There surely can’t be a man outside of Washington DC doing more to propagate a global love of DC go-go music than Morlack. His devotion to this regional Stateside blend of 70s funk and early hip-hop has been a massive influence on much of his work and is the prime focus of his Good To Go Go series which, with the arrival of this, is now on Vol. IV. Of course Morlack is a fully twenty-first century
…MORE
Monthly Archives: May 2016
MORLACK: Good To Go Go Vol. IV (2016)
BOCO: Running The Mardi Gras/ Smile (2016)
Rating: 
Hats off to Big Crown Records who are shortly to save respectable vinyl-buying members of the public the best part of a grand by re-pressing Boco’s super-rare Running The Mardi Gras b/w Smile 45 beloved of funk and northern soul djs alike. Smile is sonic haze of laidback summery psychedelia but what most will really want it for is Running The Mardi Gras. This might
…MORE
FORT KNOX FIVE: Reach feat. FLEX MATTHEWS (2016)
The final single to be lifted from Fort Knox Five‘s Pressurize The Cabin LP from last year is Reach featuring DC emcee, Flex Matthews making this, fittingly, a DC thing all round. Equally fittingly, it’s a summery slice of party boom-bap on a De La/ J5 tip turning on a 100 bpm beat replete with horns and funk guitar licks. Also invited to the party are remixers Knight Riderz who turn in both a trap and
…MORE
BASEMENT FREAKS: Funk Master Tools Sample Pack (2016)
Q: How is a reputable producer like Basement Freaks to make his green in a world where it becomes increasingly difficult to make money out of your own tracks?
A: He pulls another sample pack full of fat bass guitar loops, talkbox chops, funk and blues guitar riffs, skankin reggae chords, harmonica riffs, all manner of drums and percussion, and a plethora
…MORE
TOOTS & THE MAYTALS: Funky Kingston (ROCKNROLLA SOUNDSYSTEM Remix) (2016) Free download
Rating: Not another rework of Toots & The Maytals’ Funky Kingston – the massive and hugely influential title track of 1972 LP Funky Kingston? The much-sampled, much-covered and indeed much-remixed Funky Kingston? Yes, that one. The very same. You done? Good – now shut-up and listen. Rocknrolla Soundsystem don’t do wack remixes and this one finds them bumping the
…MORE
ELI PAPERBOY REED: Cut Ya Down (2016) + UK dates inc. album launch @ The Jazz Cafe 7.6.16
Rating: Now here’s someone you don’t hear enough of (or about), in the UK at least – Eli Paperboy Reed – and lord knows why. But then he is said to work in mysterious ways – the lord that is, not Reed, although the two of them do appear to be engaged in a collaboration of sorts since Reed’s forthcoming new album My Way Home is heavily gospel-influenced and includes
…MORE
BREAKBEAT PARADISE RECORDINGS: Big Fat Mama Beats (2016)
Having done the ‘old’ (with the retro 90s-ish sound of the Badass Funk EP from earlier in the year), Breakbeat Paradise Recordings now do the ‘new’ assembling a seven-artist strong squad consisting of Discobeta, Mr Rich & Caretaker, Crashgroove, Wiccatron, Funky Boogie Brothers, Rory Hoy and Pulpfusion to take things musically bang-up-to-date with the Big Fat Mama Beats EP – all expectations (as
…MORE
THE ALLERGIES: As We Do Our Thing (2016)
Rating: Finally – The Allergies (a.k.a DJ Moneyshot and his co-pilot Rackabeat) drop their full-length debut on Jalapeno Records. But hold on – a lot of cuts off this have already seen the light of day on a number of releases on different labels as far back as 2013. Can The Allergies’ ‘thing’ really sound all that box fresh or is it redolent of old musical socks and crusty
…MORE
THE BOBBY DEANS BIG BAND/ KRASH SLAUGHTA Oh! Oh! Here He Comes/ Elephants Graveyard (Remix)(2016) + WIN a super ltd. test pressing
Rating: Now then – this is the sort of thing that gives you the shivers – in a good way. A bit like the horns on the opening of the A-side. It goes like this: turntable legend and former UK DMC champion Paul Smith a.k.a. Krash Slaughta goes on one of his regular crate-digging trips in Glasgow and happens across a 1972 LP by one Bobby Deans on a label called THOR and is
…MORE
FEATURECAST: ‘Shout It Out’ album (2016) + exclusive premiere of ‘Shout It Out’ feat. ILLVIS FRESHLY
In 2012, Featurecast was pretty much the only person to have released anything like a full-length album which embraced the broad church of sound that has come to be known as ‘ghetto funk’ with his excellent LP Run For Cover. Four years on and – er – you can still count the number of artists who have released a full length ‘ghetto funk’ album on one hand, despite the genre’s obvious
…MORE
