A nice slice of instrumental Eastern funk for you here on Sababa 5’s new single Eilat 22. This follows (and was recorded during the same session as) previous single Funk #1 b/w Funk #2 and very much maintains the quality pitting hypnotic bass and crunchy drum-breaks against crazy swirling keyboard solos. Turns out the single is named after the band’s studio on the borders of
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Monthly Archives: May 2023
SABABA 5: Eilat 22 (Vinyl 7″)
WOXOW: How Many Ancestors Do We Have? EP
Little Beat More label main man Woxow ponders the pedigree collapse paradox on new EP How Many Ancestors Do We Have? with Raashan Ahmad, Azeem and Reggae Roast’s Natty Campbell providing vocals. ‘Pedigree collapse’? Yeah – you know – the idea we all share a common ancestor. You see where this is going right? Silence the violence, increase the peace –
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DUBMATIX meets ROOTWORDS: Black & Blue
Dubmatix meets Rootworks on new single Black & Blue which comes in three vocal flavours and two instrumental ones. Most would probably describe the original version as ‘reggae hip-hop’ but check the ‘Hip-Hop Reggae Mix’ out and you’ll find the drums kick harder and the skank is to the fore while other layers (except Rootwords’ bars) are stripped back. Check the ‘Reggae Mix’ meanwhile
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BADBOE: Hard Times EP
Good to see Breakbeat Paradise label boss Badboe back in the saddle for Hard Times – hopefully not because of them. The upbeat party vibe here suggest things are all gravy at any rate. Turns out, this one’s been gestating for a couple of years starting with a dusty funky 45 in Boe’s collection which as time has elapsed has gradually been converted into a mellow, good-time, breakbeat
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ORIGINAL GRAVITY RECORDS: Down In The Basement (Vinyl 7″)
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The monkey has long been resigned to not keeping up with the 45 release schedule of label Original Gravity whose multi-band ‘roster’ actually consists of pretty much just one man – label boss Neil Anderson – who’s indefatigable brain conjures up soul, funk, early reggae and latin funk releases at a staggeringly prodigious rate. And Down in the Basement is merely the latest
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HONKA PONKA & GU: A Funky Little Something / TOM SHOWTIME: Jazz Biscuits (Vinyl 7″)
The second vinyl 7″ release for Oz label Members Only Recordings pairs two dancefloor tracks from different ends of the party hip-hop/ breakbeat aesthetic. On Side A, Our Label/ Origu Records man (not to mention writer, musician and DJ), Gu teams-up with like mind Honka Ponka for back-to-basics, DIY, instrumental party cut A Funky Little Something. Gu provides the drums, and there is a
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CARLTON JUMEL SMITH: It’s Gonna Be Alright
New York soul-man Carlton Jumel Smith delivers the next digital single to be lifted from Golden Rules forthcoming vinyl funk and soul sampler compilation LP, The Originals Vol. 3 entitled It’s Gonna Be Alright. As the title suggests, Smith delivers a heartfelt lyrical reassurance to a lover (in his customary honeyed-but-with-just-smidgin-of-rasp vocal tones) over a mellow drum-break
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KOOL KEITH: Space Mountain (feat. MARC LIVE)
Here’s the next taster of Kool Keith’s forthcoming Black Elvis 2 LP sequel to 1999’s Black Elvis – new single Space Mountain. As you’d expect from hip-hop’s legendary surrealist, nothing much makes overt sense lyrically but then, as with all of Keith’s material – when the rhymes unfurl over pulsing synth bass and slo-mo boom-bap beats – you always find that doesn’t bother you so much and
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THE IRONSIDES: Changing Light LP
Rating: When The Ironsides first hove into view with their Stig & Steen cover Sommer in 2020 it was as a Monophonics side project (of bassist Max Ramey, along with his brother Joe) doing atmospheric but rhythmically funky cinematic soul. Even then the potential was clear: the production was amazing; the combo of orchestral strings and funky rhythms their USP
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THE ALLERGIES: Tear The Place Up
Rating: Aren’t bands supposed to take a mid-career hiatus or something – go off and do vanity solo projects, realise they were greater than the sum of their parts and return to deliver a mediocre pastiche of earlier work or an embarrassing pastiche of whatever the kids are doing? With the release of Tear The Place up the Allergies are now into a career six albums deep (if
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