Track Listing

1. Intro
2. Cold Water Music
3. Force
4. Sail
5. Downstate
6. Ain't Got No Time To Waste
7. Fat City
8. True To Hip Hop
9. Demonique
10. Tree A Lock And A Cloud
11. Journey To The End Of Night
12. From Here To Fame
13. Another Summer
14. Underground Crown Holders

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5407 in Music
• Released on: 2007-10-29
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
British hip-hop has never had much of a musical pedigree, held back by an inability to compete with the brutal ghetto tales of from across the Atlantic. Cold Water Music, though, is the work of Aim, aka Mancunian DJ Andy Turner, and he's sidestepped the equation with an effortlessly eclectic album of slick, inventive instrumental hip-hop that guides the genre into uncharted territories. Aim succeeds where other Brit acts like the Herbaliser fail because he's conscious to avoid any hint of cliché. Cold Water Music boasts an eclecticism that's so disorientating that genre flows into genre with barely a hint of abrasion--the edgy inner-city pallor of "True To Hip-Hop", for instance, which smoothly gives way to the pomped-up operatic majesty of "Demonique." It's undoubtedly the collaborations with Aim's label mates that makes the album, though; check the mellow groove of "The Force", featuring Grand Central rappers Q n'C, and you'll agree that even America's big hitters struggle to compare. --Louis Pattison

Customer Reviews

One of hip-hop's gems
Where do I Start? Cold Water Music is impossible to pin down as one particular genre of hip-hop, with some fantastic breakbeat alongside the enchanting vocals of guest Kate Rogers (who reminds me slightly of Dido) and the absolute pinnacle of hip-hop perfection that is 'Ain't Got Time To Waste', featuring YZ, this album hits the mark on so many levels. The title track, 'Cold Water Music' bears the mark of a true musical genius with a captivating melody that is perfect for relaxing to. There seems to be a tune here to suit any mood, with a full range of hip-hop on display. Intelligent, soulful, uplifting, one of the best all-round british talents you will ever hear, this is an album to treasure.

A very, very good mould-breaking hip-hop album
This is the type of album that I want to show my children when I'm old and grey, and say "This is the type of music I lived for when I was your age." This album is a truly suberb debut effort, from the hard and fast beats of "Journey to the end of the night" to the frightening realness of "demonique." In fact, when I first got the album, I drove into the woods, stopped, turned my lights off and listened to Demonique to see how fear-provoking it could be, and I won't be doing that again! Tracks like "The force" and "No time to waste" are so good and yet so far off the beaten path of convensional hip-hop. The vocals by Kate Rogers on "Sail" are beautiful and haunting and "From here to fame" is a song I love to play whilst driving at night. I cannot wait untill the release of the next Aim album!

Mellow, intelligent, soulful hip-hop
This is a real find for anyone who enjoys downtempo dance music but is not really into the macho gun-toting imagery employed by many hip-hop artists.

The songs here are actual songs - gorgeous hooks, beats and melodies that you will remember for a long time.
Aim veer on the slightly spookier side of hip-hop, just listen to the eerily cool swirls of True to Hip Hop, which is wonderfully laidback and has a strong vibe.
Ain't Got Time to Waste is another highlight, although the version on the Cold Water Music EP is possibly slightly funkier.
The song Sail takes on a gentle, wistful, feminine edge due to some excellent female vocals, and is more trip-hop than hip-hop.

Those claiming to be frightened by the song Demonique are perhaps a little easily scared, but it all depends on how much of a horror fan you are. The song contains spoken samples from the brilliant John Carpenter stalk 'n' slash flick Halloween, where Michael Myers' doctor tells the Sheriff that death has come to his little town.
It is a compelling listen, with haunting strings and a creepy choir. Horror hip hop, or possibly goth hop?

Force is a fantastic hip-hop track, with some gorgeous soulful female vocals to soften it up a bit.
All in all, if you fancy lying back with a huge alcoholic beverage and letting some cool sounds wash over you, you could do worse than Cold Water Music. Highly recommended.