TRACKLIST
Side A:
01. Uncut Gems (Intro) 02. It’s All Gravy
03. The Cat
04. Let ‘Em Know
05. Dopest Ghost in Town 06. Deep
Side B:
01. Big Time
02. Wavy
03. Cold Blooded
04. Jazzitorium
05. How Smilla Got Her Groove Back
06. Bless Up
DESCRIPTION
Album artwork designed by acclaimed illustrator, Joe Buck, most notably known for creating the De La Soul is Dead album artwork.
Vinyl is pressed on sky blue discs with white splatter. 12” x 12” insert included.
After a brief period of genre crossover releases, leaning towards jazz, funk, and electronica, I wanted to get back to the basics. Strictly hip-hop. Coalmine is all about that.”—Max I Million on his new instrumental album, Uncut Gems, with indie label Coalmine Records
Swedish producer Max I Million is back on his hip-hop steez with Uncut Gems, an instrumental album that blends left-field creativity with boom-bap vibes. It’s equal parts futuristic and nostalgic, a distinctive combination of sounds that never gets too comfortable, nor too experimental. Pulling that off is no easy feat, and neither is making it sound this damn good. But that’s just what Max does with this project.
Uncut Gems is pure audio dope that’s loaded with musical layers. And it turns out that Max actually produced these tracks
with that concept in mind, so that listeners would play it again and again to unearth new sounds and production techniques with each spin. “I want to elevate minds and make them feel inclined to, in the words of Dilla, ‘Turn me up another notch in your system!’,” he says.
It’s for those reasons that it’s easy to get lost in standout tracks like “The Cat,” which is as unpredictable as the animal it’s named for, and “Jazzitorium,” a piano-laced tribute to The Pharcyde that’s brimming with ideas. That’s not to mention the Quasimoto-esque “Let Em Know” and emotional “Cold Blooded.” These four tracks alone are enough to make Uncut Gems a must-listen, but when you combine them the rest of the tape? You’re looking at pure brilliance from a truly gifted producer.
Press Quote:
“With the lack of virtually any lyrics, Max does an amazing job at keeping a fresh and dynamic sound throughout the entirety of Uncut Gems. You could totally zone out to this music, but at the same time, you could also get up and boogie to it. There’s elements of classic boom-bap hip-hop on here, as well as heavier elements of the new-school.” -This Song Is Sick