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Two more tried and tested reggae hip-hop booties from the current undisputed king of such blends, DJ Maars, make it onto vinyl 7″ with the arrival of a new white and green splatter vinyl 45 from Easy Now Recordings. And such is the enduring popularity of boom-bap drums combined with reggae/ rocksteady samples (instead of funk and soul ones) and a good rap or
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DJ MAARS: Used To Dub H.E.R. b/w Wit Ya (Vinyl 7″)
THE ALLERGIES: Move On Baby/ Are You Ready (Vinyl 7″)
Rating: It’s another massive single from Bristol kings of the funky breakbeat dancefloor, The Allergies, who put the moves on you (baby!) with new 45 – er – Move On Baby b/w Are You Ready featuring Andy Cooper and Marietta Smith. The first of these suggest the boys’ have taken careful note of previous successes at filtering their uptempo party breaks sound through a Latin
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SOUL FLIP EDITS 12: Light My Fire / The Happening (Vinyl 7″)
You’re damn right the Soul Flip crew is back – and with a vengeance too after what has been a fallow year thus far following a mere two booties in 2020. It’s all a far cry from 2019 when the crew managed no fewer than six 45 edit releases plus a vinyl LP collecting all previous edits and were making plans to achieve global old soul edit dominance! Still, this funky ‘De La Soul’ breakbeat
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BLOCKHEAD: Let’s Play The Feud
Sometime Ninjatune artist and formerly Aesop Rock’s go-to man for a beat, producer Blockhead is back with a new LP entitled Space Werewolves Will Be The End Of Us All, shortly. Before that, you get a taster of the sound of things to come in the form of single Let’s Play The Feud on which he genre surfs – or at least sub-genre surfs – with abandon. It’s got psych-soul melodies, it’s got
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JOHNNYPLUSE: The Return Is Finished
If you were concerned because you hadn’t heard from Johnnypluse for a minute, you’ll be gratified to hear that the Irish producer is back with a new album shortly and, before that drops, new single The Return Is Finished. It’s a lo-fi breakbeat affair that pulls off the feat of being both midtempo and ambient in mood. The primary means by which the latter is achieved is a vocal from none other than
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FREESTYLERS feat. SCARLETT QUINN: Fabulous
Freestylers’ forthcoming Other Worlds LP looks set to nail the band more crossover success as they follow the pop-drenched breakbeat stylings of previous single Happiness with the equally pop-drenched breakbeat stylings of Scarlett Quinn-featuring new single Fabulous. According to the PR, the band had been feeling a bit nostalgic but rather than small boys in the park, jumpers for
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CALIBRO 35: Post-Momentum EP
Cult Italian ‘cinematic funk’ fiends Calibro 35 return a mere 17 months after their last album, Momentum, with the Post-Momentum EP. And if that name suggests the two might be linked, well, you’d be right. Not least of the reasons for which is the fact that this release is bookended by two versions of LP track Stan Lee. This one was something of departure for a band known for their
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DEROBERT & THE HALF TRUTHS: Thievin’ And Robbin
Blimey – it’s been eight years since Nashville’s DeRobert & The Half Truths featured on MB but it’s good to see that DeRobert’s voice has only gained in power in that time and the Half Truths’ playing is tight as ever. New one Thievin’ And Robbin is yet another single in German label Golden Rules’ digital singles series showcasing the best in contemporary retro soul (as opposed to
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MOSQUITO HAWKS: Some Kinda Blues EP
It’s conceivable that when Lucky Brown put together Seattle funk and blues collective Mosquito Hawks over a decade ago he wasn’t expecting their debut release to take more than ten years to make an appearance. Still Some Kinda Blues is here now and makes up for lost time with a scorching collection of spit n sawdusted, swamp-funk and blues. Hydrangea is
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ELEMENTAL & MR FRISBEE: The Good Dad Club
Given that hip-hop is now in its forties and has had numerous kids along the way (including older slightly emo daughter, trip-hop, and youngest, trap, the, er, unplanned accident) when could be more appropriate for the genre to celebrate fatherhood? The answer is never – and no pair are more qualified to do the celebrating than Professor Elemental (on this styled simply as ‘Elemental’)
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