1 Thing b/w Hoola Hoop

2nd single off the album The Serpent’s Mouth.

“Following up on the massive success of their sophomore full length “The Serpent’s Mouth”, Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band is back with another dance floor classic.

Side A is their already infamous cover of Amerie’s smash hit “1 Thing”. Done up in what is now their signature fashion, they take on the break originally lifted from The Meters, and believe it or not….step it up a notch. Steel pans play her infectious vocal melody lines over the raucous and crushing drum track. This will have the dance floor turning to the booth in amazement and wonder as soon as the pans come in. An absolute essential for DJs across the globe.

The B Side, “Hoola Hoop” is a BRSB original tune, the stuff that B Boys dream about…Setting it off with a killer breakbeat intro that drops into pan hits and flute flourishes, never losing the groove and full of energy. They trade off leads from flute to steel pans while running through turnarounds and drum fills building more energy the whole time like a snowball rolling down a mountain headed right for the speakers.”

The Serpent’s Mouth

Following up on the massive worldwide success of their debut album 55, Bacao Rhythm & Steel band is back with another heavy duty offering. Picking up where they left off and incorporating a ton of new recording techniques they take a huge step forward with The Serpent’s Mouth. Named after the eight-mile strait between the island of Trinidad and the coast of Venezuela, The Serpent’s Mouth is a journey through both originals and covers, combining classic elements that wide-eared music fans already know, and mashing them up in new and unique ways.

Take “1 Thing” – on it, the group attacks the galloping, chopped Amerie smash hit, with singing pans that follow the R & B vocal. The sound is crisp and up-front, arguably more muscular than the 2005 original. On “Great To Be Here,” they take on the Jackson 5 B-Boy favorite (which stretches back to the Zulu Nation / Bronx block party days) – uncoincidentally, the original version featured a guitar lick that emulated a steel pan run. Here, it gets an even more pulsating groove, adding open-drums breaks throughout, to get DJs salivating. The group veers through more inventively-constructed covers as the album’s sequence continues, including Gang Starr’s “All For The Cash”; Mary J. Blige’s “I Love You”; and the recently unleashed first single, “XXplosive” and “Burn,” paying tribute to both Dr. Dre and Mobb Deep for a bi-coastal funk party. And, as band leader Bjorn Wagner states, “My favorite cover on the album is probably ‘Crockett Theme,’ which is the theme to ‘Miami Vice.’ I always loved the melody, and the cosmic vibe of the song, and I was honestly surprised that it worked without synthesizers.”

This time around the group’s originals are even stronger, as evidenced by cuts like the flute-fueled break-fest of “Hoola Hoop”; the slow and spacey “Touchdown”; and the album’s title track, the future-epic-adventure-movie-soundtrack cut “The Serpent’s Mouth.” Wagner explains, “I wrote the song with Bernhard Hummer as an instrumental fantasy story – think of pirates, smugglers and a dangerously beautiful sea passage towards the island. It became an allegory for our mind travels into the world of the steel pan.”

The Serpent’s Mouth is sure to please past fans and newly-minted ones alike. It seems like a new era for Steel Drum music is upon us, and Bacao is firmly leading the way into the hearts of music fans around the world. Another Big Crown Records Sureshot…

Xxplosive  b/w Burn

First single from the second Bacao album The Serpent’s Mouth.

“Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band return with another instantly classic 45 guaranteed to be all over DJs set lists. With their sophomore full length coming in September, they treat us to another bomb of a two sider.

Side A is a cover of the Dr Dre hit “XXplosive” done up in proper BRSB fashion, smashing drums and steel pans playing the lead and bass lines. They take this one into new territory by adding synth parts and dubbed out horn lines playing Nate Dogg’s infamous vocal hook melodies.

Side B takes on one of NYCity’s grimiest Hip Hop club anthems, Mobb Deep’s “Burn”. We decided to do this tune and demoed it out long before the unfortunate passing of Prodigy. Unfortunately, he will never get to hear this cover, and that has been one of the nicest things in covering some of these more current Hip Hop tunes. Rest In Peace P.

BRSB manages to do it again…..a version equally as raw and punchy as the original. Pans bang out the iconic riff from the original, theremin ushers in the changes, and the low rubble of the synth bass is sure to crush the subwoofers. Another Big Crown Sureshot…”

P.I.M.P.  b/w Police In Helicopter

Second re-issue after original Mocambo press and Truth & Soul issue.

“Big Crown Records is proud to present the Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band’s smashing cover of PIMP on our imprint. Following up on the smashing success of their debut album “55” and a string of essential 45s, we are the third label to press this staple tune. Three labels, three times, three different B sides.

Back in 2008 BRSB released it’s smashing cover of 50 Cent’s P.I.M.P. which was long thought to be the original sample for the tune. The Mocambo pressing already hard to come by and fetching top dollar on the internet has become an underground classic. BRSB treat the tune to their signature smashing drums and bass heavy production, taking the original loop and turning it into a full composition. Brass and steel pan parts putting it somewhere between reggae, steel funk, and the Superfly Soundtrack.

Side B is the proper reggae offering from BRSB, a cover of the legendary John Holt’s classic “Police In Helicopter”. Another must have two sider, another Big Crown sureshot.”