Bristol bass don Ewan Hoozami grabs London-based hip-hop/ 8 piece brass outfit Lazy Habits’ funky cautionary tale by the horns (see what I did there) and transmutes it into something a little more 21st century. Subtly mind – different break and some moody synth – oh and a lovely stompy bridge. Plus it’s free for you to download – which is nice. Don’t forget to say thanks. I should point out that this did actually arrive on my virtual doormat on Monday
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LAZY HABITS: Even Out (Ewan Hoozami remix) (2013) Free download
‘BIZARRE RIDE II THE PHARCYDE’ Live: Europe tour dates (2013)
It’s got all the potential to be a massive clusterfuck of hasbeens and assorted hangers-on trading on past glories to make some cold cash money hasn’t it? A tour where two members of The Pharcyde (who, along with fellow rappers Imani and Booty Brown and producer J-Swift assured their place in hip-hop history with their glorious jazz-hip-hop psychedelia of their 1992 debut Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde) perform every track of the album live, in
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VOODOOCUTS: Juice Vol. 2 (2013)
Five stars on MB, in case you hadn’t worked it out yet, is for shit that gets the heaviest rotation on the stereo (and usually the decks) at MB Towers. And there’s no doubt that two of the tracks on Voodoocuts latest three track set, Juice Vol. 2, are precisely the type of inspired mash-up party breaks edit thingies that get heavy MB rotation. Take the utter bigness of pumping soul-jazzy
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BLEND MISHKIN feat. MC JAMALSKI: We Are Roots (Remixes) (2013)
Rating: 
Clearly a case of ‘Oh shit – that was good enough to make a bit of money with – what were we thinking with the free download?’ Blend Mishkin‘s hip-hop riddim-powered reggae number featuring MC Jamalski, We Are Roots, now gets the full four-track remix treatment package. And guess what? It’s not just the original that was good enough to make a bit of money with. The ‘exclusive
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HARVEY K-TEL & SNORKIE: ‘Babylon Bop’ video (dir. DJ Tanner) (2013)
Rating: Ponder for a minute the way the net works. By net-work. Last year Harvey K-Tel and Snorkie produce Babylon Bop (genius reggae edit of The Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop) which gets blogged by the monkey. Then The Allergies produce dope Salt N Pepa mashup Pick Up Lines for which Canadian DJ Tanner made a fresh accompanying video. Both of which get blogged by
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OMAR: The Man (2013) + video
Contemporary soul legend Omar is back with the title track off forthcoming album The Man and, if I hear him right, he’s become a man now that he’s not trying to be the man. Apparently he did,” some things that..[he]…should not have done, just trying to be the man.” Glad we’ve got that cleared up. Musically, the tension between who he was before and who he is now is captured by the juxtaposition
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TOO MANY T’s: The T.P. EP (2013)
Rating: Let’s face it, too much UK hip-hop is all dour posturing and album covers on which grown men pull the facial expressions of a fifteen year old who’s just been bollocked for having his phone out in class. Time to welcome Too Many Ts‘ official studio debut release The TP then, as they firmly plant the flag of old school party hip-hop somewhere at the crossover between Aspects, the
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DJ ROAST BEATZ: Panama Ho’s (2013) Free download
Rating: I’m all for sisters not being held back by gender inequality but have you ever noticed how when DJs play tracks containing iffy lyrics like ‘shorty get on it’ and ‘she’s leaking, she’s soaking wet’ that the ladies, far from storming off the dancefloor in a fit of pique, get more filthy? It’s something that is almost certain to happen with this mashup bomb from DJ Roast Beatz
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DANCEFLOOR OUTLAWS: Delusions EP (2013)
Dancefloor Outlaws a.k.a DJ/producers Will ‘Streetwise’ and Robin Parris pull down the brims of their stetsons and pull up bandanas to cover their faces for the Delusions EP – the taster for forthcoming album Delusions Of Grandeur. I wore a pink Stetson when djing once. Not by choice of course – some drunk bird put it on my head while I was on the cut. I told her I drew the line at kinky
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BASEMENT FREAKS: Funk From The Trunk (2013) + Booty Shackin’ Free download
You can count on one hand the number of key players in the forging of the ghetto funk scene who actually had an album of anything out prior to that scene’s creation. But George Fotiadis a.k.a Basement Freaks was one of them. Even so, the funky, latin, afro, nujazz, chilled breaks of his debut Urban Jungle were a far cry from the warping synth-bass line/ breakbeat monsters (of which BF
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