Border Crossing
Ominous
Label: Recall/Sound Recordings

Border Crossing is a collective of West London musicians and producers who have an unusually varied musical style — Alex Angol, Seorais Graham and Paul Mulvey. By combining Hip Hop, R&B, Dancehall, Reggae and Chill Out, their albums are literally a party in themselves. While I’m not particularly a big fan of newer rap artists, I do like Massive Attack and Portishead, and I think this album fits right in the middle.

“Ominous” features various vocalists and MCs who each bring their unique flavor to the tracks — rapper Usmaan (”In Your Area”), Roots Manuva’s MC Ricky Rankin (”Dance For Your Life” “Rankin’s Move”), female vocalist Alex Watson (”More to Life”) and American rapper Rockwell, (”Original Heads”).

My favorite tracks are the reggae flavored “Dance For Your Life” and the ambiental string and electronica track, “Taxi.” A fun departure from all the indy stuff piling up here in the Perfect Porridge kitchen.