REVIEWS.

CD OF THE WEEK - 5 stars

The Brag
Katalyst - What's Happening
Invada/Inertia

Okay, so we know Katalyst's first album, Manipulating Agent, was amazing. It's a fact. Lots of artists get it right first time around, there's no pressure, no expectations, you can work at your own pace. And alot of them manage to balls the second album up, the attention does it to them, they're not so sure of who they are now that they're in the spotlight. Did any of this faze Katalyst? No thank god. He took it all in his stride, spent roughly three years getting it right and his new effort, the probingly titled What's Happening, is just so many light years ahead of anything alse on the table its not funny.

Lets consider what exactly is on the table: the US is pushing monocultural cheese around the globe, yeah Kanye is pretty dope but predictable; the UK's a grimey place right now but no one's scaling the Roots Manuva heights are they; we've got the Hoods and the Elefant Traks mob making big waves downunder but, and Im sorry, their stuff still significantly trails the stunning productions of Sydney's very own beat maestro, on a soulful level they just can't compete. Katalyst's tunes simply transcend the competition, he's a composer rather than a mere beat writer.

Tony Edwards