Review: Revolution for Evolution! Hotly-tipped new gen jump up craftsman K Motionz comes correct with his highly anticipated debut album. 16 tracks of thundering 175 magic, K-Mo crushes it from all directions. From the groaning, droning moans of opener "Exterminate" to the emotional Jaws-style dramatic finale with the late great Dominator (RIP) "The Dominator", there's not a filler in sight. The sing-along thrills and spills of "Declaration", the slithering rolls and slaps of "Reptile", the soothing soulful glides of "Dreaming To Reality", the surging peaks of "Higher" and the gritty contrasts of "Gospel" are just some of the many highlights. Time to evolve...
Review: For a label that only launched this spring, four volumes of creatively executed party jams is beyond impressive. We reckon this could be Funk Fusion's best yet, too. From Rhythm Scholar's respectfully tripped out twist on "Lucy In The Sky" to Fabioulous Barker's slap-bass blazed take on Skeelow via the funkiest ever version of 2Pac's "California Love", it's an impressive collection that leans towards the more subtle art of editing rather than crass bootleg cut-and-shuts and will have a lot more timeless appeal as a result.
Review: Crate digging in the Northern Soul scene is the gift that keeps on giving - an endless quest for rarer and rarer gems. Here Beatnik present a new collection that features nine classic Motown and Northern Soul cuts which have been sensitively retouched by some contemporary talent. Highlights include the celebratory, fizzy soul jam "Soul On Fire" by Shaka Loves You (yes, the one sampled by Beyonce), a Junkie XL-style makeover of Martha & The Vandellas on "Nowhere To Go" and Mak & Mr Bristow's muscled up take on The Rascals - "Olympic Lovin".
Review: There's no denying Funk Fusion definitely live up to their name; take these first two tracks which sample and flip Kool & The Gang and Tribe Called Quest numbers into something new and different for 2015. There's also a cheeky garage remake of Basement Jaxx, and for something slower check out the hip hop throw down of Aretha Franklin's "Say A little Prayer For You" by KMT. And have you heard Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" pitched against Sean Paul lyrics? Well you have now. Something for everyone.
Review: Here they are at it again, fusing, twisting and sampling all the hits, obscurities and bangers you've come to love over the years; be they hip hop, electro, pop, funk or rock. Notorious BIG makes an appearance on this compilations opener while JLO vocals and dirty electro can be found on "Get Right". Scale down the tracklist and you'll come across J5, old school funk and flutes to The Champs - Tequila!
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: 39 tracks, 10 FX sounds and a full mix. This isn't any old slice of afternoon cake you might share your elderly neighbour or distant relative, this is a seven-tiered wedding cake full of every type of unhealthy, fattening ingredient you can imagine. And we're not stopping until we've chowed the lot. If you've feasted on Deekline and Solo's Jungle Cakes before then you'll already know how tasty this is; a selection of their own releases and similarly spirited cuts from the scene, all laced with dubwise, dancehall and skank-soaked soul. Highlights hang from every corner but you'd be mad not to peak at Aries & Gold's soul-flecked massage of Mr Benn, or Dominator & Logan D's brokeback bust-up "Cowboy" or Serial Killaz' savage repurposing of Freestyler's iconic "Entertainer". High calorie badness.
Review: Tumble Audio has been providing us with seriously killer bass music for a few years now, and here they celebrate reaching their tenth release by recruiting Roadman Joel to curate a selection of the kind of seriously heavy tunes you might expect to hear at one of their many label nights. There's a whopping 18 tracks on here covering a wide spectrum of British urban dance music, including Majora's ridiculously amazing tribal UKF monster "T&C's", A Motion's ghetto 2-step hybrid "Back In Your Love" and Sentiment's wobble-heavy tropical jam, "Change You".
Review: Four more bootleg blends from the Mashed Up Funk series, which expertly layers well known acapellas over brilliant funk tracks to consistently provide priceless "WTF?" moments in dj sets. First up is Hot Start which glues the vocals from The Prodigy's Firestarter over the Blaxploiation theme Hot Wheels by Badder Than Evil. A B-Boy staple (that showed up on the Chemical's "Brothers Gonna Work It Out" mix), it sounds even more bad ass with Keith sneering "twisted firestart-ahh" over the top. Shimmy Strut welds together ODB's classic Shimmy Shimmy Ya over a recent cover of The Meters' Cissy Strut, and puts some seriously funky swagger under the immortal chorus "Ooh baby I like it raw". Tutto Dreams fuses together a Tutto Matto track with the Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams acapella - a nice twist since it's usually the instrumental parts of Lennox's and Stewart's perennial classic that get the mash-up treatment. The superb clash of the ice cold vocals with the warm organic drums and wah-wah guitars has to be heard to be believed. Rounding off the set is Change My Bucket, which takes K-OS' Crabbuckit acapella and marries it to the Stereo MC's mix of Quannum's I Changed My Mind - still a Nu-Funk anthem after all these years and cleverly recontextualised here. All four tracks are well-crafted, perfectly matched and will kick off a party with ease - just remember to act like you're laying down the acapellas yourself when you play them out!
Review: Thirty Three nuggets of serious UKG gullyness; Project Allout have already developed a serious reputation for generous dispatches, but this is whole new level. Uniting their many lengmen for a deep exploration of the pastures between bassline house, instrumental grime and the broader realms of bass music, every area is covered. Highlights include the eski angst of Chemist RNS' "Stare", the violin-snapping, post-dubstep darkness of Deadbeat UK's "Graveyard", the outrageous VIP muscles of Hoax and Dubzta's "Twilight Zone" and the sassy vocal flexery of Pavv's "You Got Me". This is just the tip of the bassline iceberg, though. Dig deep and grab your own lenger; there are enough here for everyone.
Review: A ridiculously fun remix package of Danish breakbeat guru Badboe. For the uninitiated, Badboe has developed a style that has clear echoes of 60s and 70s funk yet still fits seamlessly into the modern musical landscape. This man has dipped his toe in almost any genre you care to name - from house to trance; hardcore to trip-hop. On Break The Funk we see his superlative breakbeat jams remixed by the genre's cognoscenti, with the insouciant Fuzzbox Inc remix of "Lose Your Funky Self" and the junkyard percussion on the Pulp Fusion reshape of "Funky Intro" among the many highlights on offer here.
Review: Dealing strictly in extended collections, Funk Fusion continues its extensive work into 2015 with a 22-track compendium of killer edits, bootlegs and reversions. With an emphasis on fine-tuned, low-swung party jams; highlights include the subtle acid treatment of En Vogue ("Get It"), silky, synth-slapping disco boogie ("Mistery Island"), badass blue grass ("Bluesy Bounce"), Chic-style Public Enemy subversion ("Funky Enemy Number One") and smoke-stacked skank science ("Method Man"). Fusion by name, funky by nature: no party should be without this collection.
Review: Destination 60s as Beatnik City follow up last year's breakthrough compendium "The Rio District" with an exploration of pop roots, contemporised by swinging breakbeats and premium party signatures. Instantly recognisable jams include the ill behaviour of Ree Keen's take on "Louie Louie" and the ongoing beat mischief of Fab Samperi's homage to Sonny & Cher but the slightly less obvious versions shouldn't be overlooked either... The frenetic harmonica-snapping of Leygo's "Loose Wheel" and the lounge-writhing slipper jazz of Mad Doc's "Nori's Gem". Authentic big beat business.
Review: As ever, the Bomb Strikes imprint delivers an awesome package to us with this brand new 25 track compilation entitled 'Funk N' Beats Vol. 5', To be honest, it's exactly what it says on the tin as The Allergies head up waves and waves of funkadelic rhythms and crunchy riffs. For us the highlights have to be the futuristic drum processing and subtle percussive movements of 'Loose Gardner' from Flevans, along with the classic breakbeat fusion of 'Fire' remixed by Smoove but originally produced by the Renegades Of Jazz. With the sheer depth of the project it's easy to get lost within the tracklisting, which is always a good sign on a large scale compilation.
Review: Sheffield's Project Allout don't mess about, having developed a reputation for championing all directions in the ways of bass. Every take on that three letter word is important to this label and that's why they cram so many hot jams onto their comps. Basically they're the Ferrero Rocher am-bass-adors and they are really spoiling us with 49(!) lengerz. Highlights include AT's bleepy 8-bit hip-hop groove "Flash Bang", the epic, symphonic trap of Dubzta's "Lord Of War" and the almost disco tech grooves of "Murkers' by King Hydra. All killer, no filler!
Review: Having recently celebrated their tenth release, Sheffield's Chip Butty have now rounded up the cream of their roster for Chip Shop Vol 1. There are nine bangers featured here, all promising 'hard 4x4 beats mashed with twisted basslines'. They're not wrong either: highlights include label stalwart Dr Cryptic's pounding garage-step sing-a-long "Dirty Dot", the doomily orchestrated wobbler "Marching Powder" by Sekt 87 and the menacing speed garage of "Rude" by Little Mesters.
Review: This crew is known for delivering release after release of seamless, if often cheeky, bootlegs and mash-ups, and this latest installment is no different. What does separate it from most of their previous releases though, is the size: this one clocks in with a whopping 16 tracks! As usual it's a funk-heavy selection, of which highlights include an organ-led, 60s style makeover for the Jacksons on "Dave Jackson", the P-Funkisms of "Party Sweep", the Yazoo-twisting of "Go Well" and the Snoop Dogg-goes-ska laid back grooves of "Cantaloop Dog".
Review: Should you want to turn your place into a swinging cantina let Beatnik City's first release of The Latin Leaks be your soundtrack, and slam those tequila's to "Uhh! Ahh". There's some sampled Wu Tang thrown in among a clamour of drums in "Shimmy Cumbia", while tempos are lowered in "Lift Ma Soul". For some electro-swing vibes check out "Golden Boy" and get tropical on "Real Smooth". Consider your next fiesta sorted!
Review: Over the last 14 years, UK techno-funk stalwart Colin McBean has released a vast amount of music under his Mr G alias, for a wide variety of labels; according to Discogs, he's dropped an astonishing 70 12" singles in that time. This two-disc collection of his favourite moments, simply titled Retrospective, is arguably much needed. For the newcomers it offers a neat summary of his particular brand of no-nonsense, sample-heavy techno, where cut-up jazz, disco and soul loops ride thunderous techno rhythms and robust, late night grooves. For the diehards, there's a smattering of new cuts, while occasional fans should revel in the opportunity to savour some of his most hard-to-get jams.
Review: It's been a while since Irish party slappers Dirty Dubster delivered a ragga package but here we find them making up for lost time with four rock steady heaters. No genre unturned, each cut reps ragga's broadest reaches: "Walk Like A Champ" swings low with a guttural dancehall feel, "Bangerz N' Goulash" tips a nod at a Diplo classic over a salubrious digidub groove while "Follow Me" shreds up on a high energy D&B flex. For most, though, the key cut will be KayPod's Marley-mashing "Could You Be Push Forward". Could this be loved? Yes siree.
Review: Charismatic Tumble selector Joel hits the road once again with a collection of sinewy UKG, future bass, twisted house and barbed wire grime. Highlights fall of every track like an ill-fitting suit with gully gems such as the weirded out wobbles of Joedan & Kontent?s ?Ruggish?, Killjoy?s vitalising squelch funk on ?Public Enemy?, and premium sexytime silk in the form of Taz?s ?Lonely? and gossamer two-step soul by way of Spekktrum?s ?Talk To Me?. What with it being exactly a year since the last Roadman collection, we?re hoping Tumble turn this into an annual affair.
Review: Dynamicron's Los Grandes label returns with another bumper, album-length trawl through the world of contemporary "edits-not-edits" - groovy, hypnotic dancefloor fusions that touch on disco, soul, Balearica, deep house and AOR. Across the 11 tracks, there's plenty to excite, from the dubby slo-mo shuffle of Brandon P ("Mo Lovin") and organic groovery of Heion ("Keep On Hiding"), to the classics-reinvented style of DJ Butcher (the "Wordyrappinghood" biting of "You Don't Stop") and Irregular Disco Workers' booming Balearic dub disco. Best of all, though, is "Bakerman", a cracking Laid Back rework from the talented Get Down Edits.
Review: Given the recent upsurge in interest in the back catalogue of seminal Chicago label Dance Mania - particularly the ghetto booty side of their output - it seems fitting that Strut have finally given the label the retrospective treatment it so richly deserves. The whole story is here, from the early jack tracks of Hercules, The Housemaster Boyz and Victor Romero, to the stomping rhythms of DJ Funk, Dj Deeon and Robert Armani (whose ghetto-meets-acid jam "Ambulance" is a riotous highlight). Along the way, there are classics aplenty, alongside lesser-known gems from the vaults (see Parris Mitchell Project's ace "Ghetto Shout Out (feat Wax Master)" and Paul Johnson's thrilling "Feel My MF Bass"). Whether you're a Chicago house connoisseur or not, this should be essential listening.
Review: Second time around for Hans-Peter Lindstrom's decidedly Balearic, prog rock-tinged Late Night Tales selection, which first saw the light of day back in 2007. This time round, it's been given a gloss of new paint in the form of a sparkling digital remaster. While this is all well and good, the selling point remains the Norwegian producer's excellent, left-of-centre selections. There's another chance to check his own cover of Vangelis' "Let It Happen", classic Balearica from Fearn Kinney and Carly Simon, acapella action from Todd Lundgren, freestyle ambient jazz-funk from George Duke, a slew of forgotten prog rock faves and a brilliant dub track from Oslo mates Prins Thomas and Todd Terje ("Reinbagan").
Review: Has bassline ever been more influential than it is currently across the UK? I think most people would struggle to argue otherwise. To celebrate this, bassline heavyweights DJQ, Jamie Duggan, Skepsis and Darkzy join forces for an allstar compilation album, including a selection of full tracks and exclusive mixes. The full project includes exclusive drops from the likes of Champion, Shanti, DJQ, Flava D, TQD, Preditah, Bushbaby, Darkzy, Bru-C and many more. You are going to struggle to find a more comprehensive bassline selection this year!
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