reviews, quotes & reactions
Bandidge:
Undoubtedly the funkiest thing you've heard in a long time. Flowriders brand of broken beat/hip hop/acoustic jazz/electronica is one of a kind; think Marvin Gaye crossed with Missy Elliot, and throw in a good measure of jazz legend Miles Davis and you start to hit the mark.Overall it's a great album from Flowriders, whose strengths and avant-garde musical tastes and abilities show through here. A pure passion for not just one type of music, but many. Ingenious.
Jazzonova:
One never gets tired listening to it, and something new is heard on each play. Jazz, broken beats, funk, roots and soulful vocals all sublimely knitted together on one eargasmic recording.
Rainer Truby:
A splendid collection of sublime new age jazz workouts. The band set up is amazing and is set to light festivals alight later this year.
All I will tell you is that I'm into it and so are Jazzanova, Rainer Truby, Gilles Peterson and Mr Scruff. I advise you to go see & hear what all the fuss is about Rainer Truby Germany
Matthew K:
This is an impressive album of nu-fusion
Straight no Chaser:
Vincent Helbers, keyboardist and producer extraordinaire, returns with his sophomore effort RUEDY and it's a marked step up from the first effort (Starcraft) of largely broken and nu-jazz runnings. What makes the difference here is the strength of the songwriting (the boogie flavour of Roll On featuring Spoonface plus voodoo opus ˜Russelology) allied to his tougher beat programming/engineering (respect also to Richard Spaven though too!). Having superb talent like Spavens and flautist Han Litz on hand is helpful too. Colonel Red, Vincent's collaborator on 'Ocifa', returns to lace several tracks with his sweet vocal and wisdom (RUEDY and the languid groove of The Other Side) as is Nia Saw (Looking Deep and, again, ˜Russelology - she's all over it). Ultimately, it's down to the vision of Helbers, who like Mark De Clive Lowe, is more than the sum of his parts and similarly as hardworking judging by his gig counter. Coming to a city near you. (Amar Patel)
OWTL:
Flowriders is Vincent Helbers, a one man band, assited by some of the most talented musicians around. His second album as Flowriders is a brilliant work of soul, broken beats and smart arrangements; one of those timeless albums that are always fun to get back to.
Commercial Break:
So, against the odds, it turns out R.u.e.d.y. is one of the best albums of 2007, which just goes to show that, despite his lame pseudonym,
Helbers will no doubt be making a name for himself in years to come.
Ezequiel Lodeiro, Argentina
Awesome music!!!
top quality!
Maddslinsky/Zed Bias, Manchester, UK
I just checked out ya new stuff - 1st CLASS!
I'm really feeling it.
Kai Suzuki London, UK
This album is a MASTERPIECE man!!!
