Brooklyn’s Dunket imprint brings some appetizing atmospheric junk. Eric Fox’s “Meridian” offers Throbbing Gristle-like organ drone and a bonus eternal lock-loop at the end. As Brainstorm Sheen, Greg Hoy oozes out subdued snap-crackle space that evokes Pan American. Compelling air.
Dukes of Sluca Tournament EP
This tech-edged plate from Stockholm, Sweden brings on some good, feverish party grooves. Old-school hip-hop vocal samples collide with funky synthwork on the churning “Don’t Stop,” while a nicely filtered upper-register synth anchors the urgently spacey “Steam Machine.” Ignore the corny, mid-’80s electro-disco of “Always Searching” and you’ll be in business.
Son of the Dope Computer Starve For This
Texas breakbeat imprint Bless unleashes a lovely collab between Lone Star boy Son of the Electric Ghost and San Francisco’s Kemek the Dope Computer. The title track is a buzzy and bold tech-dystopia affair that remains funky by keeping the bass bouncy rather than UK-style-goopy. The flip’s midtempo “Deeper” keeps the soul intact while injecting more understated FX. US breaks on the rise.
Louie Vega & Jay Sinister Sealee Feat. Julie McKnight Diamond Life
This double 12″ sees Master at Work Vega and King of Tomorrow Sealee lace their original jazzy disco tune with four solid remixes, three of which maintain the soulful, if airy, tone. But an alternate eerie bassline snuck into one of them becomes the centerpiece for the brilliantly freaked “Old School Dub,” which is worth your cashola alone. New York/New Jersey madness.
Various Artists Global Assault EP
G2 features an international quartet onto two slabs. Norway’s Monkey and Large flip a Jay-Z sample to lace their big, intriguing raver “SLAM!,” while Austria’s Mindmachine just gets loudly busy on “Illusions.” Meanwhile, the Yankee known as Pollen brings some good chime to his punk-funk roller “13 Ghosts,” and Aussie Greg Packer refreshingly keeps the emphasis on the rhythm with his “Auxillary.” This stuff works.
Psychofunkodiscodelic Warriors of Funk
Laird, Laron and John Pickett toss ya four mischievous tracks that typify the San Francisco sound. “Lines of Pleasure”‘s crunchy disco-funk-all simmering keys, subtle bassline and rude phone messages-gets sexed up on one remix, then taken to peak hour on another. The B-side’s “Convertible Top Down” flutters rhythm guitar and wah-synth over chill drum-machine antics that explicitly rip off Zapp. A nice thump.
Manchilde of the Butta Babees In Da Game
Butta Babes have simply been runnin’ hip-hop in Montreal, and Manchilde’s three-track step into the spotlight reveals much about the humanist-hop trio’s dynamic. Man’s inventive lyrical flow loosely attaches itself to each melody line, and his centerpiece “In Da Game” criticizes mainstream hip-hop while avoiding a bitter/hater tone, which is rare in the underground. Keep a razor-sharp eye on these guys-they’ve got their shit on lock.
Percy X On A Day
You want ’80s, go for it. But do it right, as Scottish hero Percy does here with some sophisticated next-retro techno. With their subtle melody lines and pumping rhythms, his two versions of “On a Day” quietly raise the bar on instrumental synth-shuffle, while the accompanying tune, “Dark N Sharp,” is more pulsing, updated fare.
Boom Bap Project The Trade Remix
You may remember back in early 2001 when MCs Karim and Destro Destructo and DJ Tre dropped their debut single as Boom Bap Project, “The Trade,” with “Writers Guild” on the flip. That 12″, along with their “Circumstance Dictates EP,” had the indie hip-hop world wide open and reaching out to the Pacific Northwest, a region dominated by BBP’s extended family, the Oldominion crew. Since then, these top-rankers have been touring and playing with damn near everybody (short list includes Wu Tang, Jurassic 5, Public Enemy, and Blackalicious) and getting more exposure than the Pam and Tommy Lee video. So with an album on the way, it makes full-circle sense for their Stuck label to re-release the first slab with a remix of “The Trade” by up-and-coming Northwest producer Vitamin D (who co-formulated the cuts on “Writers Guild” with Tre). That tune’s original saw the “poetical surgeons-slash-political matadors” do their new/old school thang to a soulful, horn-stabbed backing; Mr. D spices it up with soothing piano chords, ominous strings and tight new scratches. You’d do very well to watch for this trio’s long-player, as they “creep through the foliage to slap you rap affiliates.” When that Billboard singles chart gets on your nerves, reach for this jammy.
Cybrid Transistor Abuse EP
After a nearly-four-year hiatus, Oakland’s Belief Systems unleashes the debut by electro-heads and Run DMC twins Cybrid. Their buzzy, punchy “Bumper” receives a surreal, almost cavernous remix by L.A. producers Volsoc, while their atmospheric builder “Abstract Power” gets Kraftwerked by Oaktown’s DiViD. Screw your “-clash”…true machine funk like this is no trend.
