Track Listing

1. Intro (Forlorn)
2. The Girl Who Fell Through The Ice
3. What Do People Do All Day
4. No Restriction
5. Fall Break
6. Guimar
7. Good Disease
8. The Omen
9. Linctus
10. Vipco
11. A Twilight Zone
12. From A Seaside Town
13. Hinterland

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21814 in Music
• Released on: 2002-02-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics

Amazon.co.uk Review
One thing's for sure: you won't have heard a hip-hop album quite like Hinterland before. Aim man Andy Turner recorded this--the follow-up to his excellent debut album, Cold Water Music--in a private studio on the sleepy Barrow-In-Furness seafront, a hundred miles from the bustling hip-hop underground of Manchester where he made his name. Rolling elements of vintage soul and classic Bacharach-style songwriting into its grand hip-hop design, Hinterland pulls out wild cards a-plenty. "The Girl Who Fell Through The Ice" finds Turner loops a flourish of violins and frosty synths, as longtime Aim collaborator Kate Rogers wrapping her tonsils around a chill tale of a doomed love affair. The upbeat "No Restriction" revives A Tribe Called Quest's daisy-age blueprint, with guesting rap crew Souls Of Mischief offering rhymes of a mischievously English bent: "We mean biz'/ You won't believe this/ We're in Buckingham Palace droppin' beats with Queen Liz". And "Good Disease" strays right off the hip-hop map: a slick four minutes of R&B-tinted lounge music, it features a unexpected falsetto-high cameo from ex-Baby Bird man Stephen Jones that bafflingly, is one of this commendable record's high points. It's not for those that like their hip-hop raw, but Hinterland is a very welcome addition to the traditional rap terrain.--Louis Pattison

CD Description
Following on from the his successful debut 'Cold Water Music', Aim releases 'Hinterland'. A mix of downtempo hip hop beats, funky basslines and film samples, the album also features guest appearances from US rappers Souls Of Mischief, Babybird's Stephen Jones and fellow label mate Kate Rodgers.

Customer Reviews

Already an album of the year?
Take all your preconcieved perceptions of hip hop, tear 'em up and throw 'em away! Andy Turner (aka Aim) a former indie rock loving anorak has redefined the genre. In many ways this is car boot sale hip hop in which obscure samples are snatched from old vinyl and put together in a breath takingly beautiful way.

To be honest, "Hinterland" is closer to the blissful downtempo moments of Air rather than the normal raw, in-your-face attitude of hip hop. Whereas his "Cold Water Music" debut was much closer to the hip hop blueprint with an emphasis on rap collaborations, here he concentrates more on his moody but beautiful instrumentals.

As a result, when vocalists are sparingly used the impact is much more dramatic and welcome. Again, Kate Rogers is in fine form on the heartbreakingly gorgeous "The Girl Who Fell Through The Ice". Anyone familar with her "Sail" track on "Cold Water Music" will know what to expect...but this is even more moving. Stephen Jones and Diamond D also contribute some fantastic vocals. In fact, the only vocal track that slightly disappoints is Turner's own sung "A Twilight Zone" which seems a little out of context with the feel of the album.

However, I personally feel Turner is at his best when concentrating on the more mellow and soulful instrumentals with "What Do People Do All Day", "Fall Break", "Linctus" and "From A Seaside Town" all being paticular high points.

"Hinterland" really is a beautiful and moving album that you just want to curl up with in front of a warm fire on a winters afternoon. It mat only be February but I'll stick my neck out and say this could already be one of the albums of 2002.

Get It, its all good!
Aim's first album, termed as coffee table hip-hop, definitely carved out a distinctive sound for the man from the West coast of England. Hinterland builds upon this with some sweet beats, merging all kinds of styles. The song with Kate Rogers is poigant modern soul, Souls of Mischief rip it like the natural born emcees that they are, and their is a phat performance by Diamond. The rest of the album is made up of sweet samples and loops to bounce to - if you haven't listened to AIM before your in for a total treat, because it is all good!

a brilliant follow-up
What is all this speak of hinterland being inadequate? True, cold water music is a hard album to follow up, but i think hinterland is a match for it in all aspects. The vocal tracks on offer are brilliant, kate rodgers latest contribution far better than her last effort on cold water music while stephen jones delivers a brilliant falsetto to make a beautiful song out of good disease. Equally, the rap offerings shine with diamond d and the souls of mischief providing tight rhymes - all this over the usual dope beats AIM so often provides. Admittedly some of the instrumentals do drag on a little but that is not enough to convince me this album deserves no less than five stars.