Before ‘the’ conga became a novelty line-dance via 1930s Hollywood – and long before Black Lace got their sweaty palms on it – congas were the dances performed to the carnival music of the same name in Havana from the early part of the nineteenth century onwards with, quel surprise, much older African roots. Enter J&B Kings (one half of whom is Jesse ‘Dubmatix’ King) wresting
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Monthly Archives: April 2020
J&B KINGS: Conga Conga
BREAKBEAT PARADISE: Funk Originals (With Remixes) (Digital)
Back in 2017, Breakbeat Paradise Recordings took time out from dropping stuff that sampled funk to release vinyl 12″ Funk Originals instead – four tracks of brand-new, all-original funk from Grand Slam, Grand Mother’s Funck, Nasa Funk and A Man About A Dog. Now, that same collection gets a digital release with remixes of three of the tracks. First up is Beat Le Juice who takes on the
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TIPPA IRIE & BLEND MISHKIN: Active
New rootsy business has just arrived from producer Blend Mishkin and reggae vocal veteran Tippa Irie in the shape of new single Active. Active? What’s that all about then? Unsurprisingly, it turns out to be a call to get busy – ironic perhaps, given the lockdown status currently affecting most of the world. Then again maybe not. There’s plenty to be doing – as Irie puts it –
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TOM CARUANA: Adaptatrap
Recently released, Adaptatrap is the new instrumental album from producer Tom Caruana. MB readers will know Caruana as the man behind such mash-up LP colossi as Black Gold and An Adventure To Pepperland Through Rhyme & Space as well as for various Professor Elemental releases and his live hip-hop project Son Of Sam. Clearly a man who has a
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NICO GOMEZ & HIS AFRO-PERCUSSION INC: Lupita b/w Lupita (BOSQ Rework) (Vinyl 7″)
Look sharp, here’s another re-press for Nico Gomez’s Lupita and this time it’s Latin-loving label Matasuna who deliver the goods. Everyone who knows anything about Gomez knows he was one of the greatest ever producers of funky Latin and Afro-Latin music as revealed by his 1971 LP, Ritual (on which Lupita can be found) along with his songwriting for Los Chakachas. And like Los
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KATAKANA EDITS: Vol. 98 (MORLACK)
MB regulars will know that nary a month goes by without a release from the super-prolific Morlack and equally that rarely do more than a few of the equally prolific Katakana Edits volumes come out without Morlack having provided the music. By happy coincidence, it seems that by the time the Katakana crew got around to planning Vol. 98 (yes, 98!) Morlack had more than enough edits
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KROMANAUTS feat. KOOL KEITH: Heavyweight Building
Leaving their more customary reggae-based beats to the side, DC’s Kromanauts make good on their promise to explore the ‘entire spectrum of the chromosphere’ on Heavyweight Building with a guest slot from hip-hop heavyweight Kool Keith and a beat that harks back to the Dan The Automator-produced days of Keith’s Dr Octagon alter-ego. Of course mere 4/4 time won’t cut the weird with these guys so it’s all about the 6/8
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WHIRLWIND D: M.D.M. b/w Time Waits For No Man (Prod. DJAR ONE)(Vinyl 7″)
It’s Anglo-French hip-hop mayhem as emcee Whirlwind D and Le Havre-based producer Djar One reprise their previously successful co-operation with M.D.M. b/w Time Waits For No Man – their brand new 45. M.D.M. eh? (Thank you, I’m here all week) – no not an incomplete drug reference but an abbreviation for ‘Modern day media.’ Yes, those bastards, “False media:
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BOCA 45: Turn It Up Loud (feat. CRAIG G)/ Blow Your Mind (2020 Donuts # 2)(Vinyl 7″)
Here’s the new 2020 Donut from Boca 45 then – definitely one to turn up loud and quite possibly blow your mind too. It follows February’s Hannah Williams-featuring Powerful and is the second in a series of four planned 7″s, once more taking the shape of an all-Boca B-side instro and an A-side featuring a guest vocalist. And what a guest vocalist! This time, our man has only managed to
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PROSPER & STABFINGER: Down In The Basement
Not a Sugar Pie DeSanto/ Etta James bootleg as the name might suggest, Down In The Basement is rather three tracks of super-funky, disco-influenced breaks and hip-hop courtesy of Paris-based Prosper & Stabfinger. We open with the pumping uptempo groove of the title track, a 121 bpm four-to-the-floor affair complete with Yello style bah-bah-bahs, pitch-bending synths
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