Unison is an interesting crew. Technically, they are from Vienna, Austria. However, their main voice, MC Shnek, is, as the group’s website states, “half-British and half-Austrian.” It sounds like he has spent a majority of his time up north as he raps with an unmistakable British accent. The rest of the crew is Austrian, and they include turntablist DJ Crum and producer Whizz Vienna. Sound Networks is a nice little EP of various sounds. Shnek isn’t a bad MC, but his flows are no better or worse than your average UK rapper. Crum is sharp on the cuts, but the real story is Whizz Vienna. For a country that’s smack in the middle of Europe, you wouldn’t Austria would be home to such laid-back, jazz and dub-influenced artists like Kruder & Dorfmeister and Dzihan & Kamien. Whizz’s style is similarly “Austrian” in terms of its warm, jazzy, and sophisticated qualities. “Broken Air” bounces along with a bubbly bassline, deep rhodes chords and classy string hits, while “Girls Make My Hair Loose” (?) knocks a little harder with bigger drums, a cool guitar loop and little string and flute bits. Crum comes correct on this one too. “Sound Networks” finds Shnek sounding a bit out of place, busting rhymes over a deep, melancholy steppers groove that sounds like it should be a downtempo instrumental. Speaking of instrumentals, Whizz brings us two nice ones here. “Hinterkopf” is a lazy, jazzy groove reminiscent of early DJ Cam with its live piano runs and nice bassline. “Relaxed” changes the vibe to a thoughtful, melancholy one with its mournful, cascading piano loops and emotional guitar parts. I don’t think the bonus cut “Let Me Rock” appears on the vinyl version of this EP, but it’s one of the most interesting cuts on this CD. The beat is a straight-up deep house track. The earnest, minor-keyed groove works nicely with Shnek’s observations on urban living. Who said hip-house was dead? Seriously, though, it’s worth searching out for those who didn’t get in on their vinyl version. Overall, this is a nice collection of cuts that continues the legacy of tight, jazzy Austrian beatmaking.

• DJ Verb

Source: groundliftmag.com

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