Review: DJ Butcher and BnC roll up another phatty with this new three-tracker on Our Records, and if you're looking for a bit of old-school hip-hop action then this is the joint for you. "Get Your Roll On" comes in three versions: the original lick that spills the absolute truth over a fun and upbeat, piano-led groove with absolutely no worries at its core; an instrumental cut just in case you want to mix this up with a bit of house, and a sweet acapella for all your editing, sampling and looping needs. Man!
Review: Captain Futuro, a collaboration between producer/MC Jeff Gonzalez and DJ Butcher, has long been one of Chopshop's most interesting projects. While much of the label's output focuses on straight-up disco re-edits, the Captain Futuro sound is much more akin to the original, disco and boogie-friendly sound of classic early hip-hop. This expansive debut album-come-compilation, which boasts both vocal and instrumental versions of many tracks, follows this simple goodtime formula, delivering a range of tracks that borrow heavily from both well known and obscure '70s and '80s records, adding fresh rap vocals and those lifted from previously released hip-hop jams. Predictably, it's a hugely enjoyable set, sharply focused on getting the party started, whatever the time or place.
Review: Welcome to the future. Welcome to the past. Whichever direction you wish to travel, the Capitan will take you there in style. Cruising in a gas-guzzling disco edit machine, his vibes sing to any floors from the 70s right through until tomorrow. Each of these grooves have already been tried and tested with full vocals attached now Chopshop have commissioned a full set of instrumentals for added DJ creativity. Highlights include the reverb saturation on "Firehoes" guitar licks, the Chic-style bass juice on "Love Me Crazy" and the heavy horn action on "Play It Again". Ideal for all summer shenanigans, Futuro and Chopshop have delivered some serious goodness right here.
Review: Chopshop regulars DJ Butcher and BnC have enjoyed considerable success since joining forces as Captain Futuro. Unlike their solo releases, which flit between funtime disco re-edits and housed-up party jams, their Captain Futuro material delves into the party-hearty world of hip-hop, old skool electro and, in this case, reggae. Both the cheeky "Natural Fun" (it samples, we think "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun") and "Dancehall Style" meld together elements of reggae, disco, hip-hop and electrofunk, largely with great success. "Gimme Some More" recreates classic '80s electro, while closer "Girls Wanna Dance" offers a new take on perennial party fave "I Wanna Dance With Somebody.
Review: Something a little different from the Chopshop camp, as DJ Butcher and BnC join forces for a project inspired by the disco-biting world of early hip-hop. It's a definite progression for the Chopshop crew, who previously stuck largely to straightforward re-edits and mash-ups. Of course, there's plenty of reliance on classic samples - see the bumpin', jazz-flecked disco breaks of "Like We Say" and rubbery disco-funk groovery of "Freak The Groove" - but also plenty of invention within the bouncin', block-party grooves of "Firehoes" and "Play It Again". It's the latter - all head-nodding bump, twittering flutes, disco horns and addictive rap - that really stands out.
Review: In full defiance of the season, disco edit duo Capitan Futuro (DJ Butcher and BnC) are back with a new slice of ridiculously tropical fun. "Oye Mami" is a total cocktail party by the pool jam - all Latin brassiness, light cumbia beats and a cheery vocal from Pedro Santana. On remix duty Tom Drummond keeps the vibe authentic buts beefs things up by largely turning up the bass. Christmas? That's like, months away - have another margherita!
Review: With a sly wink and a beckoning wave of the hand, Chopshop invite us into their boudoir for another seductive trip into slinky rework territory. As usual, many bases are covered. Captain Futuro kicks things off with "Love Me Crazy", a slo-mo disco-flecked hip-hop head-nodder. Label supremo DJ Butcher turns Dave Gerard's "Twisted Message" (a sneaky bootleg version of the Furious Five classic) into a disco funk-breaks smasher, before laying down some revivalist rare groove fun in the shape of his own "However Do You Want Me" (a rework of Soul II Soul's "Back To Life"). A decidedly sensual package is completed by the misty-eyed headiness of Ill Advised "Superstition" (yep, a remake of that "Superstitition").
Review: Chopshop mark the completion of their first decade in the game with this 17-track compilation of funk n' breaks nuggets from the label vaults. Groove Armada and Situation both feature, but generally the emphasis is on less well-known names, who serve up a mixture of cheeky bootlegs, re-edits and original material. Dave Gerrard samples the Average White Band on 'Drop The Pieces' and George Kelly & DJ S's 'Movin' To The Groovin' takes Wild Cherry to the breakbeat party, but the majority of the tracks draw on less obvious sources of inspiration, with standouts including the big beat/lounge-y vibes of Senior Citizens' 'What A Body' and the ghetto disco groove of Appo's 'Getaway'.
Review: A decade has now passed since George Kelly established the Chopshop imprint as an outlet for goodtime grooves, sneaky reworks and club-ready re-edits that blur the boundaries between disco and house. To celebrate the fact, he's gathered together some of his label highlights on an expansive compilation. It's arguably best enjoyed via his action-packed DJ mix, which is tucked away at the end of the collection, though DJs will delight at the sheer volume and quality of the unmixed cuts on offer. Our favourites include the rubbery bounce of HP Vince's appropriately titled "Funky Disco Party", Kelly's killer Marlena Shaw revision ("Raised In The Ghetto"), the bustling funky house pleasures of HP Vince and Dave Leatherman's "Back 2 The Old Skool (House Mix)") and the disco-rap goodness of Captain Futuro's "Club Warzone".
Review: For this latest release on the long-running Chopshop imprint, Greece-based bossman DJ Butcher has decided to flip the script. Instead of delivering cheeky disco re-edits, Dope Hip Cuts revisits the now overlooked world of classic hip-hop mash-ups. Ill Advised's excellent opener "Grunt Without The Noise", for example, expertly fixes a Public Enemy acapella to a sweaty, horn-heavy funk groove, while Captain Futuro's "Break Me Off" and "Club Warzone" turn more recent hip-hop and R&B jams into toe-tapping, head-nodding disco-meets-jazz-funk dancefloor jams. Phat Camel impresses, too, with "I Wish", which doffs a cap to Yam Who's infamous early 2000s reworks of contemporary soul, hip-hop and R&B killers.
Review: By now, we should all know what to expect from re-edit/mash-up/rework specialists Chopshop; namely the kind of sophisticated, floor-friendly concoctions that appeal to both geeks and party-starters alike. This split EP features plenty more material to tickle the fancy of DJs, from the Clav-heavy disco groovery of Ill Advised's "Inside Out" (a smart Odyssey cover) and block party disco-funk of Captain Futuro ("Booty Express"), to the needless-but-fun Indeep cut-up "In The Mix" by Dave Gerrard. Best of all, though, is the fluid re-touch by Greg Wilson of DJ Butcher's "Music Turns Me On", a sweet cut-and-paste effort that's pitched just right.
Review: Under the DJ Butcher alias, George Kelly has turned the Chop Shop imprint into one of the world's most reliable sources of party-starting re-edits, remixes, mash-ups and sample-heavy productions. Hello My Name Is... Chop Shop celebrates the label's successes so far, with a hot-to-trot DJ mix from the man himself being joined by 18 hand picked highlights from the vaults. Tiptoeing the fine line between original scalpel-work (see the high-tempo, summery celebration of Le Visiteur's "Let The Sunshine" and Corsican Brothers' ace "Big Apple Rock"), house-friendly rubs (Sam Palmer's filter-drenched "Hurt Me", an excellent Latin disco-house cut from The Silver Rider), and balls-out, party starting cut-ups (the block party flex of DJ Agent 86), Kelly has curated an excellent selection of peak-time gems.
