Review: Next up from the ever-ready Liondub International, a throwback filled to the brim with lethal flavours as Conrad Subs touches down to deliver four tracks of pure dancefloor fire. We open up with the unpredictable synthetic twitches and reesey rumbles of 'Rave Report', setting the tone of the project nicely before 'Dough' gives us a more minimal fusion of growling bass notes and sharpened drum designs. Next, 'Big Chungus' opens up the roof for an even harder hitting sub-line, upping the ante even further as we move forward, with Speaker Louis providing some additional work on the well thought out rhythmic arrangements of 'Shots Fired'. Another tidy collection from the Liondub dynasty.
Review: Usually known for more jumpier takes on D&B - especially with his 2Ton project - Corrupted Mind follows up the Jungle Jam single with a full EP of the same gully, uncompromised and blistering breakbeat jungle style. Each cut gnarlier than the last, Nuusic's signature fizzy energy has been reimagined in an exciting way as CM goes in on all the little details: 'Rinse Out' comes with serious tension, 'Murder Tune' is all about the militant percussion while 'War Cry' is just pure bassline aggression. What an EP!
Review: Mysticism's Dubplate series has got a couple of great drops lined up at the moment and this is one of them, from German digidub pioneers TVS aka Trance Vision Steppers. This was a project that never made it out of the studio but still cooked up some brilliant sounds, which in the case of this collection come from their earlier period between 1995 and 1999. Fans of Adrian Sherwood, Dennis Bovell and Mad Professor will be head over heels of these dub delights - they are deep and atmospheric with lush ambient pads, downtempo vocals and stoner synths next to more twisted rhythms.
Review: Northern banger brigade GTA are marking a big old decade in the game with this walloping collection of beats across the spectrum. Delivered in 10s over five different themes from classics to remixes to floor-scorchers, the end result is an excitingly varied and feisty 50-strong spread of drum & bass perspectives where vibes range from Conrad Subs' utterly gully jungle vibes on his remix of Sl8r's 'Facking Jungle M8' to the thundering dancefloor wallops of Cliques' remix of the label bosses 'Pico De Gallo'. No strong is left unturned throughout the collection as we're just as like to be refreshed by liquid (Pyxis & Maykor's 'Guardian Angel') as we are flattened by venomous, laser-kissed neuro blasts (ICU's remix of 'Rip The Roof Off') Crash bang wallop what an album.
Review: Selecta! Sub-liminal bossman Agro rolls his sleeves up and gets stuck into his label vaults, drawing out persys and reminding us just how on it his label has been since morning. Ranging from the twisted bass bubbles and trippy warped sounds of Warhead's 'Tread Carefully' to the interplanetary bleep drama and sweet bubbling subs of Kumo's 'Trick Shot', Agro is explicitly telling us how versatile and timeless his label has always been. With some of these cuts going back to the 2016/17, he's proved it. Get stuck in!
Review: Four typically solid contemporary funk jams here from Sound Exhibitions regular Funk Windows, coming just two weeks after his/her/their last release, the 'Africa Funk' EP. This time out, the Afro stylings are put on a back burner; instead you get the slow-building title cut (which would make a fine set-opener), 'Roller Night' which has a slightly more wonked-out/off-kilter feel, and then 'Bisca' and 'Low Down', both of which up the jazz ante somewhat, the former rocking some fine sax and a cut-up, chipmunk-y vocal while the latter has a similar MO but busts out the flutes. The EP as a whole is a headnodder's delight.
Review: Calling all 90s RnB and hip-hop heads! Following amazing deep dives into the works of Keith Sweat and scores of films like Friday, US jungle OG 6Blocc continues to writhe in Cali chams of BT&H with this second volume of Amen flips. Maintaining the soulful flavours and feels of the originals, while giving them a good old gully boost, highlights include the slick funk and golden grooves of 'Thuggish' the big disco feels of 'BNK' and the biggie fronted finale 'Notorious Thugs'. What a collection!
Review: Serbian disco fruit from Tonbe, a producer releasing candy-heeled dance wares for some 15 years now. For Disco Fruit yet again he brings the heat, with the title track kicking off heavy and deep before those righteous chords roll in. Heavier and dubbed out still is "Weekend Fever" with its thick filters and French house sampling twist. Funkier numbers come from "Too Far Away" next to a minimal '70s electro cuts in "Robot Drivel" and '90s R&B via "Groupie Love". Get your west coast sh*t from "Turn It Up" next to the solid states of "Unchained". When life gives you lemons make lemonade.
Review: In a musical landscape that's drowning under a sea of often quite lazy re-edits, it's refreshing to find a producer who's made the effort to pay musical homage in slightly more inventive fashion. Step up Beatconductor, who here serves up another motley collection of covers, mash-ups, sample-based tributes and yes, the occasional straight-up re-edit that draws on sources as varied as Teena Marie ('Chemical Flashbacks' bites the vocal from 1980's 'Square Biz'), the Human League ('Human Emotions' marries a Mariah vocal to the 'Don't You Want Me?' riff), Fleetwood Mac ('Dreams (Again)', obviously), The Beatles ('Fixxin A Hole'/'I Can Fixx A Hole'), Hall & Oates (ditto), The Who ('Who R U') and Gladys Knight & The Pips ('Goodbye' reworks 1973's 'Neither One Of Us').
Review: Never a dull moment on this eight-track, 10-mix collection from Sweden's Ture Sj?berg, AKA Beatconductor, which finds him in a re-edit/mash-up frenzy as he reworks a range of classic cuts in often highly unexpected style. Donna Summer's 'Love Is In Control' gets a 60s lounge jazz infusion on 'Finger On The Trigger', Beyonce's 'Crazy Is Love' is given a reggaefied makeover, Angie Stone goes head-to-head with the Steve Miller Band on 'Fly Like A Stone', and so it goes on. Along the way you'll find nods to Stevie Wonder and Tom Jones, before the album's completed by three different mixes of 'Good Vibes' - the Beach Boys if they'd formed in Kingston, JA rather than Hawthorne, CA!
Review: El Paso has become quite the Katakana regular of late, having helmed vols 115, 116, 122 and 129, and now he returns for a fifth instalment with four funk reworks in tow. 'Ms Fine Brown' revisits Syl Johnson's 'Ms Fine Brown Fame' from 1976, while James Brown's much-sampled 1973 classic 'The Payback' becomes 'Revenge'. The sources for 'Baila' and 'Tutu' - both featuring Spanish-language vocals - will sadly have to go unidentified, but the former has a Nu Yorican, boogaloo/barrio funk kinda vibe about it while the lower-tempo 'Tutu' is much more tropical and lounge-y in feel.
Review: If you're looking for some proper dirty, lowdown funk vibes, you won't do much better this week than this four-tracker from French producer Morlack, which indeed makes its intentions clear from the outset thanks to the rather rude spoken female vocal that kicks off 'Boogaloo 22'. Once that's out of the way, you're in for 20 minutes of sleazy, grinding beats, low-slung basslines and James Brown-esque vocal shouts that should satisfy even the most pernickety of funkateers, helped along in the case of 'Need A Help 22' by some cheeky AWB nods. The exception to the rule is 'Poopoo Lala', which has an 80s electrofunk/boogie feel and comes topped with the vocal from Jocelyn Brown's 'Ego Maniac'. Good stuff!
Review: Valique's V's Edits reworks have long been some of the most popular re-edits on this platform, with DJs responding not only to their floor-friendly nature but also the wide range of sounds and styles he turns his hand to. So, what's on offer this time around? Well, for starters Yellow Blues is raising money for victims of the war in Ukraine, a country to which Valique has family ties. As usual, it's a mixed bag of goodness, with highlights including a squelchy, TB0-303 speckled take on a Johnny Cash classic, the chugging nu-disco/swamp blues fusion of 'Was It Worth It?', a fine revision of Rodrigues classic 'You Can't Get Away', a housed-up tweak of an old Doors gem ('Learn To Forget') and a toe-tapping, club-ready revision of Kenny Rogers' sing-along 'Just Dropped In (to See What Condition My Conidtion is In)'.
Review: Chalk up two 'Katakaka Edits' outings on the bounce for El Paso, as hot on the heels of the soul-flavoured '115', released just a fortnight ago, he brings us four re-edits that look to vintage Latin music, and particularly 60s boogaloo, for inspiration. Leading the charge for this reviewer is 'Spanish Butterfly', which pairs the lead male vocal with melodic female BVs to die for. Elsewhere, pianos and trumpets take centre stage on 'Nuevo Boogaloo' and sparkling vibes/marimba (?) augment the sunny 'Brother & Sisters', before 'Supimos Callarnos' plays us out in far more laidback, lounge-y, almost melancholic style.
Review: A very interesting release here from Soulserious, a label that usually excels in the UKG and deep house side of the dance as the bossman Sunday Roast unveils his D&B alter-ego 33Reasons. Two cuts deep, it works as a nice introduction to this darker side to the label founder. 'Feel For You' is the prowling growler of the release thanks to its curmudgeonly bassline that grunts and oozes its way over the drums. It's in good company as 'Enjin' brings up the rear with more cold, spacious drums and a series of ghostly harmonics trilling and flickering over the roomy groove. Feels for this.
Review: Parisian Morlack is back with the fifth edition in his Cheeky Edits series on Funk Blasters. A classic funk anthem gets a resplice on the charmingly titled "Take Ur Dead Ass Home", getting balearic on the low-slung "Bamboo Vendor", then going down a neon-lit '80s sounding route on "Turn Up L." while doing what it says on the tin on "Getting Deeeep" which gets down Cameo style (and super sleazy) then going for a funky disco house groove on "Don't Letting Go".
Review: This impressively expansive collection from experienced remixer Valique showcases some of the best downtempo and Balearic edits from his popular V's Edits series. There's certainly plenty to get the blood pumping and the juices flowing throughout, from a chugging, ten-minute take on Pink Floyd ('Brickwall') and a pleasingly squelchy take on Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams' 'Lose Yourself To Dance' (here renamed 'Lose Your Elf'), to a chunky dub-house re-imagining of Jimmy Cliff classic 'The Harder They Come' and a loopy, hypnotic, mid-tempo disco-rock revision of T-Rex ('Jewelry'). Throw in party-hearty takes on cuts from Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson and the Beach Boys (an odd but impactful reimagining of 'Good Vibrations') and you have a great value compilation.
Review: A legend of the breakbeat, sample disco, balearic and disco scene is one Morlack who turns in a huge EP of rock, R&B and pop sounds to touches of ragga, big band and San Francisco inspirations! Full of whooshing whites noise and sweet filter modulation, "GetOff" explodes with a hype NYC vibe next to the Faith No More antics of "Epic Enough". "My Spin Is Ur Drama" takes the EP down a more chilled, balearic and R&B inspired path - with a rap-laced vocal section - alongside "Spirit Of The Skurred" which is the clearcut breakbeat diamond of this latest Funk Blaster.
Review: This is a unique release of hip-hop influenced soul and funk drum & bass, tailor made for the relaxing lifestyle of Venice Beach. There are fluttering breaks, whispering basslines and endless minutes of voluptuous soul, which roll out alongside touches of menacing vocal to really add some oomph to the release. 6Blocc has killed this collection, and his remix of 'Time 2 Shine' is packed with retro 90s vibes, as spoken samples hover over an instrumental of pure vibes. Wonderful stuff.
Review: This latest two track drop from the Agogo team is a truly pleasing listen, as Hober Mallow and Jim Sharp link up for a groovy A & B side showcase. We kick off with the smooth horn riffs and grizzly vocal finesse of Hober Mallow's 'Here I Am', with this classic-sounding creation in fact being the '45 edit'. On the B-side, Jim Sharp delivers something super smooth with '10th Wonder', which again draws on groovy drum riffs and smooth basslines to create a tidy base, from which we hear a number of catchy rap verses which really elevate the EP to a new level. This is sunshine flavour down to a T.
Review: Nick Bike is a producer outta Vancouver Canada that's been tailoring away at funk edits and disco remixes for nealy a decade now. With a large part of his discography coming through Chosen Spokes, Bike makes his debut on Resense with something inspired by the sounds of James Brown and Q-Tip. "Let's Ride" sees a classic and undeniable funk groove pitched all the way down that's backed up by a lowriding bassline, chunky kick and freewheelin' lyrics to boot. On the flip "Shakin' James" ups the tempo with something entirely indebted to the Godfather of soul. Get down.
Review: The Duca Bianco posse continue to plough headlong into the thicket of vintage dance music across genre boundaries, with a crack team of deepest diggers picking out lesser spotted jams and giving them an expert re-rub. First up, Franz Scala drops some synth-pop B-side dub mix magic on Sweet Carillon, before Hysteric leaps into action with the staccato body-popping bombast of Pleides, coming on like Yello and The Human League rocking out with Thomas Dolby. Beatfoot & DJ Dollpin bring a seriously salty slice of proto trance voodoo on Osdorp Discoteca, capturing the magic of the sound when a melting pot of influences such as Italo disco were feeding into the musical mix. Cherrystones finishes things off with Gom Reg Raga, a loping, polyrhythmic meditation with plenty of mysticism folded in between the earthen drums.
Review: Mexican funk and disco producer Hot Mood (AKA Guillermo Gonzalez) comes to Canada's Editorial Records on this split EP with label bosses Ed Wizard & Disco Double Dee, with a little remix justice from Thatmanmonkz thrown in. The latter's rub of 'Shades Of Blue', with its Gil Scott-Heron 'H20gate' vocal, would sit just as happily in our deep house section, EW&DDD's 'Cantina' is a fat-assed slab of slo-mo, flute-sprinkled funk (and the pick of the EP for this reviewer), while there's - unsurprisingly - a Latin funk feel to Hotmood's two contributions. Contemporary funk/disco at its least cheesy, and hence most satisfying!
Review: Israel's Eyal Goldman - or Funk Sinatra, if you prefer - tends to cast his re-edit net wider than most, and has been known to serve up dancefloor reworks of everyone from The Rolling Stones to Simon & Garfunkel, The Jam and Nick Cave. For this latest offering he turns his attention to the prince of doom himself, Leonard Cohen, with 'Lover Lover Not A Brother' biting 'Lover Lover Lover' and 'Fire By Who??' revisiting 'Who By Fire' (both culled from 1974's 'New Skin For The Old Ceremony' album), while 'Darker Than You Wanted' borrows from 2016's Johnny Cash-like 'You Want It Darker'.
Review: Honkey Phonk founder Jayl Funk outta Germany brings his cards to the table with this Four Aces EP, turning to disco as an inspiration for the most part with a sweet touch of samba in "Together". With a rocksteady groove and blaxploitation funk backing the horns, vocals and extra piano rolls of "Feel The Heat", it's the filtered strings of life and roller disco decadence of "Something" that accompanies the '80s-pop elements, spaced-out vocoders, and undeniable dancefloor vibe of "Fantastic Sunshine". Four of a kind.
Review: Reload and come again: our 'Juno Download Selects' edition with the mighty US dnb HQ Liondub International continues for another session. Once again featuring an A-list rollcall of now household names, it's another reminder of how much heat Liondub International have cooked up over the years, supporting artists from their earliest moves. Highlights on this set include the turbo slammage and necksnap switches on Jayline's 'Anglo Saxxon', early hurly burly from the man like Macky on 'Black Widow' and the always-devilish bubbles of Motiv's 'Vultures'. And that's just three of 15 crucial example's of Liondub International future-focused benchmark. Get to know!
Review: Link-up, look smart; we've connected with one of the most exciting labels in dnb for a collection of their biggest hitters, rising stars and highest sellers: Liondub International. Headed up by Eric Liondub in NYC, Liondub International have broken and nurtured more new talent than most put together, and these first few volumes showcase. First up come these 15 examples as the likes of Kumo, Bou, Jayline, DJ Hybrid, Saxxon and many more all deliver timeless heaters. Highlights include Sub Killaz' broadsword skank-up 'Murderah', Brian Brainstorm's junglised slash-up 'Kill A Drumpan' and Bladerunner & Johnny Osbourne's ever-sweet 'Night Fall Dub'. All this and plenty more; whether you've been following Liondub since day or you're new to their consistent onslaught, there's plenty to catch up on here. Selector!
Review: Within the world of breakbeat, there are few names held in such high regard as Morlack, who continues his incredibly consistent run this time around with a five track package on Funk Blasters, that being the fourth edition of his 'Cheeky Edits' series. We begin with the 80's inspired drum smashes and stripped back vocal sampling on 'Breakin', followed by groovy bass guitar licks of 'Telepathy' and pulsating retro synth work of 'Ur Life'. The quality levels remain incredibly high throughout as we then take in 'Da Bomb', a disco-ready roller decorated with glistening guitar riffs and a well sampled chorus block, before the brick wall drum smashes of 'Funky Stuff' see us out in style. Excellent work.
Review: The words 'funk' and 'funky' are two of most over-used and wantonly misapplied in the entire musical lexicon, but rest assured they're employed entirely appropriately here! 'Funk Off' is an authentically fat n' squelchy, late 70s/early 80s-sounding affair, but with a modern twist - to contemporary ears, that bassline will recall both Daft Punk's 'Da Funk' and Basement Jaxx's 'Remedy'. 'Motherfunker' operates in similar territory, but with something of a Compass Point-like swing to the bass and topline hints of 'Ashes To Ashes'-era Bowie, while Tonbe provides a rerub of the latter that packs a heftier kick, presumably to enable smoother transition onto house floors.
Review: With the breakbeat movement growing stronger and stronger each week, it's quite incredible to see just how consistent Morlack's release schedule has been over the last few years, with a new project dropping seemingly at least once a month, this time on Funk Blasters. We are treated to four powerful originals, kicking off with sizzling horn lines and crunchy drum smacks of 'Robin Practise', alongside the chiming melodic lines and percussive rhythms of 'Jamaica Girls'. Next, the project takes a more violent turn with the powerful electric lines of 'Sardines' and the funk-infused approach of 'Kinda Hectic', signing this one out with a bang!
Review: Soulserious mainstay Sunday Roast heats it up again with a five-track EP firing in a refreshing mix of minimal dub, dank club beats and stepping rhythms. Virtual b-side burner "Teklofone" probably the best example of this. Techier still comes the rhythms and shakers in "Caspers Revenge" with its house chords landing somewhere near Sven Weisemann Jouem territory. Padded drums feel the flex of a gnarly bass in this EP's lead track with old skool dubstep and percussion adding shades of urban rave to "Trust" next to the wobble bass and ragga dub of "Watch The Ride". Call it in!
Review: With the Lolita re-edit series reaching its 22nd installment, you should be familiar with the general vibe/ethos/MO by now, so we'll dive straight in. For '212', read Skatt Brothers' 'Walk The Night' from 1979, while '214' bites L'Ectrique's 'Struck By Boogie Lightning' from the same year. '215' reworks Space's classic 'Magic Fly', '217' revisits Bionic Boogie's 'Risky Changes' (1977) while Shakatak's 'Easier Said Than Done' (1981) is reinvented on '219'. The rest of the EP draws on unidentified Eurodisco/Italo/coldwave sources, with the obligatory curveball coming in the form of '220' - Bob Dylan's 'Lay Lady Lay' as you've never heard it before.
Review: It's a great time for breakbeat in general, with new heavyweight releases dropping every week, thanks primarily to the consistency of top labels such as Funk Blasters. They here welcome sounds of fan favourite Morlack across four wicked originals, beginning with the spooky themes and grizzly synth rolls of 'Candy Skank'. Next, 'Lorins Dance', in which we hear choppy vocal slaps forged together with smooth jazzy saxophone lines before 'Rhythm 20' lets a funkadelic bassline run riot. Finally, the euphoric harmonic structures of 'Same Feeling' work as an excellent sign out for a top quality body of work.
Review: The bright-light, groovy aesthetic of BLK PRL is back at the start of this year, so get out your Red Stripes and don ya wavey garms because Channel 2 isn't messing around with this one. Four ragga-infused numbers are here for you, uplifting samples abound and suddenly it's not January - it's June, July and August and the sun is shining. This doesn't stop 'Wait' from coming out the blocks in a moody way, though, and neither does it stop 'Boneman Connection' from attempting to knock your hat off. Channel 2 always manage to pull out the stops in a way that makes you nervously smile - this one is no different.
Review: Ever turn up to a slightly strange but inviting house party to find a DJ playing a list of your favourite tracks - although you have no idea where they're from? It's label like Minimatic that keep the party going for another decade. Where electro-swing goes for sped up ballroom and big band jazz, Minimatic's approach to genre reformation takes the likes of UK pop (Oasis and "Owner of A Lonely Heart"), US hip hop ,(Eminem, Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga) to slices of R&B via Ed Sheeran and dresses them up latin rhythms of baile and urban funk, adding touches of turntablism, jazzy horns and keys to lowriding grooves.
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