Cast A Blast Greece At Juno Download

Review: The product of a lot of time spent poring over records and chopping furiously on an MPC, Blend Mishkin's full-length album for Cast A Blast is a delight for fans of exotic samples and far-out, cut 'n' paste hip-hop. From "El Emigrante" onwards, Mishkin brings an Eastern swing to Cut Chemist-esque instrumentas, and when joined by MCs such as BNC, Tai Tsan and The Kidd (as on the excellent "That's The Story"), his intoxicating beats are taken to a whole new level.

Review: Mashed-up reggae and hip-hop from the Cast A Blast label on this new single from Dedy Dread and DJ Rebel, which sees the distinctive descending riffola of Ray Charles' "Hit The Road Jack" incorporated into the excellent "Criss N Shine". While this original is full of rootsy jazz goodness, Turntable Dubbers & Sebski recast the vocals against a light, warm and friendly dancehall beat while Blend Mishkin evoke the "Sleng Teng" riddim on the plugged-in beats of their own remix.

Review: Uptempo hip-hop beats laid down by Greek producer DJ Tzinas, joined on "Get Up" by MCs The Kidd and BNC for a funky, '90s-recalling mix of sampled pianos and fat, Sly And The Family Stone-style beats. Andy Taylor provides a nice counterpoint on his remix - creating a tropical cumbia rerub that really suits the vocals and the vibe perfectly.

Review: Trading in some quite brilliant bass-hop beats, UK duo Hidden Riddim mark their debut release for Cast-A-Blast with the huge "Now You Know The Name" - sampling from Mark B & Blade's "The Unknown" and generally warping everything in front of them to create a funky yet bass-driven slow 'n' squelchy beauty. Basement Freaks does a radical job on the remix front, converting it into a boogie-inspired nu-funker, while another HR original, "Cornflakes" - a clever rearrangement of The Meters' "Just Kissed My Baby" - gets a breaks rerub by Johnny Pluse.

Review: German producer Jazz K Lipa teams up with Glasgow spitter Soom T on this new pair of dancehall-bass smashers for the Cast A Blast label. Title tune "This Is Not a Horse" uses tech/tropical drums and some fierce swooping bass shots to keep the energy high, while "My Gun Is Culture" interpolates The Clash's "Guns of Brixton" on the chorus over a ska-funk bass beat.

Review: After churning out a skipload of break-diggin edits, bootlegs and cut-ups on labels such as GAMM, Rebtuz and Chopshop, Palov & Mishkin finally get around to releasing a proper full-length. It's rather fine, too, mixing their love of vintage drum breaks and obscure samples with a keen sense of fun and a surprising amount of musical variety. Clearly aiming to appeal to those with a short attention span - or at least DJs who like to keep their mixes busy - Think Twice moves between tracks, sketches and skits at a furious pace, from string-laden disco, crunchy soul, horn-heavy mamba and original hip-hop in the blink of an eye.

Review: Following on from the success of "What's That" from last year, Palov steps back in the arena with "Troubles" - a soft and sultry reggae/funk gem featuring the vocals of Lady Faye and some proper rootsy chanks and Hammond organ stabs. On a more lively dubby tip, Jazz K Lipa upps the tempo nicely while Dirty Dubsters go even further and reconfigure "Troubles" into a lively jazzstepper, making great use of Faye's swooning and operatic backing vocals amid a sea of jazz guitar and chopped, 4hero-esque beats.