From Grime Wikipedia
Album Description
New Age Army showcases L.Man at his most versatile as he runs through his various states of mind – anger, happiness, sadness, despair, positively and everything in between. Tracks such as the harrowing ‘Children In Need’, the cautionary tale of ‘Pushin’ and the honest soul-searching of ‘Father Figure’ highlight L.Man’s sensitivity and social awareness, while the rawness of the likes of ‘Most Underrated’ and ‘Fright Night’ offer a taste of his exceptional rapid-fire rhyming skills and lyrical ability. New Age Army is a treasure trove of heavyweight tracks, carefully selected and painstakingly put together to create a mixtape of unparalleled quality.
Album Tracklisting
01. Fright Night
02. Pushin-Feat. Dom P
03. Fly With Me Remix
04. Father Figure
05. Children In Need-Feat. Skinnyman
06. L Man Vs Eminem [Live On DJ Cameo BBC Extra Sessions Show]
07. The Most Underated
08. Ruff Squad Extra Remix-Feat. Tinchy Stryder, Wretch 32 & Bashy
09. Crazy Demons
10. Rep The Block-Feat. Infamous & Solo From N Double A [Remix]
11. Do You Dream
12. L Man Live At Lovedough
13. Worth The Fight-NY Feat. L Man
14. Oh No-Aaron Soul Feat. L Man
15. Bread & Roses-Mr Hudson & The Library Feat. L Man & JSD [Remix]
16. Start My Life From Scratch-Feat. Eliza
Bonus Tracks
17. Rep Your Endz-Feat. Bugsy, Whitty, Hendy, Young KOF, Warkid, Solja, Simra, Flex, Vader, Local, Aems And L Man
18. Zumpi Hunter [Freestyle]
Album Reviews
by Alex Forster 13 June 2007
With a series of successful mixtapes and a 1Xtra newcomer award under his belt, Brixton boy, L. Man, is stepping up a gear. His last release before a debut album drops on LoveDough, New Age Army is an ‘album-slash-mixtape’ that showcases the skills of an MC who's been putting in the groundwork.
With support from Radio 1’s Tim Westwood, 1Xtra’s Semtex and Rodney P and Skitz - not to mention over 1500 daily Myspace hits - others are starting to sit up and take notice. Sharing the same name as his South London crew N Double A, New Age Army displays L’s sound, dubbed as “mix breed”; the rawness and energy of grime with the lyricism and narratives of hip hop: ‘This ain’t rap or grime this is true stories’ (“Fright Night”).
“Pushin” and “Fly With Me” sum up L’s reflective side; melancholy yet soulful with enough optimism to keep the listener from feeling too lost in L’s occasionally bleak world. On Ruff Squad’s “Xtra (Remix)” and “Rep Your Endz”, L switches from articulate rapper to grime hype M.C. with ease. Further proof of his live credentials come from an appearance on DJ Cameo’s 1Xtra show and a freestyle in Newcastle where he rides impressively over Plastician’s “Japan” riddim and Justin Timberlake’s “My Love”.
Weaker tracks like “Crazy Demons” find L’s lyrics too muddled and incoherent, the production in these cases isn’t diverting or interesting enough to carry the song. “Rep The Block”, featuring Infamous and Solo of N Double A, is also a lowpoint. Not only predictable but ruined by Infamous’ lame opening bars. It’s refreshing to see L going easy on the gun talk in favour of more socially aware material – once the domain of hip hop but now adopted by some grime M.C’s (JME, Little Dee) – even if at times it misfires. The endorsement of giving blood (“Bread And Roses”) featuring current hot tips Mr Hudson and The Library doesn’t really provoke much thought beyond slight bafflement. When he gets it right - “Children In Need” paints a picture of the despair of addiction - it makes for intense and poignant listening.
If his forthcoming debut album is to meet the high expectations placed on this promising MC, L. Man needs to iron out some of the lukewarm moments of New Age Army and play to his strengths.
External Links
L Dot Man; New Age Army at HMV
L Dot Man; New Age Army at UKRECORDSHOP
