Jam Baxter – “Off Piste” review

This is the 2nd solo EP from London, England, United Kingdom emcee Jam Baxter of the Dead Players & Contact Play. Signing to High Focus Records, his 2010 solo debut Rinse Out Friday / Spack Out Monday was received positively & the sophomore effort The Gruesome Features would see a lot more critical acclaim. …So We Ate Them Whole in 2014 remains amongst High Focus’ most celebrated releases ever, following up Mansion Touching Scenes to drop Off Piste with less than a month left of the decade.

“Red Hawaiian” produced by Dr. Zygote starts off with a boom bap opener by talking about what he’s got inside his bag whereas “All Clear” featuring Lee Scott finds the 2 speaking of pulling your brain out of your mouth & giving us the all clear. “Drowned Dogs” featuring Datkid teams up over a Dirty Dike instrumental trading verses back-&-forth with each other while “The Stump” advises on top of a Telemachus beat that one should’ve stayed true to themselves from the start.

Coinciding with a brand new book of the same name, Jam Baxter takes a couple loose singles & combines them with 2 previously released songs to craft an extended play that I enjoy a lot than the one he put out 5 years prior. The production’s a cut above Fresh Flesh’s in addition to reaching the same pedestal Touching Scenes did 12 months earlier, spending half of it holding down the fort by himself & the other bringing a couple of his labelmates beside him to add their own distinctive flavors regarding cadences or general mood.

Score: 4/5