – born, raised and lives – to reflect on everything from his ‘hood to failed relationships.

His choice of samples on Track 2 (‘Roll Out The Red Carpet’) captures the Broadway glitz of old; best part about this track is the music follows an odd intro where voices seem to morph into the munchkins from The Wizard of Oz. It seems not to fit, but Blockhead’s skills are apparent when you continue to groove along with the track… and the rest of the album.

Blockhead manages to capture NYC before the Rudy Guilianni cleanup, showing all its beautiful scars for us to listen to. Pick any track you want and you’ll get something unique: ‘Serenade’ starts off comical but turns into a soulful piano piece; imagine yourself driving through a city, all calm and cool while listening to ‘Cherry Picker’; or strap on your disco platforms and get ready to dance-groovy with ‘The Art of Walking’.

And to make it an even more enticing purchase, the release includes a bonus DVD that has the winners of the filmmaking competition Ninja Tune ran for Music By Cavelight. The videos on this bonus DVD are as eclectic as Blockhead’s music.