"I like it, I like it!!!"
- 'Intermission'
                           

reviews

THE BRIGHTON SOURCE MAGAZINE
 

"Undoubtedly creative and colorfully experimental with his liberal and left-field sampling, abrupt disorienting shifts in musical style, and well-picked collaborations (Rahma Ali and The Pipettes contribute)... A very welcome breeze through the overtly self-conscious hip-hop scene"

The Brighton Source #83, October 2005

THE WIRE MAGAZINE

The Wire issue #258, August 2005

HIP HOP CONNECTION MAGAZINE
(4 OUT OF 5)

  
Hip-Hop Connection #191, July 2005

interviews

FREELANCE INTERVIEW

UKHIPHOP.COM

MUSLIMYOUTH.NET

e-mails and comments from listeners

I've been listening to flowers and trees and on a few occasions i've been so engrosssed in it in the car i've taken the wrong turning or missed the turning in the road, thats how good it is! : ) I picked up the 'king charles' reference in the last track - I love it, its brilliant, just thrown in there but speaking volumes like so much of the album - ... Whats it like to listen to in winter? Like being wrapped in an embrace of sunshine and life - wonderful - instant shot of magic at the touch of a button - so good that the wrong turnings (yes more than once, I am almost embarrassed, as someone who is generally very good at all forms of mutli tasking) don't even matter because they only prolong the journey and listening time : ) - Shareefa, London, UK

~

"listening to ur album has become a daily thing for me, like a daily dose of happiness, i think the nicest thing about the songs is that u can never really get bored of them or know them too well.. u should know that we play ur flowers and trees a lottt! at the [architects] office i mean, my colleagues loved ur work, one even called u a musical genius, and he doesn't listen to anything other than philip glass and a set of refined pianists, the rest is all trash to him, so u should definitely feel flattered haha." Hiba, Amman, Jordan.

~

"More upbeat but just as deep is the right way to put it. The whole thing to me sounds more complete than your sound was in 'from a western box', it just holds together better y'know, the sound, the structure, your sample picks. Its great, summery, upbeat, but still immersive, vast and interesting to listen to and fall into. Definitely same kinda vibe as that Edan LP but less intensely in-your-face with it, and more sustained.... actually the best thing is in 'when u see the future' and those xylophone sticks kick in, that's genius man, seriously. I didn't see that coming at all, it made me laugh aloud the first few times I heard it, and a broad smile everytime now. And thats awesome, I mean I can think of plenty of records that get that headnod reaction, that get feet tapping or make me smile, you know, but I can't remember the last time some music made me laugh like, just sheerly out of amusement ... Seriously though, the BEST thing is actually the inspiration you've given me. I've been feeling so much music recently, all kinds of ish and just really getting the urge to express myself in creative ways that I haven't felt for a few years and that I thought wouldn't come back. But when you say "I had a dream last night about a piece of art and I promised to myself that I'd make a start", it slapped me like a one hit cure for procrastination. Its become part of my mantra as I get up in the morning, because what's the point of all these ideas, these revelations and crazy stuff rattling around my head if I'm not going to put it down some how, get it into the world and share it with people?" Nelson, Huddersfield, UK

~

"It is one of those albums that just makes you want to listen again and again. I listened to it so many times on repeat, for like two weeks, and I kept wanting to hear it again." - Navdeep, London, UK.

~

" 'Like Harold Bishop from neighbours, I'm in this for life...' ha ha! EXCELLENT... enjoyable from front to back. Impressive that you can rock the upbeat style as well as the serious (as found on the previous album). Honestly, it's one of the very best things I've heard all year (and the Lord Quas album dropped this year, so that's no small thing!). You should definitely make some power moves with this record... I hope you get some serious recognition for this." - Owen, Glamorgan, UK

~

"salaam aleikum rahmatullah wa barakatu, akhi,

"touch me like a terrorist" is one of the best lines i have heard in long time. y, in all seriousness, it is a tight jewel that i cherish dearly and it has uplifted beyond words.

all i could say to when listening to it is 'that's my brutha flowing'.

khoda hafez and duas" Ishaq, Canada.

~

"i didnt really know what to expect , n i opened up the package n was all excited about the grass LOL for like 10 mins, n i was tellin my friend about it lol... n that distracted me, then i was like ahhh the CD! i was so feelin the first track, the beat in some parts reminded me of a lefteye track from supernova... n so i was well into it then next thing u know its the end of the album lol... u know thou.. like usually if i listen to a whole album, i skip tracks n jus dont listen to it all.. besides crazy sexy cool, but when i listened to flowers and trees... blah i dunno bro...... wicked innit..... coz i never knew what to expect next, so that also kept my attention." - Soraya, California, USA (formerly UK!)

~

"Salaamu Alaykum Y.

how ya doin bro? :)

"It's free to smile"...it's what I've been doing ever since I got your CD, 'Flowers & Trees,' and every time I've listened to it subsequently.

YOSHI, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE HERE!? :)

you did it again, musicman! sometimes you feel something so real you can't even get dramatic about it. I'm impressed to no limit, this album's like nothin ive heard. the sound is so different, so upbeat, great ensemble of samples and beats and voices...man, it's like...its like the perfect detailing of an architect who designs a room in which every form of sunlight - high beam, low beam, direct, indirect - comin thru those windows is in some way always beautiful, always welcomed, and always meaningful.

the sampling is really, right on target, a message behind it always, sometimes its light hearted and great sounding and other times it gets deeper and you listen more closely at the slower sounds. my first thoughts as I listened to the first couple tracks were about the beats tho, such awesome sounds, and your voice, its much more experimental, you sound so happy, so full of life...it made me laugh at times, smile, and just THINK, you know? it's such a good feel, so inspiring and uplifting.

you know what it was like listening to it the whole way through for the first time: it was like beautiful kids sitting around you talking to you at the same time cuz they want your attention so bad (not literally of course)...youre just bombarded by so much goodness and it just keeps getting better...like every time you listen to the album you notice something new and fresh, a small detail you never noticed before, but then it was already so good to begin with. its funny i feel like ive known the album forever yet ive only been listening to it for three days, im not sure what that means, but you discover something different each time. its layered so deep. God! you can't do this if you don't commit your whole self to it you know...i mean, yeah, of course you know. i realized that again reflecting on what it probably took for you to produce this.

the album is an incredible one: positive, inclusive, full of reality and goodness, and not the empty-headed happiness that just floats away with no after effect, but the kind that makes you wanna change, to improve yourself..." - Nadia, New Jersey, USA

~

"bear with me ... here comes the motive behind me writing you ...

I  fell asleep listening to "flowers and trees" last night and had the most interesting dream Ive had in a while so I thought you should know about it ... sooo ok I’m walking through this road covered in yellowy golden autumn leaves ... I reach this community of people that live near the ocean ... the place is abandoned ... some buildings are in complete ruins ... and there's this awful smelll something I’d never smelled, just intolerable... my eyes hurt ... some real stankin' fumes ... but theres children playing everywhere ... laughing and it’s raining, and theyre jumping all over the place ..  they’re everywhere !... and so I keep walking and I reach a field covered with dead bodies ... like a battle field ... BUT ...trees are growing through the dead bodies!! .. lifting them above the ground ... and the trees are huge and just so strong and the leaves ... they’re like rainforest ones ... those huge ones ... I drew this ... I wish I could show ya cus I dont think youre getting the picture .. maybe you are .. the bodies arms and legs are hanging from the trunk of the tree and it keeps growing and growing ,.. towards the sky until I cant see them anymore ... I dont know what to get from it ...

anyway ... just wanted to share ... especially cus i  think it had to do with "flowers ..."

I was writing in my journal about it last night (your LP) ... as I  was listening ... thinking that it felt like re-reading a good book.. you know ... second time around ... you have more freedom to enjoy the details ... let yourself be enriched by ...take in so much more cus youre no longer worried about following the story ... getting the plot together.... anticipating... plus i got so much feed back from the author  ...YOSH its so playful!! ... its played with my mind as much as the first time I listened...  its fresh squeezed yoshiberry  juice ... "I like it i like it " like that voice in f &T ...hahaha

anyway ... i showed it to my friend lili ... whom is very open to new music and loves to discover new stuff ... and she said ... "its like a PERSONAL piece of art" -Anonymous, California, USA

BUY!