Has Jonnypluse really been making beats for two whole decades? It seems so! And to celebrate, our man has just dropped a retrospective ‘best of’ to celebrate in the shape of Kill The Kool – The Best Of Johnnypluse with only one hundred copies available in lathe-cut vinyl, exclusive to Bandcamp and featuring artwork by himself.
What to expect though? The monkey’s going with ‘breakbeat mayhem that dips into the wellsprings of hip-hop, reggae and big beat at the very least (and often all of them simultaneously) and featuring a smattering of singles.’ Regarding the latter – enter the lo-fi big beat bounce of Dole Dance, the off-kilter hip-hop of the MC Coppa-featuring Never Get Old, JP’s Irish take on the Brit-Pop meets big beat/ Noel Gallagher v Chemical Brothers phenomena of Drinkin In The Sun feat. Youth Mass and the brisk dnb of the ironically-titled Save The Rich. Elsewhere you’ll find the spacey skank of opener Market St 26, the dusty breaks of Snack Box Blues, the scattershot rhythms of The Boyne Valley Riddim and the raw, punk DIY hip-hop of The Episode feat. MC Mimmic.
The monkey’s favourite cuts among the fourteen in the set though are the atmospheric title track (possessed of an especially farty bassline), the old school hip-hop groove of Mary Is Your Aunty (of course she is!) and the madcap cartoon hi-jinks of Back Road Badger which starts off like Hanna-Barbera’s 60s idea of a big beat track and only accentuates that impression as the track proceeds. Zoinks!
(Out now on Bulabeats)