Veteran Greek producer/ MC Bouklas releases his second long player The Groove Chronicles on May 15th and early indications are that it will be very promising indeed. The LP is heavily based around vintage funk and soul samples, chopped and flipped by Bouklas into boom-bap shapes and then teamed with an international cast of emcees, vocalists and djs including U-God’s son INteLL and
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Monthly Archives: April 2019
BOUKLAS: ‘The Groove Chronicles’ LP announced
ELECTROGORILLA: Enimal Planet
Electrogorilla (a.k.a. The Funk Fury, a.k.a Synoptix) follows 2015’s All Get Down EP on Breakbeat paradise with full-length effort Enimal Planet. It’s a nine-track affair on which our man hedges his bets by offering electro-tinged breaks of various flavours, that will appeal both to wobble fans (albeit while maintaining a healthy level of funkiness e.g. on Electrhino) and those preferring
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SHAOLIN TEMPLE DEFENDERS: Live In London
You might not have been there when the band with the best name in funk came to town, but Shaolin Temple Defenders ensure you get as close as possible to the experience with new LP, Live In London. Yep, not Live In Paris or Live In Bordeaux (for this latter city is in fact where the Shaolin crew hail from) but all the way live in London. There’s inter-European love for you – despite the
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SOUL MESSIN’ ALLSTARS: Soul A Go Go (Vinyl 7″)
Rating: 
There’s no messin’ from the Soul Messin’ Allstars with debut 45 Soul A Go Go featuring two different but equally catchy versions of the same track on either side of what is liable to be a most in-demand piece of life-affirming wax. The tune was penned by Cookin’ On 3 Burners’ Jake Mason along with Mondo Rock’s Eric McCusker and celebrates Melbourne’s monthly
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ALDO VANUCCI: Digging For A Living
Rating: As with its predecessor, Aldo Vanucci’s second long-player, Digging For A Living, goes by a title that references its debt to samples while its mix of soul, funk and hip-hop-flavoured party breaks continues precisely where Straight Lift left off, as if a mere twelve years hadn’t elapsed between release dates. It is called Digging… not Releasing… though and I think we
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DISCOBETA: Sparks EP
It’s been a while since the monkey has heard from production duo Discobeta but it looks like they’ve been keeping themselves busy and here’s the proof – their brand new Who Got The Sparks EP. Who got the sparks? Name sounds a bit like Black Moon’s Ronnie Laws-sampling ’93 Who Got The Props doesn’t it? As does the track itself come to that since all three cuts on the EP find Discobeta
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ALDO VANUCCI feat. QnC: Spell It Out (audio premiere)
The release of the second album from Plymouth’s 14th best DJ, Mr Aldo Vanucci, is imminent – so when the chance came to premiere a track off it, naturally the monkey snapped it up. Which track to pick though, for the album is packed with dancefloor heat? It could have been a tricky but there are three classical ways to see off the horns of a dilemma – choose one horn, choose the other
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THE HAWKMEN: The Hawkmen (Album)
Rating: The self-titled debut LP of Craig Charles playlist (and live) favourites, The Hawkmen, finally arrives and it certainly doesn’t disappoint. The project is the brainchild of Scott ‘The Hawk’ Milsom (erstwhile bassist for Big Boss Man as well as sometime DJ/Production partner of Mako) and displays a similar love for the music of the fifties, sixties and seventies as Reggae
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FRIENDLY FIRE BAND/ MR WILLIAMZ/ TIPPA IRIE/ MYKI TUFF: Saturday Night Riddim (Vinyl 7″)
Rating: ’Ear me now – it’s classic riddim business time as the Saturday Night riddim (a de-mix of jungle cut Saturday Night by Mr. Williamz and Chopstick Dubplates’ re-played as a vocal-less reggae by Friendly Fire Band) gets not one but two limited vinyl 7 inch releases. On the first you get that very Friendly Fire Band version along with a vocal take featuring Mr Williamz lyrically
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BLEND MISHKIN & ROOTS EVOLUTION: Wildfire
Four years after dropping first long player Survival Of The Fittest, Blend Mishkin & Roots Evolution return with new full-length effort Wildfire continuing their mission to deliver revitalised live roots reggae featuring a rich assemblage of vocalists. One track longer than its predecessor, the LP once again features Skarra Mucci, Gappy Ranks and BnC along with new collaborators
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