The imminent arrival of the Lo-Fi Classics album from UK ex-pat funky breaks producer Mr Bird and Greg Blackman (the blue-eyed soul voice of choice for the party breaks and ghetto funk massive!) continues the resurgence of quality British soul that has recently spawned recent LPs by Omar and Smoove & Turrell. While the sound of this drop is nominally closer to the latter of these
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Monthly Archives: June 2014
MR BIRD & GREG BLACKMAN: Lo-Fi Classics (2014)
FREAK MOTIF: Killin’ Me 45 (2014)
Funk from Alberta? How times change. Back in the 90s I was at a party somewhere south of Edmonton where everyone was taking turns at selecting the music. They played a bit of both kinds – country and western, so when it was my turn I tried a funk-sampling Deadly Avenger cut. It lasted twenty seconds before some hick from Fairview shut it down sneering, “What’s this fucking Michael
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EATBEATZ: Funk/Hip-hop/ Reggae Remixes, Edits & Mash-ups (2014) Free download
Not one to mess around with fancy frills and window-dressing when plain old functionality speaks for itself, globe-trotting Eatbeatz has collected together twenty-four (twenty four!) of his highly functional dancefloor-filling funk, hip-hop and reggae remixes, edits and mash-up for your aural appetite. Kanye and Ray on Ray’s beat instead of Kanye’s beat? The Staple Singers on an Rob Base
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COCKNEY NUTJOB: Luda Kool (VIP edit) (2014) Free download
Two years ago Cockney Nutjob mashed up Kool & The Gang’s Celebrations with Ludacris’s Get Back on Luda Kool. Since which time of course, he’s gained two years production experience. Which means every time he’s listened to his original blend he’s clearly been wincing at certain points – not that he needed to. Unable to contain himself any longer, he’s gone back in the studio, tweaked the
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BRUNO BORLONE: Brazil (Bruno Borlone remix)(2014) Free download
The England team might have made such a pathetically early exit from the World Cup that the engines of their jet weren’t cold before the pilot had to fire them up again but some people are still getting into the spirit of things. One such man is Chilean producer Bruno Borlone who’s reworked Ary Barroso’s inspired 1939 samba anthem Aquarelo Do Brazil inna breaks stylee just in time for Chile’s
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LENIS GUESS: The Story Of Lenis Guess (2014)
Rating: 
The Story Of Lenis Guess? Let me guess! Tramp Records get another five star rating for the latest installment of their divine mission to deliver career retrospective LPs of unsung heroes from the golden era of 60s and 70s funk and soul? Got it in one! Yes, the man in question this time is the influential figure behind the ‘Norfolk Sound.’ And I don’t mean Alan Partridge! No, we’re talking
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UGLY DUCKLING: Something’s Going Down Tonight (PHIBES remix) (2014) Free download
Something’s going down tonight and it sounds very much like Long Beach’s ‘most party’ hip-hop sons getting wobbled to within an inch of their lives. Yes, hot on the heels of their ghetto funk take on Jurassic 5’s recent single, the Phibes boys doctor one of the dopest cuts by every ghetto funker’s ‘other’ favourite party hip-hop band, Ugly Duckling. As it’s one of the monkey’s favourites
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THE HERBALISER: There Were Seven – Remixes (2014)
Legendary UK stoner hip-hop producers The Herbaliser were last heard of in 2012 when they re-surfaced four years on from their previous full-length effort with the There Were Seven LP to remind everyone they were still – like – making music. Man. Obviously with such a ‘less haste, more weed’ approach to production you can’t expect them to go around rushing out a remix
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TONY JOE WHITE: Polk Salad Annie (Mr Bristow remix)(2014) Free download + Mr Bristow Ramp Show ‘Booty Bonanza’ mix
Rating: The second of today’s funk-soul rerubs is this hip-hop-scratch-funk-swamp-blues monster take on Tony Joe White’s 1970 hit Polk Salad Annie. Polk salad is traditional southern salad made out of the local pokeroot plant – which has a bit of a kick to it. And when I say ‘bit of a kick to it’, I mean super toxic and requires a stringent cooking process to render safe. Talking of a kick to it, this
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ZEMERALD: Soul Girl (2014) Free download
Rating: Soul Girl was Jeanne & The Darlings 1968 response to Sam & Dave’s massive Isaac Hayes/ David Porter-penned Soul Man hit from 1967. It was pretty much the same as you’d expect but – er – sung by girls and according to whosampled.com, even more sampled than the original – probably due to that fat break. Soul Girl in this instance is Mr Zemerald’s subtle rerub of
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