Baggsmen's new record ELEVEN STAGES has been lauded
by press across the country as one of the albums of the year.
Here are some of the accolades so far…
NEW THIS WEEK!!! Three D World, Album of the Week, 5 Stars
"Inventive and original are not words that are usually bandied about
with regard to home grown muzik on a regular basis, but good news folks,
Eleven Stages by the Baggsman has both in abundance. You should really
have heard of this album by now but for those of you that haven't think
of this as a belated wake up call. Stand out for me has to be the excellent
Three Brands Of Impossible. Think organic drum n bass topped off with
a Cambodian princess chanting and you're getting close. This album flips
from the Rage Against The Machine style anger of Long Strong Diamond
featuring Jake Stone supplying the anger to flystylee MCing thanks to
Lords Of The Fly on Blown Angels to sweet skanking dub on Did You Like
That - and doesn't miss a beat in the process. This may be due to the
fact that the Baggsmen favour instruments over all out technology warfare
and in my books bass, drums and keys give the album it's real advantage
over other over 'produced to fuck' electronic offerings. Listening to
Eleven Stages is like eating Yum Cha - it has a little bit of everything
and it all tastes good." (The Green Lantern)
****TRIPLE J FEATURE ALBUM - 1 September 2003***
"Like Gerling and the 'Gurge before them, The Baggsmen have long been
regarded as one of Australia's top live electro-rock acts, and look
set to take their sound to the world stage with this fresh release."
(Josh Edge, Zebra Hype)
"An album underpinned by fat drum beats, the musical compass swings
toward Jamaican dub and transatlantic breakbeat... Never a dull moment.
4 stars." (Graeme Hammond, Sunday Herald Sun)
"Eleven Stages debuted on Triple J as 'Album of the Week', and it's
obvious why, with every tune a winner and the band heading into a strange
land of twisted breakbeats, the likes of which haven't been produced
by Australians." - 4 stars, Feature Album of the Week (Matt
Fraser, Time Off)
“Baggsmen's Eleven Stages is beyond genre, mixing jazz, funk, hip-hop,
breaks and dub successfully but it's not beyond me to add a rare rating
to this review: ten out of ten.” (Whammo)
“These guys are incredible. Eleven Stages is a frenetic burst
of sonic mayhem – edgy, relevant and seamlessly produced. Baggsmen,
formerly known as The Hive, are as dynamic as anything coming out of
the European market, but without any of the superfluous bullshit.
This is an exceptional album for a number of reasons – the depth of
composition; the variety of production flavours; and the all mood spirit.
The promise has always been there; perhaps now it’s finally being realized.”
– 4 stars, Album of the Week (Zolton Zavos, The Brag)
“This trio of bass, drums and keys strip things back for their second
album, switching much of the cloned club buzz of their former Hive alias
for a bristling new urban grunt. They’ve focused more on the honey
at the centre of melodic lyric-driven songwriting. Freshly biting
vocals surge forward with gritty abandon over dub-inspired down-tempo
grooves. Guest vocalists bang about with a band now dancing closer
to the blurred electronic edge. Their trademark instrumental outings
are still here, too. This is an accomplished ride from a band not resting
on past glory.” – 3.5 stars, Critics pick (Paris Pompor, The Metro,
Sydney Morning Herald)
Baggsmen continue to get high rotation airplay on Triple J with
for their second single Hi-Top Days and community radio
across the country (RRR, FBi, 4ZZZ to name a few). They will be
dropping their third single, Long Strong Diamond along
with “Teen Wolf” inspired video clip before October is up.