All Categories — All Formats  

A 7" single, but one that packs the punch of a 12" – thanks to impeccable production from DJ Spinna, who's really bringing back the crisper side of his game! "Motion Picture" bristles with action right from the start – leading in with a cool spoken bit, then exploding out of the gate to match the rhymes of Shabaam Sahdeeq! "Do You" has a more elliptical approach to the beats – but then gets a great focus once the lyrics start flowing – all with a complexity that's a nice change from the usual.

Nice one! 14 tight independent hip hop joints all with the crisp, soulful vibe that's Spinna's hallmark, even if he didn't produce all of them, though he was responsible for many. As with some other popular compilation/mix series you get one disc of the tracks in their full versions, unmixed, and another with Spinna getting to work on the 1's and 2's for a continuous set that flows like hot butter over popcorn. Spinna's deep hip hop roots show through nicely with tracks by the Jigmastas and 7L & Esoteric saddling up next to nice instrumentals by Spinna himself as well as 88 Keys and Kingsize. With "Lyrical Fluctuation 2000 (Spinna mix)" by the Jigmastas, "3ree6ix5ive" by Old World Disorder, "Take A Look" by the Domecrackers, "Across The Globe" by the Jay I Geez, "Precision" by Kingsize and 9 more slices of underground niceness to keep your head boppin', packaged beautifully in a really nice foldout cardboard sleeve in a slipcase!

Amazing grooves from a legendary pair of labels – the ultra-funky Perception and Today Records, home of some killer sounds from the New York scene at the start of the 70s! The labels had a great ear for up-and-coming soul – especially with some of the younger groups rising up at the time – and they also used their magic to refresh the sounds of some older artists, particularly jazz musicians, who took on an ultra-funky approach at Perception – one that's made their work for the label some of the most in-demand over the years! Drums are heavy, bass is nice and fuzzy, and many of the cuts have a righteous sound that really takes off from the most progressive soul, funk, and jazz of the late 60s – pushing hard with an even heavier 70s vibe. Titles include "Brother" by Adam Wade & Johnny Pate, "Too Sad To Tell" by Debbie Taylor, "Chitlins & Chuchifritos" by Joe Thomas, "Naturally Good" by Bartel, "You & I" by Black Ivory, "I Can't Get No Higher" by The Eight Minutes, "You Owe It To Yourself" by JJ Barnes, "Get Some Of This" by Madhouse, "Honey Buns" by Bobby Rydell, "Gingele" by Astrud Gilberto, "One Life" by The Albert, "Surrender" by Black Ivory, "Wishful Thinking" by JJ Barnes, "You've Just Been Bitten" by Bartel, "Every Brother Ain't A Brother" by Joe Thomas, "Submission" by Tyrone Washington, "Boogie" by Bartel, "Alligator" by Dizzy Gillespie, "Rock Steady" by Julius Brockington, "Find The One Who Loves You" by The Eight Minutes, "A Possibility" by Wanda Robinson, and "Heritage Hum" by James Moody.

DJ Spinna takes on P&P Records – and the results are sublime! Spinna's one of the most soulful talents to ever hit the decks – an artist we can always rely on for his crucial ear for older sounds – a really unique sense of taste that always has Spinna picking some of the best cuts from rare records – and finding a way to put them together that turns us on all over again to great music! Given that P&P is a treasure trove of rare grooves, Spinna's got plenty to work with here – and manages to dig into the label with effortless ease – coming up with a wicked blend of funky soul, soulful funk, underground club, and even a bit of hip hop too! This CD version features a full mix of 24 tracks – 80 minutes of music that's tweaked and touched-up here and there with some work on the decks. Titles include "Take Me I'm Yours" by Mary Clark, "I'm Gonna Fool You" by Ella Hamilton, "Game Of Life" by Lavaba & E Mallison, "Big Foot Boogie" by Brisko The Kidd, "Did You Notice" by Louise Murray, "Dust To Dust" by Cloud One, "Determination" by Eddie Owen, "New York's Movin" by Ahzz, "Feel The Spirit" by Foster Jackson Group, "Got You Dancing" by Karisma, and lots lots more!

Tracks by Vivian Green, Goapele, Joe McDuphrey, Lizz Fields, Jay Z, Common Thread, Urban Ave 31, India Arie, Venus Malone, Detroit Experiment, Floetry, Little Brother, Angela Johnson, Fertile Ground, Jazzanova, Donnie, Common, Blaze, and Peven Everett. 35 tracks in all!!

Amazing grooves from a legendary pair of labels – the ultra-funky Perception and Today Records, home of some killer sounds from the New York scene at the start of the 70s! The labels had a great ear for up-and-coming soul – especially with some of the younger groups rising up at the time – and they also used their magic to refresh the sounds of some older artists, particularly jazz musicians, who took on an ultra-funky approach at Perception – one that's made their work for the label some of the most in-demand over the years! Drums are heavy, bass is nice and fuzzy, and many of the cuts have a righteous sound that really takes off from the most progressive soul, funk, and jazz of the late 60s – pushing hard with an even heavier 70s vibe. Titles on this first part of the vinyl edition include "Brother" by Adam Wade & Johnny Pate, "Too Sad To Tell" by Debbie Taylor, "Chitlins & Chuchifritos" by Joe Thomas, "Naturally Good" by Bartel, "You & I" by Black Ivory, "I Can't Get No Higher" by The Eight Minutes, "You Owe It To Yourself" by JJ Barnes, "Get Some Of This" by Madhouse, "Honey Buns" by Bobby Rydell, "Gingele" by Astrud Gilberto, and "One Life" by The Albert.

Tremendous tremendous grooves – hip, jazzy, and deeply soulful – all hand-picked by DJ Spinna, and way more than just the usual funk compilation! Spinna's not kicking back, letting the licensors do his work for him here – and he's really gone out of his way to select a batch of older tracks that match the hipness of his own current work – sublime tunes throughout, all glowing in a united love of soul, funk, fusion, Latin, and Brazilian modes! 2CD set is unmixed, and features 20 tracks that include "River People" by Weather Report, "Bail Out" by DJ Rogers, "When She Made Me Promise" by Beginning Of The End, "Tuane" by Hammer, "Movin On" by Outside, "The World Was Young" by Monika Linges, "Let's Rock" by Feel, "Nereci" by Djavan, "Too Late" by Junior, "Automan (dub)" by Newcleus, "It Ain't Whatcha Say" by Aquarian Dream, "Come Into My Life" by The Supremes, "Tell Me A Bedtime Story" by Herbie Hancock, and "Body Talk" by Eddie Kendricks.

A celebration that's a decade in the making – compiling some of the best material from the producer-centric series of hip hop albums on BBE/Beat Generation – timeless boombap from Jay Dee, Madlib, DJ Spinna, King Britt, Marley Marl, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Pete Rock and others! The 2CD compilation features sets compiled and mixed by DJ Spinna and Mr Thing – which not only feature stellar beats by the producers at the helm, but rhymes and vocals from the likes of Talib Kweli, Slum Village, Jill Scott, Bahamadia, Guilty Simpson and many more. One thing we appreciated from the get-go with albums in the Beat Generation series was the effort to make records that were built to last – and as much as 10 years later, it holds up really well! The 2CD version features sets deftly mixed by Spinna & Mr Thing, and a sprawling set list that includes "Stop" by Madlib, What It Do" by Madlib feat Talib Kweli, "Are You Ready" by DJ Jazzy Jeff feat Slum Village, "Hummin'" by Marley Marl feat Roy Ayers & Edwin Byrdsong, ""Live Us Sold" by DJ Spinna feat Abdul Shylon, "Galactic Soul" by DJ Spinna, "Transcend" by King Britt feat Bahamadia, "Give It To Y'All" by Pete Rock feat Roc Marciano & Trife, "African Rhythms" by Jay Dee, "Lay Me Down" by Will I Am feat Terry Dexter and many more.

Far more than just a full album from keyboard wiz and producer Mark De Clive-Lowe – a much-needed collection of his various remixes, small label recordings, and small projects from the past few years – pulled from a variety of labels around the globe, and packaged into one overstuffed set! The tunes all have different lives and histories, but they're linked together here by Mark's wonderfully spacey sound and cosmic musical vision – a key force in 21st century soul, heard to positive effect on every tune on the collection. Titles include "Pan Africa (Melodious rmx)" by Danilo Perez, "Life Mirrors" by Beatless, "Africa (Restless Soul mix)" by Meitz, "No Fusion Generation (rmx)" by Til Bronner, "Return To Paradise (rmx)" by Shirley Horn, and the tracks "Relax Unwind", "Move On Up (Opaque rmx)", "The Way It Goes", "Day By Day (DJ Spinna rmx)", and "Nites Like These" – all by Mark.

More niceness from Jigmastas, produced by DJ Spinna. The remix of "Beyond Real" is almost a whole new song, with a faster tempo and a little harder beats. "Hip Hop" returns to the more laid back style of the first single.

Great stuff from Elzhi of Slum Village – sharply produced by Black Milk! Detroit hip hop worthy of the classic legacy of the city, Slum Village and MC Elzhi. The "Colors" remix is produced by DJ Spinna.

A great album – made even better – as Louie Vega's heavenly Elements Of Life set gets "extensions" from a host of other producers and DJs! This isn't one of those "let's see how much we can mess up the original record" sort of projects – as the core sound and soul of Louie's beautiful record is still very firmly in place – and if anything, there's kind of an extended collaborative spirit going on – as the original record was already very much a group effort, and the added mixing talents here only expand the collaborations going on! The whole thing's wonderful – and almost feels like a fresh new album at times – a much-needed follow-up to the brilliant full length that Louie already dropped on us. CD features a total of 13 tracks that include "Cerca De Mi (Kenny Dope rmx)", "Jungle Fever (Atoj rmx)", "Let The Children Play (original mix)", "Ma Mi Mama (Freeform U Heirs vox mix)", "A Better Day (DJ Spinna rmx)", "Love Is On The Way (featuring Blaze)", "Sunshine (Sacred Rhythm mix)", and "Nos Vida (MAW rmx)".

"Part Of The Game" produced by DJ Spinna.

The title's a bit clunky, but the grooves are wonderfully smooth – a great assortment of hard to find tracks from recent years, all brought together in one totally wicked set! The cuts here are pulled from a variety of sources – Japanese-only CDs, previously unreleased sessions, and now out of print albums – all with a warmly contemporary vibe, but one that's steeped in older soul modes from the 70s and early 80s. Many of the artists here are familiar, but they're represented by tracks you probably don't have in your collection – tunes that are definitely "desirables", both for their quality and rarity! Titles include "Bad Company" by Luther Vandross, "Dance" by Sara Devine, "Tell Me" by Tiffany, "For You" by Jack Herrera, "It's Good To Be Loved" by Ronee Martin, "For Goodness Sake" by K Fox, "Cloud 9 (DJ Spinna rmx)" by Donnie, "Dreamin Of One" by Trina Broussard, "Where Did We Go Wrong (so right mix)" by Incognito, "Days Like This (black sand mix)" by Kenny Lattimore, "No Matter What I'll Do" by Donald McCollum, and "Can't Get Over You" by Brigette McWilliams.