4 Hero - Creating Patterns



The title says it all... Creating Patterns is noodle jazz for head-nodders. 4 Hero were at their peak at the start of the 1990s when they pioneered drum & bass, breaking all the musical rules with outstanding albums such as Parallel Universe and the patronage of up-and-coming artists such as Goldie and Nookie. Now the energy seems to have departed from the London twosome Dego and Mark Mac. On their fourth album they've retreated into the soft confines of electronic slush jazz, far removed from the gravity defying drum & bass classics such as "Journey From the Light". 4 Hero are taking over Incognito's role at Talkin' Loud records, producing polite dinner muzak with a modern day electronic twist. Even the presence of Jill Scott on "Another Day" can't raise the song-writing level above bland. 4 Hero have got too hooked up on being "serious" which means employing 16 piece string sections and Terry Callier. Much as they probably hate the thought, 4 Hero were best when they wanted to tear down the system with tracks like "Mr Kirk's Nightmare" rather than their ever-increasing desire to conform to what they believe is proper music. We need them to mess things up again.

1. Conceptions
2. Time
3. Golden Solitude
4. Twothesme
5. Another Day
6. Hold It Down
7. Unique
8. Something Nothing
9. Ways Of Thought
10. Eight
11. Blank Cells
12. Twelve Tribes
13. 2-BS-74638
14. Les Fleur
15. The Day Of The Greys

4 Heros Website

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Us3 - Come On Everybody (Get Down)

A single from their second album, "Broadway & 52nd" (1997).
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What is Acid Jazz?

Acid jazz (also known as club jazz) is a musical genre that combines elements of soul music, funk, disco, particularly looping beats and modal harmony. It developed over the 1980s and 1990s and could be seen as tacking the sound of jazz-funk onto electronic dance/pop music.

The compositions of groups such as The Brand New Heavies and Incognito often feature chord structures usually associated with Jazz music. The Heavies in particular were known in their early years for beginning their songs as catchy pop and rapidly steering them into jazz territory before "resolving" the composition and thus not losing any pop listeners but successfully "exposing" them to jazz elements in "baby steps".

The acid jazz "movement" is also seen as a "revival" of jazz-funk or jazz fusion or soul jazz by leading DJs such as Norman Jay or Gilles Peterson or Patrick Forge, also known as "rare groove crate diggers".