Deep Funk — 7-inch  

Brooklyn's CSC Funk Band delivers a solid little tribute to Gang Starr – contemporary funk instros inspired by DJ Premier's benchmark productions for that most legendary of duos! "A Little Weight" is inspired by "Who's Gonna Take The Weight", and it's a creative interpretation that's faithful to Premier's tightly-punctuation beatcraft, though the CSC brings plenty of their own adventurous style to the table. "A Little Planet" has a lot of psych funk elements – some rubbery guitars, oboe and synth grooves – though it still keeping a tight, drum-heavy backdrop.

A killer groove! "Fallin In Debt" is a chunky, funky monster that feels like some lost southern funk cut from the end of the 60s – razor sharp drums that move surprisingly fast, tight horns that pepper the groove but never overwhelm, and great vocals from DeRobert that set the pace of the cut nicely! Guitar riffs quickly alongside the triple-time groove – and the whole thing's backed by "Stay On Point" – another wickedly funky tune with an offbeat sense of rhythm!

A 12 X 7" box set version of Mayer Hawthorne's breakout How Do You Do – with each track from the album paired with its own previously unreleased instrumental version – in individual photo sleeves that lay out as a full mosaic! The Mayer Hawthorne story was a strange one from the start – white producer/DJ crafting real-deal, moody, sultry throwback soul under a pseudonym that gets him signed to Stones Throw. The best news, really, is that he's still doing what we loved on the Stones Throw record and singles. Skirting both throwback Motown AND indie soul conventions, but winking ever so slyly at them, making strings sound scratchy, warm and well-worn, subtle horns to sooth and stir, his own vocals layered for a group-like effect. Bonus points for his use of the superstar cameo – he brings Snoop Dogg in to SING, not to serve as an obligatory rhyme cameo. Well played, Mayer Hawthorne! Includes "Get To Know You", "A Long Time", "Can't Stop" with Snoop, "Finally Falling", "Hooked", "You Called Me", "No Strings", "Dreaming", "The Walk" and more. Comes in a heavy duty box – which also includes a custom display sheet that can hold all 12 singles. Beautiful!

A sparkling debut – and a whole new side of Truth & Soul! The Olympians feature Toby Panzer on keyboards and vibes – and work here with a laidback groove that's totally great – kind of a combination of slow funk and instrumental sweet soul, with mellow beats, El Michels horns, and a really warm sound on the piano! "Stand Tall" is mellow too, but with more of a super-dope feel – quietly tripping grooves with snapping drums, snakey guitar, and more of those great horns over the top!

A sweet summertime groove from Magic In Threes – a cut that feels like some lost weird funk track from the 70s – slightly offbeat, but in a great way! There's a nice thin little groove with guitar riffing along with snapping drums – and a keyboard tipples in with nice short steps – creating a strut that's plenty summertime! "Magic Mark In Tha Summer" is equally cool – kind of a wah wah sort of groove, but really laidback – almost at "Summer Madness" speed – with great spacey keyboards to match!

Fantastic funk from Tony Ozier – an artist with a groove that's quite different than most of the other contemporary acts on the scene! "Funk" has a brilliant blend of basslines and keyboards that's right up there with the early Zapp generation – tightly soaring, with riffing guitar – and a simple, straight, instrumental groove that's right on the money all the way through! "Back To The Mitten" is another instrumental gem – these cool moogy lines over spacier keyboards – all set to spare beats with a wonderful feel!