Martin Finch - The Garnet LP

www.martinfinch.ca
Location: Sackville, NS

Out of Sackville, NS comes Martin Finch with his debut solo album produced and recorded almost entirely by Classified. As former manager for Classified's late 90s group Ground Squad, I've definitely heard Finch's name around Atlantic Canada, but never until now as a rapper.

The album is what I'd call a typical debut album these days: Rough around the edges and at times fleeting in lyrical cohesion. The biggest rough spot is that Martin Finch's sometimes off beat flow could use some practice.

'The Garnet LP' weighs in a bit long with 23 tracks. The four artsy shorts, e.g. Deception, were my least favourite parts of the album. Included are 5 skits featuring the ecentric but lovable characters Beef & Broc Lee. I had a good laugh at 'Con Artist Skit' featuring Classified's usual skit master, Hai Hung.

The strength of this album lies in the beats and featured artists. The back-and-forth rhyme exchanges with Classified, along with the unique vocal sample on 'These Eyes' proved potent. 'Friday Night' starts off the album on a positive point with a catchy verse.

Several featured artists elevate the tracks by providing catchy choruses including Jordan Croucher on 'If This Is It?', Mic Boyd on 'Dreams' and Boy-ill on 'Dear Hip Hop.'

Now that Martin Finch has the 'Garnet LP' album out, I expect he'll get more mic time at live show. Ultimately this will give him the practice needed to shine up his flow to match that of his established collaborators.