Burners / The Answer is Yes by Damu The Fudgemunk & Flex Mathews
This drop is a lead up to an upcoming full length entitled, Vibrations & Dreams. The two leading tracks on that LP are featured in this EP, with Burners featuring MCs Insight The Truncator & Blu (Blu & Exile) and runs just over 10 minutes, including extended DJ solos that harps on about a past era reminiscent of the elusive DJ Cam.
Damu himself rhymes on the flip on The Answer Is Yes, a tribute to living life to your best ability and possessing a positive outlook. Encapsulating what made Hip Hop music ‘golden’ and uplifting throughout the nineties, this release is a reminder to those who have experienced that era of music, that timelessness in art is possible despite the pressures of contemporary ideas and trends. Bookmark the Bandcamp page, as a vinyl copy will be available in March.
Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time And Space) 25th Anniversary Edition Vinyl by Digable Planets
We look back at that same boom bap era of Hip Hop and Rap with this vinyl re-release celebrating 25 years since Digable Planets’ album, Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space).
An undeniable crossover release in 1993, the album produced the massive radio hit Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat), which won a Grammy in 1994 for Best Rap Performance by Duo or Group. This LP disproved naysayers keen to pigeon hole the trio as one-hit-wonder makers, by seamlessly defining the term ‘cool’, akin to what their Jazz forefathers in an earlier Golden Era of black music purposed, while maintaining rap music’s tone as a voice for political philosophies. The liner notes in this wide spine booklet also include an exclusive interview with Ishmael ‘Butterfly’ Butler.
Pre-order for the first ever vinyl reissue of this LP is available now and is expected to be released around February the 23rd.
Pre-order The Vinyl via Okayplayer Here.
Ras G Meets Moresounds EP by Ras G & Moresounds
Paris meets Los Angeles via New York on this collaborative release on Dub-Stuy, based out of Brooklyn.
LA based beat smith Ras G, who is known for rolling up to your speakers on FlyLo’s Brainfeeder since 2013, provides two tracks on this 4-track EP. The preview on Bandcamp of Gorrila Glue is an essential ragga stepper, complete with G-Funk keys repping the West Coast.
Moresounds, who is known for the dubby, half-time side of Bass Music at 160BPM, shows off on a grimier take on We A Tribe, and exemplifies the evolution of reggae sound system culture all across Europe. Junglistic animal sounds appear alongside dub wised beep delays and plate-reverbed snares, that would do great justice to any sound system stack worth its analog weight.
Overall a definitive release by Dub-Stuy that is constantly examining contemporary and futuristic connections in the universe of Dub music.
Pre-order Digital & Vinyl Here.
Sunbeams by K15
North London’s K15 appear on Eglo Records with an inspired take within the Broken Beat strain of electronic music. The Latin & sun-drenched sounding Sunbeams is the worldly leading track of this release and fools you to think that summer came out of nowhere in the middle of February.
Starburst 3 reverts back to the tough yet smooth nature of Broken Beat with deep sub bass looking to move a dance floor in most back rooms. Escensia is the magic dust that brings you deep into the Nu Jazz stratosphere. Kick back, space out and get refreshed.
Take You by Fracture
Astrophonica label boss Fracture deals in sonic nostalgia like no other British dance music producer can. Stabs of Italo disco pianos in double time throws you back 2 decades, while modern sounding snare rolls and lightly skipping drum breaks pushes it on for the dance floor.
This release is highly recommended to collectors, with 3 different bundles available on Bandcamp consisting of 140G black vinyl, limited edition T-shirt featuring the release artwork and an A3-size Risograph print poster.
Pre-order before February 23rd to avoid missing out on any of the 3 bundles here.
We Out Here by Brownswood Recordings
Young British musicians are brought together in this compilation on Giles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings. A showcase of contemporary London Jazz, this project brings forth the quality in musicians that have recently made their mark in the industry such as Nubya Garcia, Moses Boyd & Shabaka Hutchings, as well as styles we may not be familiar with in Maisha and Kokoroko.
The latter’s track Abusey Junction is a down tempo blue number by them; a 7-Piece Afrobeat outfit, that perfectly rounds off the LP. This will undoubtedly be worth the weight in vinyl, from one side to the other, on your record player.
Buy Digital & Vinyl Album Here.
Two Sisters From Bagdad by La Vice & Co.
A rare album to the record collecting world, this LP is performed by musicians from the musical theatre production of Two Sisters From Bagdad, which ran for just two weeks (due to low attendance) in Detroit’s Bethel A.M.E church in the early seventies. Composed and orchestrated by E.J Garrison and Rhodia McAdoo, it is an excellent body of work that leaves a legacy on wax for the staged production.
The tones of Gospel & Funk capture a moment in time of its creator, the late LaVice Hendricks, as well as his messages and themes of the play. Unless it was made onto film, this vinyl LP is the only medium to have a sense of the acts that were played on stage.
Buy The Vinyl From Jazzman Records Here.
Let Love Kill EP by Rao
Revision are pleased to see this release by a label out of Southeast Asia, Botanic Records. The label is run by Tim Sharp, host & music curator for the Into The Blue series on BFM radio station Malaysia, alongside Zul Amran, an established graphic and visual artist from the city of the Petronas towers.
Showcasing Rao (real name Reza Othman) in this EP, Botanic looks to push some music to the left of center field. Tracks on this such as Apart and A Second Past Midnight are full of excellent drum work that accompany ambient atmospherics, that are achieved via found sound and the ambience of DIY sonic manipulation.
This landmark release for alternative music from the peninsular can also be purchased on cassette tape that ships free to both Malaysia & Singapore. Two thumbs up!
Buy The Digital Album & Physical Casette Here.
Chamber EP by Havelock
WARNING! A mega-heavy release from abstract bass & beats label 20/20 LDN, which has cemented its position as an innovator in electronic music by cross pollinating, and rearranging the genetics of various sub genres as a (no)rule.
The Chamber EP by London producer Havelock zeroes in on the unique scope of the label by drawing influences from ambient, metal and abstract hip hop. The lead track Graphics delivers ultra-tense beats with sub-bass so humongous that world leaders would consider this tune for use in sonic warfare, if the need ever arises.
Watch Out For The Drop on February the 16th on 20/20 LDN Here.
Front Face (Dub Phizix RMX) by LEVELZ
The man behind the production of underground UK music classic Marka, flexes his muscle on this grimey remix of Front Face by Manchester’s art & music collective LEVELZ. Mancunian MCs Chimpo and Black Josh feature with fiery verses while Skittles naturally provides a delightful hook.
You will be pleasantly surprised with this name-your-price Bandcamp download as the quality of the rap bars is undeniable, while the beat is pure grime fire. Be sure to look to LEVELZ if you are looking for something other than the Skeptas & Stormzies in the world of Grime & UK Rap.
Buy Digital Track On Bandcamp Here.
Written by Nez Senja, Revision Music