Electric Wire Hustle

If there’s any doubt as to whether Electric Wire Hustle are inspired by Common’s magnum opus Electric Circus it’s dispelled as soon as the tripped out groove on “Waters” rolls up. Electric Wire Hustle isn’t exactly The Soulquarians’ lost tapes, but ELW do pick up their baton and run with it. With style. Quite simply this is the best, most exciting R&B, soul, electronica, whatever you want to call it, record I’ve heard this year.


The horns on “Gimme That Kinda”, singer Mara TK’s delicious falsetto, the bumping basslines, the grooves, God, the grooves, all come straight out of the Soulquarians’ songbook. And in no way is that derivative or a bad thing. Above all it’s Electric Wire Hustle’s burning desire to push soul music in all its glorious variety to scale new heights that marks them out as truly special. Like their illustrious predecessors, they’ve got the gift of taking classic soul, jazz and funk and moulding them into something that sounds as cutting edge as anything else out there.

They’re so good that collaborations with fellow envelop-pushers Georgia Anne Muldrow and Dudley Perkins (that on most debut albums you’d expect to stand out a mile) slide by almost unnoticed. Indeed, the quality of the musicianship and song writing throughout the album is staggering. “Tom Boy” is a stone cold soul classic, “They Don’t Want” brings the funk and a particularly satisfying bassline, “Experience” recalls Flying Lotus’ experiments in jazz and hip hop, while “Chaser,” the track that brought them to Gilles Peterson’s attentions marries a kick-ass drum and bass groove with the sweetest of soul vocals.

While almost every aspect of Electric Wire Hustle deserves praise, (can the drummer get some by the way? The beats here are on fire) the star of the show is undoubtedly Mara TK on vocals. His upper register and falsetto put crooners like the much hyped Mayer Hawthorne to shame, and when he comes down low he gives it the bottom the music needs without losing control. It’s superb. It’s what the world might have sounded like if The Soulquarians had taken over the world as they should have done. Now it’s Electric Wire Hustle’s turn to try. 91/100 - www.okayplayer.com

If there’s any doubt as to whether Electric Wire Hustle are inspired by Common’s magnum opus Electric Circus it’s dispelled as soon as the tripped out groove on “Waters” rolls up. Electric Wire Hustle isn’t exactly The Soulquarians’ lost tapes, but ELW do pick up their baton and run with it. With style. Quite simply this is the best, most exciting R&B, soul, electronica, whatever you want to call it, record I’ve heard this year.


The horns on “Gimme That Kinda”, singer Mara TK’s delicious falsetto, the bumping basslines, the grooves, God, the grooves, all come straight out of the Soulquarians’ songbook. And in no way is that derivative or a bad thing. Above all it’s Electric Wire Hustle’s burning desire to push soul music in all its glorious variety to scale new heights that marks them out as truly special. Like their illustrious predecessors, they’ve got the gift of taking classic soul, jazz and funk and moulding them into something that sounds as cutting edge as anything else out there.

They’re so good that collaborations with fellow envelop-pushers Georgia Anne Muldrow and Dudley Perkins (that on most debut albums you’d expect to stand out a mile) slide by almost unnoticed. Indeed, the quality of the musicianship and song writing throughout the album is staggering. “Tom Boy” is a stone cold soul classic, “They Don’t Want” brings the funk and a particularly satisfying bassline, “Experience” recalls Flying Lotus’ experiments in jazz and hip hop, while “Chaser,” the track that brought them to Gilles Peterson’s attentions marries a kick-ass drum and bass groove with the sweetest of soul vocals.

While almost every aspect of Electric Wire Hustle deserves praise, (can the drummer get some by the way? The beats here are on fire) the star of the show is undoubtedly Mara TK on vocals. His upper register and falsetto put crooners like the much hyped Mayer Hawthorne to shame, and when he comes down low he gives it the bottom the music needs without losing control. It’s superb. It’s what the world might have sounded like if The Soulquarians had taken over the world as they should have done. Now it’s Electric Wire Hustle’s turn to try. 91/100 - www.okayplayer.com

CMJ Highlights

The Revivalist CMJ Picks

Electric Wire Hustle

Watching Electric Wire Hustle this past weekend on the closing night of CMJ, something hit me. I had heard a lot of good music in the past week, but not a lot of great music. Although the sheer magnitude of the CMJ festival is enough to make the music nerd in me geek out, not many of the shows had stayed with me in any meaningful kind of way. I caught a lot of shows, I supported a lot of great artists, but I hadn’t yet stumbled upon that “a-ha” moment of discovery. At 1am, on the last night of the festival, at the last show I went to, that moment finally came in the form of a trio from New Zealand; Electric Wire Hustle.

The scene was the Haven Loft Party in Gowanus, put on by the NY-based DJ Dhundee. It wasn’t too crowded, the scene was stylish but not disgustingly hip, the DJ was playing music I can dance to and the crowd was diverse. The vibe was firmly planted before the band even entered the stage.

Emerging out of a hazy, laser light show, Electric Wire Hustle took the stage, or the corner as it was. We are in fact at a loft party. Made up of Mara TK on vocals/guitar/bass, Myle Manzan on drums/percussion and Taay Ninh on keyboards/mpc/bass, the group started their groove-inducing set.

The brilliant thing about Electric Wire Hustle is that they aren’t afraid to sit in a groove and let it subtly move, dance and expand, all the while slowly hypnotizing the listener. Called by some outlets future soul, that description doesn’t serve them justice, at least live, because they are really more bluesy, experimental and dream-like than that description lets on. If the Black Keys, Prince, Dilla, Dwele and Mark Ronson (new album) had musical babies, it might sound like Electric Wire Hustle, but then again, Electric Wire Hustle is it’s own unique entity. They are everything all at once; psychedelic, dreamy, raw, futuristic, hip-hop, punchy, jazz, and soulful. It’s not fair to place them in a genre box, because they just really don’t fit in there.

Their strongest suit is that they don’t get too fancy. They understand the strength of simplicity, repeated stanzas, funky bass lines and rhythm. Great melodies are of course important, but it means nothing if not set within the right rhythmic background. A lot of their rhythmic elements are looped with back-up vocals and repeated bass lines on a MPC player, a musical instrument in its own right. Similar to Jamie Lidell’s live show when he samples himself and then incorporates it into to his set, Electric Wire Hustle merges the line between recorded and live music, but makes it all look and sound simple, the marker of a good band.

Already given the coveted Gilles Peterson seal of approval, and wrapping up their first tour of the states, Electric Wire Hustle are on their way to groundbreaking status. When they return, The Revivalist will be there. - Revivalist.okayplayer.com

CMJ Highlights

The Revivalist CMJ Picks

Electric Wire Hustle

Watching Electric Wire Hustle this past weekend on the closing night of CMJ, something hit me. I had heard a lot of good music in the past week, but not a lot of great music. Although the sheer magnitude of the CMJ festival is enough to make the music nerd in me geek out, not many of the shows had stayed with me in any meaningful kind of way. I caught a lot of shows, I supported a lot of great artists, but I hadn’t yet stumbled upon that “a-ha” moment of discovery. At 1am, on the last night of the festival, at the last show I went to, that moment finally came in the form of a trio from New Zealand; Electric Wire Hustle.

The scene was the Haven Loft Party in Gowanus, put on by the NY-based DJ Dhundee. It wasn’t too crowded, the scene was stylish but not disgustingly hip, the DJ was playing music I can dance to and the crowd was diverse. The vibe was firmly planted before the band even entered the stage.

Emerging out of a hazy, laser light show, Electric Wire Hustle took the stage, or the corner as it was. We are in fact at a loft party. Made up of Mara TK on vocals/guitar/bass, Myle Manzan on drums/percussion and Taay Ninh on keyboards/mpc/bass, the group started their groove-inducing set.

The brilliant thing about Electric Wire Hustle is that they aren’t afraid to sit in a groove and let it subtly move, dance and expand, all the while slowly hypnotizing the listener. Called by some outlets future soul, that description doesn’t serve them justice, at least live, because they are really more bluesy, experimental and dream-like than that description lets on. If the Black Keys, Prince, Dilla, Dwele and Mark Ronson (new album) had musical babies, it might sound like Electric Wire Hustle, but then again, Electric Wire Hustle is it’s own unique entity. They are everything all at once; psychedelic, dreamy, raw, futuristic, hip-hop, punchy, jazz, and soulful. It’s not fair to place them in a genre box, because they just really don’t fit in there.

Their strongest suit is that they don’t get too fancy. They understand the strength of simplicity, repeated stanzas, funky bass lines and rhythm. Great melodies are of course important, but it means nothing if not set within the right rhythmic background. A lot of their rhythmic elements are looped with back-up vocals and repeated bass lines on a MPC player, a musical instrument in its own right. Similar to Jamie Lidell’s live show when he samples himself and then incorporates it into to his set, Electric Wire Hustle merges the line between recorded and live music, but makes it all look and sound simple, the marker of a good band.

Already given the coveted Gilles Peterson seal of approval, and wrapping up their first tour of the states, Electric Wire Hustle are on their way to groundbreaking status. When they return, The Revivalist will be there. - Revivalist.okayplayer.com

Hailing from Wellington Electric Wire Hustle, who played down at the Dux last Thursday night are a hip hop/soul downbeat three piece of major talent. Comprising of well seasoned Aotearoa musicians, David 'TaayNinh' Wright (Solaa), Mara TK and Myele Manzanza (Olmecha Supreme/Recloose Band), these three have put together a gem of a band that has many similarities to our own Cairo Knife Fight (who also boasts a fine drummer). However unlike CKF, Electric Wire Hustle is unmistakably from the capital, so much so that at times last Thursday it felt like we were in a bar on Cuba Street. With smooth effortlessness the three, cruised through a set of layered downbeat tracks, sometimes reminiscent of Pacific Heights, at other times more upbeat soul/funk, Mara's lovely vocals carrying across the crowded tavern bar. In these unenlightened times of bubble gum R and B, it is refreshing to hear the sound of true music lovers, spreading some soulful goodness. Having checked out their myspace page it was a surprise to see such an excellent act as yet unsigned, I'm sure this situation won't last long.

- The Christchurch Press