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Josh Martinez
Buck Up Princess
Remote Control/Inertia

Well, hip-hop is the new black and Canada's Josh Martinez is the latest white boy claimant to speak the rhythm and rhyme. Out of Halifax, Nova Scotia, the ex-bad boy has long ago quit lighting fires and turned his attention to grooves. Or this is what the bio claims, placing him alongside Buck 65 and Sage Francis because they are collaborators and countrymen rather giving clues to his sound. Martinez has a good ear for beat and bounce, but is without the grim growl of Buck or the politics of Francis. 'Buck Up Princess' is light with soft melodies that occasionally sound like the confused offspring of ELO and Jackson 5, so there is much to delight in. The sunny feeling is at other times reminiscent of De La Soul, and I reckon it is high time to bring that feeling back: an example being, ironically, Rainy Day, and also BC Trees. The album is not all jellybeans and rollerskates, however. Witness Hard Fall, a sketchy drug rant, and Matinez's manifesto of sorts is laid out in Bermuda Shorts: "I never quit, and I was never fired, I made it my goal to be officially retired."

'Buck Up Princess' is punctuated by character voices and vaguely familiar sound bites, like the cutesy/ballsy girls who leave Josh a note by way of intro to Women Loving Women; the subject matter as you predict, but hardly gratuitous. The characters are knowing twentysomethings just trying to get along, or get laid, or get out of work: universal themes. A healthy love and respect of melody flows through the album and Martinez brings his lyrics to life with the help of a number of producers, local Nova Scotians such as Mcenroe and DJ Moves. Mcenroe also mixed the album and rhymes on Forged, and this collective approach supplies the range that sustains the lengthy album, creating the many moods which bubble along on a consistent groove. 'Buck Up Princess' has made it into the kicked back and casual section of my at-home listening.

Narelle Walker

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