A Soulful Noise, UK Bounce

SugaRush Beat Company's Debut as Diverse as Its Membership

Ro  |  10/01/2008 at 12:00 PM  |  Comments (5)

The eponymous debut album of SugaRush Beat Company was just released in the UK, and it's somewhat surprising that this group is on so few musical radars on both sides of the pond. It isn't so much that they could possibly be as revolutionary as they purport to be -- on their website they hint at redefining modern music -- but that in many ways they are so contemporary. The group, consisting of Rahsaan Patterson, Ida Corr and Jarrad "Jaz" Rogers, has created an album based on hybridity between iconic sounds from the past like '80s synth and '60s soul, playing around with futuristic touches and blurring the lines between a variety of musical genres. Instead of blending them all into a completely unique sound that is integrated into every track, SugaRush Beat Company is a collection of disparate songs, connected by name only.

It's reflective of the diversity of its members: Rahsaan Patterson is more a soul formalist, Ida Corr is straight Euro Electro/House and Jaz Rogers is a interdisciplinary multi-instrumentalist. Despite the lack of unifying theme, there is so much going on that there is something for everyone. SugaRush Beat Company's experimentation is edgy in the sense that there is never room to get comfortable, which can be nice. This method doesn't allow much room for error but when it works the result is quite good. Still though, the strongest tracks are the ones that sound closer to the respective genres of either Patterson or Corr (they are rarely both featured on a song).

Hopefully SugaRush Beat Company will gain some momentum and find an international audience. Their sound is upbeat, the production is solid and both leads can hold their own vocally. Watch the video for the single "L-O-V-E" (one of the less experimental songs off of the album), visit their MySpace where the majority of the album is available to preview and judge for yourself.



SugaRush Beat Company [Official][MySpace]
SugaRush Beat Company [Amazon UK]

Tags: ida corr, jaz rogers, rahsaan patterson, sugarush beat company