Melting Pot (Germany), 2009. New Copy
Hazy, diverse beatcraft from Twit One & Hulk Hodn, aka Testiculo Y Uno -- a nice start to a new series from the good people at Melting Pot Music! Hi Hat Club Vol 1 is solid set of beats and atmosphere, some in kind of a laidback hip hop instrumentals mode of soul beats and insistent bass
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KMS, 1988. Good+
Collection of early Detroit Tecno from the late 80s, with a couple of Chicago tracks too. Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson & Derrick May are all represented here, and there's some classic cuts, like "Beyond the Dance" by Rhythim is Rhythim, "Tranzistor" by the Force, "Yeah
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Wax Poetics, 2008. New Copy 2LP
Really unique work from this hip Japanese combo -- the brainchild of keyboardist Kensuke Saito, who plays some really wonderful electric piano and synth on the set! Although contemporary, the record's got a spacious, soulful feel that takes us back to some of our favorite 70s fusion --
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Strut (UK), 2008. New Copy 2LP
An incredible meeting of talents -- one we never would have expected in a million years, but which comes off beautifully throughout! The spacey genius of Amp Fiddler meets the Jamaican grooves of Sly & Robbie -- in a blend that's breathtaking -- one that takes all of Amp's crackling energy,
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Ricky Tick (Finland), 2008. New Copy Gatefold
The long-awaited second album from The Five Corners Quintet -- easily one of the greatest groups going on the global groove scene! As with their debut, the sound here is highly jazzy -- played by a core combo that features Timo Lassy on reeds and Jukka Eskola on trumpet and flugelhorn -- with
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Heavenly Sweetness (France), 2009. New Copy 2LP Gatefold
Anthony Joseph really blows the roof off with this one -- sounding better than ever before, thanks to some massively righteous grooves from the Spasm Band! The music's a compelling mix of spiritual jazz, funky rhythms, and hip recitations from Joseph -- who's mostly speaking on the set, but also
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Eightball, 1994. New Copy 2LP
Great stuff from the early days of the New York Giant Steps/8 Ball/acid jazz scene! Despite the title, most of the track have house music at the base -- but in keeping with the New York approach to acid jazz in the early 90s, most of the cuts are seasoned with a very healthy dose of real
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Jazz & Milk (Germany), 2009. New Copy
Jazz, milk, and plenty of breaks -- a really great little set that almost blows away the previous entries in the series! All tunes here have some roots in older grooves -- modal, Latin, or soul jazz -- but the execution of the music is definitely contemporary -- hip production and a few dancefloor
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Schema (Italy), 2006. New Copy 2LP
An incredible full length debut from vocalist Mario Biondi -- a jazz singer we'd rank right up there with the legendary Mark Murphy -- supported here with great backings from the High Five Quintet! The grooves here are in a soaring, tightly-stepping style -- very much the best club jazz mode of
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Ubiquity, 2008. New Copy 2LP
Eric Lau steps into some definite new territory here -- building off his production work for Dudley Perkins, Lupe Fiasco, and others -- and emerging strongly as a lead artist on his own! Lau's got plenty of great help on the set -- an array of London-based singers who help flesh out his
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Schema (Italy), 2004. New Copy 2LP
Incredible work from Nicola Conte -- Schema records maestro making his Blue Note debut with this set -- and giving the label one of their best new albums of the 21st Century! The record's quite different than Nicola's programmed dancefloor work for Schema -- and is much more of an organic jazz-base
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Plug Research, 2009. New Copy 2LP
Cosmic hip hop, moody keyboard funk, tripped out bits of strings, brass, rubbery bass grooves and gritty beats from Sa-Ra's uber creative partner Shafiq -- and a record that rivals the best work of Sa-Ra proper! We long suspected that En'A Freek Ka would be a gem, and it does not dissappoint --
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Raw Canvas, 2009. New Copy 2LP
Not a 4 Hero album, exactly, but a great set of "extensions" of their musical genius -- one that has a host of other like-minded artists serving up their own version of 4 Hero tunes! The whole thing's completely sublime -- every bit as cosmic, righteous, and joyous as some of 4 Hero's
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Audio Montage (UK), 2005. New Copy
Sharp-edged grooves from Israel -- deep funk at the core, but also cut up with a fair bit of turntable work too! The combo are heavy on the horns -- trumpet, tenor, trombone, and baritone sax -- laid out in full funky frenzy over some very driving drum work on the bottom. These grooves would be
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Soul Jazz (UK), New Copy 2LP
Cosmic synth grooves from the duo of Michael Kirkman and Alan James, aka Subway -- home recorded electronic soundscapes working in hypnotic from of the 70s Krautrock innovators, and the more effervescent sounds of avant garde dance music of 80s Detroit and the European scene in almost equal measure!
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Beautiful Angry Music, 2004. New Copy
The first full length effort from Bay Area beats and atmosphere sound sculptor Cosiner -- a warm and often jazzy blend of beats, bass, keys -- from low and rumbling rawness that revolves around the drum and bass, to more of a live sounding hip hop jazz vibe with piano and horns, to more of a DJ
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Ninja Tune (Canada), 2009. New Copy
Sparse, arresting songwriting and hypnotic electronic flourishes from Fink -- who has been evolving wonderfully as a songwriter over the past few releases -- and really finding moody comfort zone on Sort Of Revolution. One of the things that we admire most about this phase of Fink's recorded
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Ubiquity, 2009. New Copy 2LP (pic cover)
Buoyant, spacey funk beatcraft and sputtering synthy atmospherics blended intricately with more soulful and and jazzy touches courtesy of the Clonious -- a deft mix of heavy funk beatcraft and more hallucinatory soundscapes! Clonious proves to have an impeccable ear for far reaching dynamics,
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Sufferah's Choice (UK), 2009. New Copy 2LP Gatefold
A nice blend of dubby rhythms, rootsy instrumentation, organic and programmed elements from the UK & Brazilian cross-continental roots & reggae combo Dubkasm! Key members live a world away -- Digistep in Brazil and DJ Stryda in Bristol -- but they manage to do a pretty great job of making
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Trunk (UK), 2000s. New Copy
The second album from label owner and genius compiler of sound library and otherwise groovy obscurities -- whose in work with diverse beats, sampler soundscapes and in turns playful and moody aural errata pretty wonderful, too! Scrapbook is an assembly of scraps of music Jonny created in fits and
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