After critical praise for the landmark file-swap creation Foreign Exchange, it was inevitable that Dutch musician/producer Nicolay would shop his beats Stateside. And what better way to do so than by serving up a batch as an official release. Intertwined with vocal drops, shout outs and cross fades, it plays more like a mixtape than a beat reel. Following a trend set by sound smiths like Pete Rock, J. Dilla, Wajeed and 9th Wonder, this instrumental crop of mellow, head-nodding tracks is just the kind of fix that aspiring MCs fiend for.
Digable Planets Beyond The Spectrum: The Creamy Spy Chronicles
In the midst of the West Coast hip-hop takeover of 1993, Digable Planets’ unique brand of beat poet, speakeasy hip-hop was a welcome breath of fresh air. But a decade-long hiatus can spell death to even the most celebrated of careers. Blue Note issues this best of & “B-sides” collection as a teaser for Digable’s reunion album of all new material in ’06. For now, the esoteric musings, cool jazz and incense that wafts from tracks like the remix of “Where I‘m From” and “Three Slim’s Dynamite” (the latter from the Japanese pressing of Blowout Comb) will definitely suffice.
El Michels Affair Sounding Out The City
Warning: the dusty, instant vintage grooves of El Michaels Affair may be corrosive to your working knowledge of blue-eyed soul, especially after rocking the house backing Raekwon this summer. From 2004’s super funky “Detroit Twice” to the Isaac Hayes cover “Hung Up On My Baby,” these cats lay down dynamite instrumental soul with just enough distortion and tin can reverb to rival Sharon Jones’ Dap-Kings (ironically, the two bands share interchangeable members). Revamped from the defunct Soul Fire Records, Truth & Soul is poised to peddle its relics to the masses. Putney Swope is somewhere smirking right about now.
Breakestra Hit The Floor
When Miles Tackett put baby teeth under his pillow, he woke up sleeping on scattershot snare beats; on Christmas morning, Tackett‘s granny left Rickey Calloway howls and funky flute vibes under the tree. It paid off. On the new, all-original Breakestra album, Tackett & Co. drop 14 of the stankiest live breakbeat funk tracks of this age. From the relentless opening salvo of “Stand Up”-the new “Internationale” of funk-to vibey instrumental numbers (flute thang “Burgundy Blue”; Rhodes workout “How Do You Really Feel”) to Mixmaster Wolf‘s thick-maned vocals, Hit the Floor does so runnin‘ and never lets up.
Alice Russell My Favourite Letters
Beyond the digital funk, the dance-jazz sheen, the spacey Minnie Ripperton-isms, there‘s something truly unique going on Alice Russell‘s TM Juke-produced sophomore album. My Favourite Letters lives up to the rep Russell‘s built on her own, and singing with the likes of Quantic. But it also boasts its own neo-psych-soul tip-offs: swirling artwork, trippy titles (“Munkaroo,” “Mirror Mirror On the Wolf”). Russell‘s pipes are as achingly bold and naked as ever; Juke‘s got all the muted trumpets, warped Afro basslines and Monk-ish chords to back up his subtly booming beats. Not the swaggering gestalt they‘re headed towards, but closer than most will ever come.
Willi Williams Messenger Man
The name might not sound familiar but the hit does. Willi Williams‘s 1979 smash “Armagideon Time” is a pivotal marker for late ‘70s reggae. He‘s had nominal success since, but this collection proves his sincere and focused depth. “Messenger Man,” with its sly vocals coupled with searing guitars, and the skankin‘ saxophone on “Give Jah Praise” give this minor deity proper placement in the pantheon of reggae kings. With the nonchalant rudeboy poetics of Kiddus I and Black Ark-quality production, Williams‘s inner circle is one you won‘t mind penetrating.
Various Artists Styles Upon Styles: A Collection of New Zealand Urban Soul
Known more for Frodo and Orks than music, this New Zealand label is putting Pacific soul on the map. This 12-track compilation features an incredible range of R&B/reggae-influenced artists, including Nat Rose and his sensually silken “Soul 2 Soul” and Jah’Licious’s midtempo groove “Jammin’ to Music.” One Million Dollars’ unique take on the melody of Faith No More’s “Edge of the World” is only one way these islanders pull from Western soul. The influence is apparent throughout-the slower electronic rhythms have Giant Step written all over them, but the soul is completely their own.
Himuro Mild Fantasy Violence
The schizophrenic beats of Fukuoka, Japan‘s Yoshiteru Himuro ricocheted off experimental labels in Australia and London before landing in Zod‘s Milwaukee, Wisconsin outpost with the force of a Galaxian flagship. Excepting a lazy broken beat here and ominous belches of sound there (“The Cracks in Your Monita” could be Tech Itch on Robitussin), Himuro suggests a spazzed-out nature, eyes bugged and attention shot from growing up haunted by 16-bit ghosts. Notches above novelty, “Button of Reset” (which sounds like you‘d expect) is well composed enough to throw trendy arcade kitsch on a permanent tilt.
Various Artist Another World is Possible
Launched in France in 1998, Attac is an international activist movement “for democratic control of financial markets and their institutions.” Their global-thinking, local-acting approach to mobilization extends to this hardcover booklet of songs and texts from around the world. Globalization is illustrated in its best possible light through Asian Dub Foundation‘s “Police on My Back,” followed by Bosnian director Emir Kusturica‘s cover of The Clash‘s “Lost in the Supermarket,” Femi Kuti‘s “I Wanna Be Free,” Grandaddy‘s “Wives of Farmers” and on to Moby (ever the activist) with “Afterlife.” Required readings include essays from culture-jammer Naomi Klein, linguist Noam Chomsky, Arundhati Roy and more.
M?m Yesterday Was Dramatic, Today is OK
Last year‘s Summer Make Good was the sound of a lighthouse being abandoned by its tender: creaking wood, climbing waves, flickering candles and empty pantries. It‘s a somber progression from 2002‘s twinkling Finally We Are No One, and Müm‘s experimental debut Yesterday outshines both. Released on Icelandic label Thule in 2000, Müm lost the rights to it until this year. The chamber lullabies they‘re known for evolved from Yesterday‘s tangle of clicks, like the gorgeously dense, nine-minute “Smell Memory.” As Müm‘s current trajectory takes them further out to sea, Yesterday is a treasure chest of gems from that same locale.
