Mossa drops the funk in fine form once again with this release. A masterpiece of a bassline serves as the spine, with super slick organ hits weaving in and out of Southern blues vocals. Shuffle is the name of the game when it comes to funky programming, and this EP perfectly illustrates that Mossa has a firm grasp on the concept.
Steven Beaupre My Old Lady
One half of the soggy bottom-bass laptop supergroup Crackhaus, Steven Beaupre steps up to the plate and hits home one of the finest minimal house cuts of the year. “My Old Lady” is chunky shuffled beats atop a sultry vocal edit, with a smoother than silk bassline. The arrangement is full of surprises, intoxicating breakdowns and the odd ’30’s-style swing riff.
T-Star Biryani
T-Star drops the debut offering for the new label from Dr. Venom of Not Wise fame. Biryani is an Indian dish which fuses together meat, rice and exotic spices, and T-Star serves up the sonic equivalent, fusing desi beats, G-funk and sublow as his ingredients. Backed with a Dr. Venom remix, this is one tasty package to look out for.
As One Believer
MC Diverse will make you believe there’s a future to the recent spate of electronic producers making hip-hop beats, with a flow that triple jumps over spiraling synths and bumpy drum beats from Harmonic 33 (Mark Pritchard, a.k.a. Troubleman and Danny Breaks). The remaining tracks are Kirk DeGiorgio’s uncut future boogie, full of his trademark Arps and Moogs. Goosebumps-good.
Talib Kweli Peace Of Mind
Producer Madsol-Desar swipes a page from Kanye West and all the other cats copping sped-up soul loops, but his samples add a bittersweet tinge to Kweli’s three vignettes about life and people in Brooklyn. Like the vintage soul it’s built on, “Peace Of Mind” offers an introspective moral narrative. Similarly, Gift of Gab’s “Rat Race” (Quannum Projects) shines light on a hectic rap life.
Libretto Volume
Thanks to a hundred generic Clear Channel rap stations the adjective “blazing” is officially an unusable descriptive. So I’ll just have to say that when Compton MC Libretto-who sounds like Kurupt spitting a vintage DJ Quik verse-talks game (over Jumbo’s hot “Volume” production) he unleashes an inferno of incendiary rhymes. Let the muthafucka burn!
You Got Me
Techno Is Back
Find out how cover star Michael Mayer and his Kompakt co-horts have made techno juicy again. Plus, our annual 25 Best Independent Labels feature, Trax Records, Jazzanova and Sonar Kollektiv, Holland’s Clone and Rush Hour label groups, Talib Kweli, Neotropic, and the baddest gunman ever, Ninja Man. Also featured: M83, Trevor Loveys, Brooks, Proptronix, Dom & Roland, Prince Po, DJ Zeph, John Selway, Brooks, and more.
Will The Summer Make Good For All Our Sins
Various Artists Beneath The Surface
Moods & Grooves has outgrown its reputation asjust a house label. The importance founder Mike Grant places on diverse musical architecture pays off on Beneath the Surface, a meticulously constructed and eclectic musical passage. The compilation weaves through Rick Wade’s haunting acapellas and John Tejada’s fast-paced keyboard tweaks, winding up with the funky, downtempo “Is It Cool” by Andres, all of which leaves the listener stranded in the hallway between the dance arena and the chill-out lounge.
