Known to some as Swell Sessions and Stateless, Saag heads back over to the label that started him out in order to drop some bad-ass, Carnival-esque, samba-house energy. The a-side’s “Tristese” goes full-on, with haunting, restrained lead vocals, distant horns and thin layers of crowd noise bumping over the kick drum and charging shuffle beats. He remixes it with a deliciously melodic bassline and chords on the flip, and rounds the disc out with the more relaxed and shimmy-inducing “Camborele.” Solid.
DJ Pope Tracks From the Vitican IV
Must-have, must-have, must-have!! I received this in the mail today, and not a minute too soon. The essence of underground culture on plastic. A dark but enlightening array of guitar, keyboards, drums and bass programmed with one thing in mind-to make you move. Basically, it’s the lick. Check for it.
Only Child Feat. Amp Fiddler Good Vibes
Good Vibes is what we need for sure. Only Child gets down on this soulful house piece with one of Detroit’s best-kept secrets, Amp Fiddler, on vocals and other thangs. I first heard this on a mix CD by Norm Talley, and it blew me away-absolutely smooth as silk and fine as wine.
Andreas Mahogani Music EP
This reminds of a time when most dance music was heard in your house and in clubs. This is a really nice EP, to say the least. Something about that 123 bpm gets me all teary-eyed and strolling down memory lane. Frankie at Gallery 21, Louie at Sound Factory Bar, Ron at the Music Box-what a time for music, eh? Anyway, Andres has the magic touch when it comes to putting the funk and roll into some groovy tracks. Get it while supplies last.
The Procussions As Iron Sharpens Iron
Ay yo, Pro’s are no joke! Colorado boys now residing in Los Angeles, producer/MC Stro the 89th Key and MC Resonant rhyme alongside Mr. J, who sounds like a young Mike D (Beastie Boys). From the minute you pop this CD on, you can feel how hype these cats are. “We Gotta” is a Rhodes-induced soul hip-hop track reminiscent of early Common joints like “I Used To Love H.E.R.” “Move Yer Self” is a sweet bossanova excursion followed by “Track #10,” a bugged out interlude where they parody C&C Music Factory. At times, the lyrics don’t really hit you upside the head-these MCs don’t have that classic feel yet, but give them time. If y’all like your hip-hop positive, the kind of thing that you can smoke an L to while watching the sun rise, then this album’s for you. “
Janek Schaefer Skate/Rink
One look at the scarred surface of Skate and you know this is no ordinary LP. In an effort to confound phonographs everywhere, UK sound artist and turnablist Janek Schaefer has carved deep concentric gouges into the vinyl. With every play of the record, your stylus takes another torturous path, creating different patterns of hiss, pop and scratch. The record is most interesting when you forego normal playback and manually isolate patterns by varying speed or creating loops. On the companion 3-inch CD, Rink, Schaefer does just this, playing the record on his custom triphonic turntable, focusing on specific stuttering phrases, and mixing the sounds with ambient noise. Compelling, but not for the passive listener.
Bent Fabric Live
Fabric’s latest installment by the current tweaked darlings of downbeat dance-pop, Bent, flows easily through rabid funk, stripped-down disco and cheeky house without missing a beat. While Bent’s original work tends to fuel more sun-drenched afternoons on the beach than sweaty nights at the discotheque, they’ve managed to cobble together a diverse collection of tunes into a charmingly eclectic, uptempo mix featuring artists like Giorgio Moroder, Tim “Love” Lee, Fila Brazillia and Mr. Scruff. So creamy and filling are these sounds that, by the comp’s end’ fully expect a waiter in a wide-lapel coat to be pushing a cart of dessert wines towards my table.
Various Sound In Color
Sound In Color, a new label out of Southern California, introduces its artist roster with this compilation. Production veteran Mumbles takes the cake with “Preema’s Dilemma,” a wonderful Latin jazz composition that features his father on flute, uncles on trombone and trumpet and brother on the scratch-it’s an exciting preview of his forthcoming LP. The booming bassline and dubbed-out trumpets of Bizarra & Boomnote’s “Applied Pressure” are noteworthy, and Exile’s “Ah Ouia” features a live trumpet over some bouncy MPC beats. Ricci Rucker is going to have a hard time escaping Prefuse 73 comparisons with the glitch funk sound of “Dirt,” and GB’s “Le Jazz” harkens back to the tame acid jazz sounds of the early ’90s. Half standard jazzy cocktail hour fare and half truly interesting music, this compilation is a mixed bag.
Non-Prophets Hope
Fans of poet/rapper extraordinaire Sage Francis should be ready to see another side of their talented hero. With partner Joey Beats on production, the usually self-reflective/ self-deprecating (dare we say emo?) Anticon recording artist shows his hardcore b-boy side, with clever, crowd-pleasing couplets flowing with ease over dope beats. “Well I’m your typical hip-hop political figure/ I’m not left wing or right wing/ I’m the middle finger,” raps Sage on “Damage.” Each track brims with double entendres and word play, and comedy is abundant. Classic hip-hop tracks are referenced, mainstream rap is mocked, science is dropped and wack emcees are put in their place.
Various Now Again
LA’s Stones Throw, purveyors of fine hip-hop music, introduces their funk reissue label Now Again. With previous releases like the celebrated Funky 16 Corners album, Breakestra’s funk covers LP and various obscure 45s, the Stones Throw crew is no stranger to raw soul breaks. Now Again combines classic unearthed gems from groups like Soul Seven with brand new bangers from the new generation of musicians like Connie Price and the Keystones. From the funky drum breakdown in Diplomatics’ “Hum Bug” to the psychedelic soul sound of Ebony Rhythm Band’s “Drugs Ain’t Cool,” this comp is nothing but quality material. Standouts include The Sand Dollars’ far-out cover version of Donovan’s “Get Thy Bearings” and the excellent soul-drenched sound of LA Carnival’s “Blind Man.” A must-have for crate diggers.
