Up-and-coming producer Medison delivers a respectably well-produced slice of downtempo hip-hop melancholia here that turns on an attractive acoustic guitar riff/ helium vocal hook and features a slightly ridiculous tale of love courtesy of emcee Skrein. It would seem that poor miserable skater boy Harry never really gets it on with the ladies but finally falls head over heels with the gorgeous Misha.
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Monthly Archives: August 2010
BIG PIMP JONES – ‘Hanging With Roscoe’ b/w ‘Jump Up, Turnaround Popcorn’ – new 45
Yep it’s more Philly-funk-from-flicks-that-never-flew time. Those with previous experience of the band will know it’s always 1971 in Big Pimp Jones’ house though that doesn’t stop them trying to prove it. Close your eyes while listening to this and you’ll be whisked into the arms of a couple of dusky beauties clad in little more than skimpy bikinis, who tote sunlight-blocking afros and pump-action shotguns while dudes with names like Shuggy and Bumpy try and shoot your bitch ass because of that crap you pulled last week in Harlem.
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RENEGADES OF JAZZ – ‘Cascade’ released September 2010
I hate scat and when I say ‘scat’ I refer to the jazz style of singing and not those coprophagic pornos that that bloke at school who smelt of jizz used to go on about. Come to think of it – I ain’t even too keen on jazz – so I was surprised (and I can’t believe I’m going to say this) to find myself appreciating a track containing both jazz and scat. That and the fact that it contains a driving breakbeat and successively raises it’s game every couple of bars with a different kind of brassy flourish.
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CELPH-TITLED & BUCKWILD – ‘Nineteen Ninety Now’ album release details + tracklist + listen links
Nineteen Ninety Now finds Army Of The Pharaohs cohort Celph-Titled spitting contemporary verse over some slept-on ‘90s beats from D.I.T.C. producer Buckwild. Hence the name. Get it? It’s no news that much of what passes for hip-hop these days is far from great, so going forward to the past is certainly one solution.
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PROTOMAN – Crazy – Free download
He might be an emcee from Florida but he’s no Flo Rida. Yep, Protoman’s on a Ugly Duckling/ Foreign Legion tip again with Crazy – essentially a big fat bassline, a nicely uncluttered breakbeat and our hero sensitively exploring the fine line between love and out-and-out psychosis. We’ve all been there. Cop it below:
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EVIDENCE – ‘To Be Continued…’ video + ‘Cats & Dogs’ Lp update
Rapper/ producer Evidence of Dilated Peoples has been keeping himself busy recently by signing up to Rhymesayers for his forthcoming solo LP Cats & Dogs, and you can cop the – er – evidence of his hard work in the shape of the video for his first single To Be Continued below. Mind you, I say ‘hard work’, but the man appears to have interpreted this as ‘recite one of my rhymes whilst spending the day on a rollercoaster. Let’s hope his album has more ups than downs eh?
Evidence – Myspace
rhymesayers.com
SISTER HENRY & THE PRESCRIPTIONS: He’s So Fine EP – 2010
Rating: 
Having diagnosed a distinct drop in the amount of decent new funk (and that’s ‘new’ funk not nufunk) in your ears this year, Sister Henry & The Prescriptions offer up some aural medicine in the form of this three tracker. Funky mod-style rnb on a sixties tip, Sister Henry sings it like she’s Dusty, and the band keep up admirably. He’s So Fine is the is the swinging-mod dancefloor one, One Monkey Don’t Stop The Show is the slightly slower smoocher but what you really want it for is My Good Lovin’ which kicks a dirty little rhythm and some brass that recalls Primal Scream’s Loaded, funnily enough. Full marks for tunes then but if I was being a picky bastard (and it has been known), this really needed a kick up the bass. Remix please!
Listen to Sister Henry & The Prescriptions – He’s So Fine EP
ANDY TAYLOR: Bank Of Panama – 2010 – 7” single review
Rating: Austria’s Resense label ought to be renamed ‘See sense’ for this one which, as far as the monkey is aware, is a long overdue second vinyl release for the criminally under-exposed Andy Taylor – Smoove’s Wack label having been the first to see the light earlier this year. A monkeyboxing favourite for mad long – Bank Of Panama is a b-boy-friendly slice of pumped-up boogaloo breaks that will have dancefloors rammed. And you can take that to the…er…bank.
(Out now on Resense Records)
THE TRANSATLANTICS: LP release date + tracklist
Another funk/ soul outfit from Australia, but unusually not from Melbourne. Adelaide’s The Transatlantics have backed Marva Whitney, shared a stage with Eddie Bo, and been described by the NME as, “a young, white Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings.” Mighty associations and an equally mighty quote – though that last is a bit of a double-edged sword since the ‘new music’ that the NME champions is rarely other than white and indie and the Dap Kings are probably the only contemporary soul/ funk band they’ve ever heard of. Production is crystal on this debut LP but it’s more your jazzy-tinged JB’s-ness than your soul/blues flecked Eddie Bo style grit. In fact, actually, I’ve found more dirt in one of those sealed wipes you get at the end of a meal in a really good curry house.
(Out 11 October 2010)
(PRESS RELEASE) Adelaide´s The Transatlantics came together in 2007 born of a shared love for gritty old vinyl, cheap guitars and quality barbequed meats. Described by NME as “a young, white Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings” The Transatlantic´s sound invokes the grainy warmth of southern American Soul and the rhythmic grunt of classic James Brown-era funk. Led by the commanding vocal presence of Tara Lynch and comprising three horns, two guitars, bass and drums, this eight-piece band has gained a well deserved reputation for their high-energy live shows, working hard on stage to create the unrelenting, deep groove so central to the soul tradition.
Following a huge 2009 which saw performances at Falls Festival, Big Day Out and Playground Weekender Festival, 2010 sees the release of The Transatlantic´s self-titled debut album on Freestyle Records. Entirely self-produced, the album showcases the many influences that have shaped the development of the band so far: from the Al Green inspired flavour of the lead single “Couldn´t Be Him” and the tortured soul reminiscent of early Aretha heard on the ballad “That´s When I Feel So Lonely” to the raw deep-funk of “Turn You Loose” and the fiery up-tempo cover of Marva Whitney´s hit “Things Gotta Get Better”
Mixed and tracked entirely from analogue tape, this debut effort by The Transatlantics displays the attention to stylistic detail and intelligent songwriting that the band strives for. In their short lifetime, The Transatlantics have shared the stage with New Orleans funk legend Eddie Bo, as well as being chosen as the band to back Soul Sister no.1 Marva Whitney on her 09/10 Australian Tour. Never a band to turn down an opportunity to turn it up live, The Transatlantics have also played support to the likes of Fred Wesley, Menahan Street Band, Roy Ayers and The Bamboos.
The Transatlantics – The Transatlantics – tracklist
1. Tea Legs
2. Couldn’t Be Him
3. I’ve Been Bad
4. Thumbin’ It
5. That’s When I Feel So Lonely
6. On Fire
7. Turn You Loose
8. Talk Like That
9. Save Me
10. Your Time Is Up
11. Keep On Running
THE APPLES: ‘Kings’ LP release details + tracklist
Anyone who has heard what is probably The Apples’ best-known track (i.e. their instrumental cover of Rage Against The Machine’s Killing In The Name) will know what to expect from this – namely scratchy, jazz-inflected breaknology. This time around the ‘four-turntables and no microphones (but lots of instruments!)’ crew hook up with former James Brown cohort, Fred Wesley and Israeli world music kingpin, Shlomo Bar, on new LP Kings due next month.
(Out 13 September 2010 on Freestyle)
(PRESS RELEASE) THE APPLES present: ‘KINGS’. The brand new release from the nine piece instrumental Juggernaut. This quite stunning collaborative album is available on CD, vinyl LP and as a digital download
In a musical first for the band, they wrote, arranged and recorded music with specific collaborators in mind. They held sessions with two of their heroes; a congregation with two musical and spiritual father figures from opposite ends of The Apples rich spectrum: Fred Wesley – Pioneer of funk trombone in particular and funk horn arranging in general with James Brown, The JBs, Parliament/Funkadelic and The Horny Horns. SHLOMO BAR – Vocalist, Percussionist, Godfather of Israeli world music. Figurehead of the highly influential, ethno-fusion ensemble HaBrera HaTeevit.
The exciting process of these recordings exposed the band’s many roots and influences; elements of The JB’s funky foundations, African, Cut & Paste, Soul, Middle Eastern, and Dub are all clearly displayed on KINGS, strained through the band’s unique Decks-Horns-Soundboard Effects-Double Bass-Drums lineup.
This release signifies the next step in The Apples ever thickening groove stew, and the boys are intent on pushing it further and this summer will once again take to festival and club stages for another string of their relentless live sets filled with runaway grooves, countless twists and turns, dizzying transitions, spontaneous arrangements, the occasional reworking of early 90’s alt-rock fist shakers, and the basic jump-up-and-down crazyness for which The Apples are known stages, dancefloors, sound systems, playlists, films, televisions, cars and ears worldwide.
As the conspiracy continues, watch this space….. and bring a change of clothes!
The Apples present Kings – tracklist
1. Howlin’ with Fred
2. In the Air
3. All Right All Right
4. Kings
5. Batash (Alwoojdi)
6. Ani, Ata veHoo
7. Walking to the Palace
8. Banana Jam
