It might be the day after Halloween but that doesn’t mean the darkness is over for here is Yugen Blakrok with new single Carbon Form off her forthcoming Anima Mysterium LP. Yep, the Blakrok who did that verse on Vince Staples’ Black Panther soundtrack cut Opps. She raps over ominous doom-laden beats provided by long-time partner Kanif the Jhatmaster that have more in
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YUGEN BLAKROK: Carbon Form
J BOOG: Live Up (DUBMATIX remix)
Rating: 
Dubmatix strikes again by finding the bass in J Boog’s original Live Up (admittedly not a tricky task with a reggae track) and then whacking the gain right up and boosting the drums for this mighty rub-a-dub remix. And that’s pretty much it. And there’ll be no complaints because the original was already a dope tune with a super soulful vibe so didn’t need much fixing. Frankly there couldn’t be a more fitting opening to Oneness Records’ admirable if doomed attempt to prevent the onset of winter through the power of reggae music on their mammoth twenty-track Oneness Remixed compilation.
JOHN CARPENTER: Halloween (RHYTHM SCHOLAR Past To Present Fearmix) Free download
You didn’t think the monkey was gonna let the scariest night of the year pass without something to commemorate it did you? Of course you didn’t, so here’s Rhythm Scholar carving up and stitching together forty years of John Carpenter’s Michael Myers-related synth-score business over a beat. You can call it the Halloween Rhythm Scholar Past To Present Fearmix if you like – he
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SHAKA LOVES YOU feat. FULLEE LOVE: Boogie
Rating: Long established as party breaks edit kings, Glasgow’s Shaka Loves You hook and sling their way to something rather special for the next release on the Bomb Strikes label with new cut Boogie. Done in collaboration with former Jurassic 5 rapper Soup – in full funk vocalist mode here as Fullee Love – the track couldn’t have a more apt name. Like kindred spirits The Allergies, SLY reinvigorate ancient funk beats by cleaning shit up, beefing shit up and adding new vocals. And in doing so here, they turn in one righteous beast of party starter. The very thing in fact that ought to get the Craig Charles seal of approval – ooh – whatdyaknow – it already has. Boogie is the lead cut off the boys’ forthcoming EP.
(Out 2 November on Bombstrikes)
LANCE FERGUSON: Rare Groove Spectrum Sampler (Egg Roll/ The Dump Vinyl 7″)
Egg rolls might traditionally be served as appetizers but Lance Ferguson of Bamboos fame is providing the full funky main course with his cover of the M&S Band classic Egg Roll. The original, you may remember, was rediscovered by the mighty Keb Darge back in his deep funk days. The Scotsman discovered the only known copy on acetate and before you could say ‘that wants re-
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PECOE: Funk Nuggets
Not had enough funky breaks today yet eh? Alright, let’s try you with a bit of Pecoe – the Perth-based beat-prospector whose recent discovery of a seam of funky ore has culminated in the appearance of five chunky Funk Nuggets. The title track, for example, contains elements (thank you, I’m here all week) of pulsating, pitch-bending 80s funk and appears to be flecked with particles
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FUNKIN’ BASSTARDS: Return Of The Originals
Do not adjust your radio dial, it’s not the 90s coming at you through the ether, just Funkin’ Basstards with their very b-boy friendly new four-tracker Return Of The Originals. Which, as the title suggests, draws its inspiration from a pre-bass wobble-era in which big beat went head to head with the hip-hop underground on dancefloors. The ever reliable Mustafa Akbar appears on the
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THE ALLERGIES: Steal The Show
Rating: For god’s sake nail down down anything that moves before The Allergies steal the show. They’re after the lot – underground love, mainstream recognition, old samples, new beats and all the guest vocalists they can lay their hands on. What’s all the fuss? Why – it’s the arrival of new album Steal The Show of course – Moneyshot and Rackabeat’s third in just two years. Man that
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BAZZA RANKS & SLEEPYTIME GHOST meets SHUMBA YOUTH & NATTY CAMPBELL: Rip It Up
Ghost Writerz’ Sleepytime Ghost and Dirty Dubster, Bazza Ranks, join forces and then invite up-and-coming toasters Shumba Youth and Natty Campbell along as well to make Rip It Up a vocal celebration of doing ting Sarf East London style. Cue much bass bin-shredding antics and no fewer than four different mixes. That’ll be the original, the Fleck dnb version, the instro and the
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DJ PNUTZ: Play That Beat Mrs DJ
Never let it be said the girls can’t match the beat-making output of the boys as DJ Pnutz drops her third full-length album, Play That Beat Mrs DJ, in two years. And once again the San Diego-based dj/producer weighs in with a substantial opus – this one tipping the scales at fifteen tracks. Like its predecessors, The Good Wife’s Guide To
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