Search - Runaways UK :: Classic Tales

Though the members of Runaways U.K. were unfortunately lumped in with the ubiquitous trip-hop genre (a.k.a. instrumental hip-hop), they didn't get the fame and fortune of others like Portishead and Massive Attack. Perhaps this is because A.J. Kwame and Joe 2000 don't embellish their records with tortured sirens wailing that nobody loves them or croon darkly about angels with dirty faces--instead they rely on raps and samples. But like the aforementioned groups, the Runaways U.K. do harness beauty and the beats with equal cunning. Soaring symphonies caress tough punches, jazz inflects but doesn't infect, and just when you've forgotten that this is a hip-hop record, a swift wiggedy-wiggedy whack slaps you upside the head like a bittersweet turntablist symphony. --Tricia Romano