After a number of respectable singles of their own (the dreamy Boss Clock Me Style, the rootsy High & Gritty and the dubby Me Love To Sing) not to mention the best remix of Ghost Writerz’ recent They Wanna Know single, The Hempolics finally drop their debut full-length effort with Kiss, Cuddle & Torture Vol. 1. It’s a title which makes reference to the songwriting process and the varying
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THE HEMPOLICS: Kiss, Cuddle & Torture Vol. 1 (2017)
THE ALLERGIES: Dig Jalapeno (Album)(2017) + ‘Blast Off’ remix premiere
Everybody knows deejay-producers love nothing better than getting the keys to a record company’s back catalogue so one can only imagine the pants-wetting excitement Bristol duo The Allergies must have experienced when they recently gained access to Jalapeno’s vaults. Of course, having penetrated the inner sanctum, there was nothing left to do but have had a right old rummage. The
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SON OF SAM: Come A Long Way (EXTRA P remix)(2017)
As if getting Large Professor on a track as well as Masta Ace wasn’t enough of a score for Son Of Sam on their recent classic Cinder Hill album, they’ve now managed to get one of hip-hop’s most legendary emcee-producers to remix the track he appears on as well. And so it is that we get the Come A Long Way Extra P remix. This replaces the original’s end-of-the-pier Wurlitzer-based beat
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SHAOLIN TEMPLE DEFENDERS: Free Your Soul (2017)
The return of the band with the best name in contemporary funk is imminent with their new album and sixth studio LP, Free Your Soul, all set to drop and man are they fired up! Naturally, if the band in question is called Shaolin Temple Defenders and they’re fired up the first place anyone is going to point the finger is at the White Lotus Clan. In the event it turns out that Pai Mei’s
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DOOM: Operation Doomsday Seven Inch Collection Boxset (2017)
We’re DOOM-ed! Say that out loud and people will either think Trump’s pressed the button or repeat the words back to you in a dodgy Scottish accent while raising their eyebrows and showing the whites of their eyes. In print though, it’s quite obvious that a reference is being made to something Daniel Dumile-related. And that something is an Operation Doomsday seven inch boxset in which all the tracks that
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HOLLIE COOK: Freefalling/ Survive (2017)
Rating: 
The honey-voiced Hollie Cook comes up smelling of roses yet again with a new double digi-single consisting of Survive and Freefalling which follows the July release of Angel Fire and, like that cut, will also appear on her forthcoming album Vessel Of Love released in January. Both the new tracks are again produced by Killing Joke’s Youth (as, indeed, is the whole
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MAIDM: Tun Up Di Heat (Party Banger) b/w B-Boy Shit (10″ Vinyl)(2017)
Rating: Stand by for the dopest Brit-hop dancefloor cut you’ve heard since Roots Manuva’s Witness. Cue splutterings, guffaws and stroking of exaggeratedly huge chins all round at such a grandiose claim, of course. But the thing is, producer and emcee on Tun Up Di Heat (Party Banger) are UK legends Aim and Mikey D.O.N respectively, known collectively here as MAIDM
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DJ PNUTZ: Bee-Sides (2017)
Fresh – in both the primary and hip-hop senses of the word – from her recent 16 Psyche album, DJ Pnutz drops a brace of recording session extras that didn’t make the final cut in the shape of this Bee-Sides single. And about this, it would be remiss of the monkey not to create some buzz (thank you, I’m here all week) since the track Bee-Side is an efficient slice of heavy Hammond-tinged
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HOT BORDER SPECIAL: Thriller (2017)
The countdown to the Halloween silly season is well under way and fighting the urge to put out something horror-themed if you’re a band must be akin to being trying to stop transforming under a full moon if you’re a werewolf. Hot Border Special acknowledge they must bow to the inevitable then but clearly figure that if they’re going to be lycanthropes, they might as well be
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GENERAL TRIX: Dallyland (Prod. MR BENN)(2017)
Rating: Here’s a little dancehall sunshine for you in the shape of Dallyland from General Trix and Mr Benn to brighten up the shite-awful weather. In fact, Mr Benn’s cooked up a right 90s-style bubbler for General Trix to do his thing over but where the hell is Dallyland when it’s at home? Could it be the sort of place Jamaican mums accuse their kids of being at when they’ve got their
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