Soul Sample Side A hard copy in!

Breaking news: 1000 fresh copies of Nick Knowledge's new album Soul Sample Side A have just hit the hatonrack office (aka JPlatnum's garage) and are officially on pre-release now!

Soul Sample Side A is Nick's second album and the first issue in the hatonrack Volume series. It features a battalion of international talent including Brooklyn hip hop originator Masta Ace, Koolism’s MC Hau and 206collab’s Flip+Skip.

The new release is a big progression from Nick's 1997 debut, The Identity Crisis, published on Creative Vibes in 2007.

"While The Identity Crisis was all about working with different approaches, different producers and finding my personal style, Soul Sample is a much more concepted album," explains Nick. "I’ve been listening to so much varied music and trying to take things away from all of it. Trying to come at a hip hop album from a more musically mature perspective".

Nick worked with a host of international talent in the making of Soul Sample (sides A and B) - travelling to Europe twice to record and work on beats with German producer Lunatronic, and sessioning for countless hours in Australian studios with local musicians and, of course, fellow 1NF0 artist and Sydney producer, Jacob Giles.

There's an undercurrent of deep soul sound throughout Nick's new release that gives it a really beautiful consistency. Danny Golightly (who's currently mastering a Jimmy Webb album alongside 206collab's Watch Kulagina!) has taken this and really tweaked and brightened the sound to give all the Soul Sample tracks a special quality that really reaches through and grabs you. Here's some cheesy - but truthful - copy from the press release that explains it...

"From the hard grinding basslines of F.Y.I. Quit to the softly melodic keyboard and guitar progressions of Bondi Sunday, Soul Sample transports its audience back to the Motown of the 1960s and ‘70s, riding a funk drum break with a hip hop attitude."

... It's true I swear! The title track captures the essence of the album, with an infective soul sample forming the backdrop for an outstanding Masta Ace verse that demonstrates exactly why the rapper became famous in the 1980s, and survived to produce several platinum albums and influence a generation of rap stars such as Eminem.

"Doing a song with Masta Ace was really a life experience," Nick explains. "He was one of the first MCs I really listened to, and his whole picture-painting style has been a huge influence on me musically. It was almost embarassing actually - I’ve met a few big names like Premier and half the Wu-Tang clan, but Ace was the first I was really star-struck by".

The releases marks the real, official launch of hatonrack’s Volume series - a set of six new releases from Nick Knowledge and fellow hatonrack artists 206collab, 1NF0 and LHA.

With the Volume series we’re trying to do something a bit different and original in terms of release format and cross-promotion, which really works for the customer. When we originally sat down and looked at how we'd put out all this music, we realised we’ve got a series of top-game artists with music that needs to be recognised alongside Australia’s best. A whole set of music videos, great design and photography to accompany each release.

And so we figured we really should seize this opportunity to tie all of this product together and expose people to more than one artist - open people up to more of what hatonrack has to offer. With Soul Sample Side B waiting in the breaches and other Volume series releases due in 2010 and ‘11, we hope you'll come along for the ride.