Rating: 
Ukrainian producer C.J. Plus hits the nail on the head once again with mini-LP Ukraine In Grooves as he re-tools obscure 70s Ukrainian cuts for both the heads and the b-boys. In other words you get to lap up the psych, funk, soul and folk influences on this while cruising in the lowrider and later on when you get your uprock on. Highlights (though it’s all strong stuff)
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Monthly Archives: May 2017
C.J. PLUS: Ukraine In Grooves (2017)
BOCAWOODY feat. BLURUM 13: Jump 7″ (2017)
Rating: If Bocawoody (a.k.a Boca 45 and DJ Woody) had to release one single off their rather good recent Carousel LP, it would have to be this one. Which is convenient because they have and it is this one. And it slots right in there with recent 7″ golden era hip-hop bumps from like-minds Krafty Kuts & Chali 2Na and Mako & The Hawk feat. Chima Anya. In other words, it
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KIBOSH: Back N Forth EP (2017)
“On the Bass Funk Glitch Hip Hop Soul Breaks tip,” it says on Kibosh’s Soundcloud with no word of a lie. Has he got his fingers in enough stylistic musical pies!? Actually he hasn’t even declared all the – er – pies he’s got his fingers into. Omitting the word ‘swing’ was something of an oversight for example – given the abandon with which he sprinkles samples of said music throughout his
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BEATNIK CITY presents: BARBEAT (2017)
Producer BarBeat gives the Beatnik City label a serious dose of boogaloo flu on the new Beatnik City presents… outing and one that’ll likely spread to you too. The condition is acquired when the listener encounters old school Nu-Yorican vibes which have come into close proximity with heavy breakbeats and can be further intensified by the presence of rapapellas by emcees of note. So
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GHOST WRITERZ: They Wanna Know (2017)
They Wanna Know do they? “They wanna know ‘ow I became the artist I am/ My journey from a boy to a man”? Best tell ’em then, Ghost Writerz, innit? And so Jimmy Screech and Sleepy Time Ghost do precisely that, regaling anyone who will listen plus – well – frankly anyone within earshot – all about Screech’s long relationship with soundsystem culture. The narrative begins in the 80s
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BLACK ROOTS: I Believe EP (2017)
As Babylon becomes ever more powerful, ever more rapidly, now is certainly the time for some sort of message of hope. Step forward legendary Bristol reggae outfit Black Roots with their I Believe EP. The band, who have been extant since 1979, team up with St Paul’s emcees Jah Garvey and Buggsy to reinvigorate track I Believe which was originally released on 2012 LP On The Ground
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BAHAMA SOUL CLUB: The Havana Remixes (2017)
Having established a popular latin breakbeat insurgency with their recent Havana ’58, Bahama Soul Club don’t appear to have had any trouble recruiting like-minds to join their cause. This has culminated in The Havana Remixes – on which a set nine-tracks deep is delivered by an eight-strong unit of guerrilla producers consisting of Smoove, Suonho, Jack Jointz, Opolopo
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FORT KNOX FIVE feat. BCAP: Give It A Minute (2017)
Give It A Minute is Fort Knox Five’s first post-Pressurize The Cabin-era single and finds the DC crew working with Boston emcee BCap who it seems they’ve been trying to get on the mic since they remixed Ursula 1000’s Smoke Machine a couple of years ago. Having had a lot more than a sixty seconds to conjure up a suitable sonic backdrop for some BCap bars they’ve ended up
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LEE FIELDS & THE EXPRESSIONS: Never Be Another You/ Lover Man (Vinyl 7″) (2017) + UK & Ireland June ’17 tour dates
Heads up ladies, soul man Lee Fields is all set to drop another single off his latest LP, Special Night, and he loves you doesn’t he? Surely there’s no ambiguity in the opening lyrics, “…you can’t measure/ the things I wanna do for you/ Please let me do it/ ‘Cause it’s my pleasure/ I get so much joy out of serving you.” Mind you there is that slow and sexual lope of a beat beneath
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IZO FITZROY: Skyline (2017)
The new single from Izo FitzRoy is the title track of her debut LP Skyline and finds her busy doing a bit of soul-searching. In her own words she’s “Moving through the badlands, moving through the dark times, searching for the answer.” Is it under the laid-back piano at the start? Maybe the bluesy guitar has seen it? No? Bugger. Perhaps break it right down to just vocals and bass, yeah, and
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