Known for their breaker-friendly funk 45s on Funk Night Records, it turns out John Reed & The Automatics also do a nifty line in funky downtempo beats too. Enter the simply-titled Mixtape which features no fewer than 25 beats ranging from the jazzy forty second-long Bonzaaaaiiii to the just over 3 minute trip-hoppy drum crunch of When There Is Time. Vocal samples from Bill & Ted to the original Star Trek via Humphrey Bogart pop up everywhere while samples of Gonjasufi and Aesop Rock appear on the blissed out Day By Day and stoned groove of Saloon Keeper and Brothers For Tracks actually features Überkinger MC. Guess that’s why it’s called Mixtape not Beattape. Either way – it’s a trip.
(Out now HERE)
