Style 43

Fuck yeah. That’s what I have to say before anything else, because that was the first reaction my ears had when listening to this album. Not literally, like some David Cronenberg shit, but there was definitely some aural joy in effect and it definitely came courtesy of the Russian Percussion.

If you caught the single review I posted a month or two ago, or if you’ve been lurking on MySpace, or even better, if you actually bought the single when it came out, then you’ll already be familiar with three of the tracks from the album - “Hidden Treasure“, “Soldier” and “Saturday“. They are joined by another 15 songs to make up this welcome return to music, by one of the UK’s favourite beatmakers.

The summery, reggae, feel good tone that was set by the single, is used to full effect again on the album and juxtaposed with some of the more abstract, electronic beats that hark back to his USSR albums,  gives “U Can’t Lurn..” a good balance. Plus there are a ton of guests bringing with them enough musical talent to fill up a few albums, let alone just one. Said guests include - Pugz Atomz, Heidi Vogel, Sabira Jade, La Methode and Daddy Vad’s other half, Yarah Bravo.

This album is pretty similar to “The Soundcatcher“, Vadim’s 2007 album, but maintains a slight edge in my opinion. Normally I’d put that down to the two year hiatus giving him time to come up with something so good, but during that time the man has not only done some relentless touring (On average he performs 170-180 shows a year in over 63 countries, according to his Wikipedia page), he has also won a fight against cancer. Full props to the man coz I reckon I’d be left feeling a little daunted about making an album right after all that had gone down, but Vadim has managed to mould something beautiful out of all that badness, and brighten up all our summers in the process.

I was a bit late writing this, so you can already purchase “U Can’t Lurn Imaginashun” from all the usual spots. I would if I was you.

Tags: DJ Vadim, Sabira Jade, Yarah Bravo