Buscar:9th creation

It is well known that talent never guarantees any success in the music industry. This sentence summarizes the story of The 9th Creation, one of the best soul, funk, disco and boogie band to make it out of Stockton, CA.

Founded by J.D. and A.D Burrise in 1970, the 9th Creation went on for almost two decades and released 3 albums and half a dozen singles that regularly flirted with the US Charts, getting them featured on Soul Train in 1975 and allowing them to tour North America and Japan a few times over. 9th Creation regularly shared the bill with Irma Thomas, James Brown, The Whispers, The Sylvers, The Main Ingredient, Con Funk Shun and many others.

The music that J.D, A.D Burrise and their 10-12 band members created was a perfect combination of West Coast raw soul, disco and funk that resulted in a religious fan following across the globe.
To this day, The 9th Creation has been sampled by Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Artifacts, Quasimoto, 3rd Bass, Basement Jaxx and many others.

9th Creation was undoubtedly one of the greatest funk band of the Seventies.

Past Due Records is proud to officially reissue the 9th Creation's essential full lengths and singles, carefully remastered and all in their original artworks. 'Mellow Music' is the most sought after 7' from 9th Creation. This single marks the band's new direction and was announcing an album that remained unreleased (more on that later). This single is a boogie funk gem and both tracks are pure monsters of heavy bass, synth, horns and massive vocals. A must have that'

In 1980, the 9th Creation began working on new music at a Modesto studio, South East of Stockton. The studio was suspiciously cheaper than all of its competitors. After recording weeks of material, the band discovered the reason. 'We didn't know that the guys that were running the studio were drug dealers,' A.D. Burrise recalls. 'There was a big raid.' All the studio's master tapes were confiscated by the DEA. J.D Burrise unsuccessfully sued the DEA to recover the tapes but to no avail. Luckily Mike Micenheimer saved cassette mix-downs of some of the group's songs from those sessions. 'A Step Ahead' is the the 9th Creation's lost album. 8 unreleased songs of pure soul, funk, disco and boogie.

We are proud to present this lost album for the first time. The ultra talented Jacob Arnold also wrote the complete story of the band that we are presenting with never seen before pictures.

Finally the CD version includes bonus tracks from the Love Crime 12', the Mellow Music 7' and 3 previously unreleased (rough) demos.

(Because of the source of these recordings, please know that (sadly) some of the songs have drops in stereo and are not 100% audio quality.)

ICONYC's latest anthology of tracks blossoms forth into the light with the second instalment of the "Florilegia" series. Comprised of 10 spellbinding creations, this latest delivery features the sounds of Vomee, Enes Çakır & Yost Koen, Odeon, Gorgin, Baime & Jepe, ETRI, Auggië, Mironas, OLING & Harald Björk, and Nuage. Another quintessential compendium of modern club electronica, "Florilegia II" is a gorgeous bouquet of sounds set to define the modern dance floors and beyond.

For over two decades, Dub Inc has been a cornerstone of the French-speaking reggae scene, embodying both power and authenticity. Hailing from Saint-Étienne, the band has built a strong identity, whether on stage or through their productions, always driven by the will to deliver meaningful messages that resonate far beyond borders. Dub Inc now returns with their new project Atlas, the result of a full year of creation at their new Greenlab Studio. Writing and composing went hand in hand, guided by powerful themes and a constant awareness of today's world. To enrich this record, the band invited three renowned artists: L'Entourloop, Kabaka Pyramid, and Marcus Gad. The result is an explosive fusion of reggae, world, and urban sounds - a 9th album that stays true to Dub Inc's DNA while opening new musical horizons.

Mika Vainio started making a new Ø album in 2014. He almost finalized the record before his too early passing in 2017. The album Sysivalo is the 9th out of 8 full scale albums, released under the Ø alias by Vainio. Ø was his longest running project from 1993 to 2017. Sysivalo was recorded during 2014-2017 and is 60 min long album with 20 tracks, produced by Vainio. He described the record as a distinct Ø album that was going to include several shorter tracks, etudes. The title, Sysivalo, is invented by Vainio by combining the Finnish words sysi (dark or sinister) and valo (light).

Like life itself, the album carries a quiet darkness - honest and full of hidden light. The many of the tracks are beatless subtle soundtracks of eclipsed emotions. Like an incapacitated creature waiting for something to happen.

The closing track Loputon (Endless) is maybe the most beautiful tracks Vainio has ever written, Vainio's last word.

Mika Vainio biography

Mika Vainio’s impact on electronic music, both in Finland and around the globe, is indisputable. However, he was also a respected contemporary artist whose minimalist sound installations were known for their physicality, analogue warmth and electronic harshness. Over the years, Vainio collaborated repeatedly with many visual and sound artists and choreographers, such as Carsten Nicolai, Mika Taanila, Charlemagne Palestine, Alan Vega and Cindy Van Acker.

Mika Vainio’s (1963–2017) international career in electronic, ambient and noise music was extensive. His name became widely known to fans of electronic music from his time in the duo Pan Sonic, founded in 1993 (until 1998 Panasonic). Vainio also produced many solo projects under names such as Ø and Philus.

As an artist, Vainio rose to international prominence in the 1990s, not only in the field of music but also in sound art. Back then and in the early 2000s, his works featured in many exhibitions of sound art in Europe and North America, like Sonic Boom: The Art of Sound at London’s Hayward Gallery (2000) and Frequencies Hz: audio-visual spaces at Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt (2002). Vainio’s first solo exhibition, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, was held in Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 1997. The exhibition of his sound installations in Kiasma, curated by Kati Kivinen and Rikke Lundgreen, will be the first comprehensive survey of Vainio’s work, which has never previously been presented to this extent in his native country.

Vainio often drew inspiration from films, books, and everyday environments. Taking a special interest in urban soundscapes such as an interesting-sounding air conditioning unit or different street sounds, he often incorporated “found noises” as part of his compositions. The mood was always paramount in his creations, in which silences – absences of sound – are just as important as what we hear.

"Chasing the funky symphonies that filled my head and my dreams..."

December 25th, 2023 - an Instagram post. Stimulator Jones shared half a dozen FIRE tracks from his beat tape archive. We were immediately drawn to the rough hewn boom bap.

"I'd release that", Rob commented.

Hours of material was shared and the result is this: Cool Green Trees (1999-2005). A collection of beats and loops Stimulator Jones created between the ages of 14-20 at home in his basement, bedroom and computer room in Roanoke, Virginia.

You will not believe the profound soulful genius contained within these naive schoolboy melodies.

December 25th, 1998 - 25 years ago to the day and his much-coveted Yamaha SU10 sampler was finally bestowed upon young Stimmy AKA Sam Lunsford: "I immediately hooked up a CD Walkman to the input jack and looped the beginning two bars of Grover Washington Jr.'s "Mercy Mercy Me". I don't know what exactly was so thrilling about hearing two measures of music repeating over and over but it was so infectious and hypnotizing and enthralling to me. I'll never forget that ecstatic rush of making my first loop - an uncontrollable, gleeful smile plastered all over my face." When you hear the pocket breakbeat symphonies featured here on Cool Green Trees, you'll feel the same sense of frisson.

In the wake of his Stones Throw breakthrough - Exotic Worlds & Master Treasures - Stimulator Jones was pegged by many as a 90s throwback artist. However, he literally IS a 90s artist. He's been recording music most of his life and he's now 40. He created the bulk of Cool Green Trees as a teenager. Everything before 2004 was recorded when Sam was still in school. He was in 8th grade when he made the 1999 tracks - he didn't even have his learner's permit. This album is a snapshot of a young man in a simpler time. Things were still mysterious back then and he was flying blind, relying on his ears and having to figure things out for himself: "I had no road map for becoming a beatmaker. I have been collecting music since I was a kid, I am a lifelong digger and seeker of cool and interesting sounds. I was there in the golden age of Hip Hop, and while I may have been a suburban white kid in Roanoke, Virginia, I was tuned in and I bought so many classic albums when they came out. I was attracted to Hip Hop because of the musical and poetic quality. I was hypnotized by the rhythms, partially because I was a drummer. I didn't brag about collecting my breakbeat records or making beats - it was something I did in isolation. It wasn't something I generally wanted to bring attention to and it didn't really score me any cool points. I certainly wasn't flexing on social media about it."

Hell, he can do that now!

Opener "Pharoah Jones" was inspired by Yesterday's New Quintet and Madlib's ability to capture that classic 70s sound whilst playing all the instruments. Sam created this one stoned afternoon by laying down a 2 bar loop and a shaker loop on his Yamaha SU700 sampler. He hung a microphone from the ceiling and played his Yamaha Stage Custom drum kit over the top before adding ender Rhodes and playing his dad's Selmer tenor sax through an Electro Harmonix Memory Man echo pedal. Yes! Up next, "Ghost Gospel" utilises a dope loop from a gospel record and adds some soul-funk drums overtop, whilst working that filter knob. Says Sam: "The loop reminded me of something Ghostface would rap over. The sample was in 3/4 waltz time but I flipped it for a 4/4 groove, a technique I picked up from RZA. "Ill Feeling" uses sped-up pieces from a dusty old funk record and putting them over a classic NOLA drum loop; gain chopping up a slow, bluesy 3/4 time signature and bending it to a 4/4 groove. Classy shit. "Capital Punishment" features drums tapped in live, inspired by MF Doom's Special Herbs series. "Do Not Adjust" consists loops found on a compilation of 70s French music at Happy's Flea Market, a classic Roanoke digging spot.

The sublime, evocative title track, "Cool Green Trees" was created when Sam was still living at home. He dumped samples off his SU10 into the family desktop and arranged them in a demo version of Pro Tools: "This track was sort of my ode to the DJ Shadow style of sample based production. Super spacey, slow, and moody. The heavily filtered drums were inspired by Alec Empire's 'Low on Ice' album. I later added some scratches and sounds from a Spider Man storybook record." "Chill Scratch" snags the final bit of a bossanova record and pairs it with a drum loop before adding experimental scratching run through an Electro Harmonix Memory Man echo pedal. "Poisonous Fumes" was made using a sampler, mixer and a turntable; a kind of mixtape beat collage with added scratches and sounds from various records. Using dialogue from superhero records was a nod to Madlib. "Welcome Aboard The Starship" is dark, downtempo trip-hop with a spooky bent. Sam paired a slow, hard drum loop with a guitar sample grabbed off a psychedelic rock record. To finish, he added various backwards sounds and weird atmospheric effects and a little scratching. Swoon.

Side B opens with "Keep On Runnin", made on a borrowed Roland SP202 sampler. Having always loved the sound of the Lo-Fi filter on those machines, reminiscent of the Emu SP1200, Sam always imagined Del or another of the Hieroglyphics crew rapping over this beat. You can certainly hear why. "Sounds Impossible" sees Sam experimenting with layering multiple kick samples at different volumes to create patterns similar to those heard by Showbiz and Lord Finesse during their God-level 1995 period. "Painted Faces" was made by chopping up a REDACTED record which he had gotten from Happy's Flea Market and paired it with a REDACTED drum loop. By the time Sam recorded "The Knew Style", he had acquired a shitty old 1960s portable turntable off eBay. It didn't function properly when he bought it but his brother opened it up, cleaned it out and got it working: "I remember he told me that there was a bunch of sand inside of it when he opened it up, as if its previous owner had taken it to the beach. I would take that turntable on my Happy's Flea Market digs so I could preview records...that's how I found this loop."

"Chicken Wing Blues Sauce" loops up a classic blues joint and pairs it with some REDACTED drums. A bit of filtering and arranging et voilà! "Kool Breeze", from 1999, is one of Sam's oldest surviving beats, as is "Sexx Bullets". The Roots sampled the same record, leaving Sam frustrated yet vindicated. "Soul Child" was an early SU10 creation, looping a dusty old Soul Children 45 and pairing it with 70s rock drum loops to great effect. "Take Off Runnin" was another loop found digging with a portable turntable. Paired with some boom bap drums it makes for a hypnotic head-nod groove. "Centurian" was intended to be a little beat interlude a la Pete Rock. The sample is from a sun-dappled soft-psych record and it's paired with a Robin Trower drum loop that just happens to fit perfectly. Sometimes you slap things together kind of haphazardly and magic happens. "Bozack" was the first beat Sam made using Pro Tools, his first foray into using chopped sounds instead of loops, an exciting new world. "Church" is beat interlude using a Phil Upchurch loop with the "Long Red" drums - a favourite break of Dilla et al. Sam was really on a tear in late 2004, probably because he was unemployed and phoneless and able to just make beats all day. He made "Splash One" on a borrowed Yamaha SU700 and again was experimenting with tapping the drums in live with his fingers, instead of using a loop or sequenced pattern. Channeling 9th Wonder, Sam used a water splash sound effect from a Batman record as a percussive element, hence the title (also a 13th Floor Elevators reference). The main loop is a backwards portion of one of his favourite Roy Ayers songs.

"Hank" is another fun little beat interlude thing, created on a borrowed Roland SP202 sampler with the fantastic Lo-Fi effect that resembled the Emu SP1200 at a fraction of the price. "73 goatee", from 99, is another of his oldest surviving beats, created in his bedroom with his Yamaha SU10 and his brother's Vestax MR-300 4-track recorder: "This one will always feel special. I can remember having a feeling all the way back then on the night that I created it that this was a solid beat with a catchy loop. There was something in the Fender Rhodes melody that resonated with me emotionally, and I had never heard a producer sample that portion before. I felt like I had found my own unique sound, my own unique loop. It came from an Ahmad Jamal '73. I actually even recorded myself rapping and scratching over this beat way back then, I still have that version in all its imperfect sloppy glory."

Sam explains just how much these tracks mean to him: "They all have immense historical and sentimental value and I'm proud of them. These beats come from an innocent, simple time when I was just figuring out how to craft these sounds. They're something very personal to me. They are the initial part of a journey that I really was taking *alone*. There was no YouTube. I couldn't Google shit. I didn't even know any other beatmakers, producers or DJs in my town that could teach me anything. It was always just me, alone, in a room with some equipment - chasing the funky symphonies that filled my head and my dreams. What I was doing wasn't cool. Most of my peers thought I was a weirdo and couldn't care less. Creating these sounds was an anti-social endeavour. In a sense, I felt like it was me against the world, and all I had to instruct and assist me were the recordings produced by my heroes - RZA, DJ Premier, Erick Sermon, Beatminerz, Showbiz, Diamond D, Beatnuts, Prince Paul, The Bomb Squad, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, E-Swift, Mista Lawnge, DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, Peanut Butter Wolf, El-P and so many more...I dedicate this collection to them, and to my older brother Joe who has always been a musical and technical guiding light for me.

This was a time before every kid was a self-described producer and beatmaker, before everyone had a DAW, before Kanye and "chipmunk soul", before Red Bull beat battles, before there was any social media beyond chat rooms and AOL Instant Messenger, before Soundcloud, before SP-404 mania, before lo-fi beats to study to, before Splice, before targeted ads for MIDI chord packs, etc. In 99 when I told people that I had a sampler and made beats I was mostly met with bewildered confusion and indifference. Kids and adults alike would wonder why I got this weird machine for Christmas instead of something worthwhile like a Playstation or a mountain bike or even a guitar for that matter because at least that could be used to make "real music". Back then, sampling was still not widely respected as an art form - it was seen as lazy, talentless and unoriginal at best and outright criminal theft at worst. I had gotten respect for playing drums and guitar and things of that nature but this was a step in the wrong direction in the eyes of many."

The cover photo is a picture of Sam standing on his back porch in the latter part of 1998, just before he got his first sampler. He was 13 years old, in 8th grade. His dad took the picture with his 35mm film camera: "I actually wanted to be pointing my dad's .22 pistol at the camera lens but he wouldn't let me. He gave me an old walking cane to use instead. The Tommy Hilfiger puffer jacket came from the lost and found at William Fleming High School where my mom worked as a secretary. I was thrilled when she brought it home because we never spent money on expensive name brand clothing like that - we were for the most part strictly a sale rack, bargain bin, thrift store, yard sale, flea market kind of family when it came to clothes. My watch is some cheap off-brand fake gold department store watch." Mastering for this vinyl edition was overseen by Be With regular Simon Francis and it was cut by the esteemed Cicely Balston at Abbey Road Studios to be pressed in the Netherlands by Record Industry.

After a 5 years break, there are finally all new songs from ECHO WEST. On their 9th album they present 10 analog Minimal Wave / Electro tracks (incl. one bonustrack) in the style of early minimal electro heroes. During the creation of these songs, analog equipment was used consciously, in order to do justice to the spirit and feeling of their EBM idols THE KLINIK, VOMITO NEGRO and especially DAF.

A homage to the revolutionary “analog 80s” and a departure or breakout after the long Corona-forced break and the endless weeks in isolation. 10 songs to dance to and enjoy a new freedom.

The Boo Radleys releasen eine remasterte 30-Jahre-Jubiläumsausgabe ihres genreübergreifenden Meisterwerks Giant Steps (Creation Records), dem 'NME #2 Album des Jahres 1993', das sich sowohl in den Top 25 von Pitchforks 'The 50 Best Shoegaze Albums Of All Time' als auch in deren 'The 50 Best Britpop Albums' befindet, sowie zu den '1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die' zählt. Inklusive des Singleklassikers Lazarus.

Bjarki launches creative hub Differance Engine with new four-track EP, ‘Look At Yourself Pt.1’

The project sees the founder combine with creative Thomas Harrington-Rawle, building on the pair's recent AV show ‘Look At Yourself’ with a wealth of new projects and releases slated for 2023.

DJ, producer, live artist and label owner Bjarki, full name Bjarki Rúnar Sigurðarson, launches his latest creative project Differance Engine and label Differance with a brand new EP in February. Welcoming a new home for the Icelandic favourite to release and showcase audio-visual projects, the creation of Differance Engine sees him reunite with London-based creative and partner-in-crime Thomas Harrington-Rawle - the creator of Care More, featured on Nowness, ARTE and more.

Set to become the central focus for all things creative, Difference Engine will serve as a diverse ‘mother hub’ for a myriad of new projects from the pair, including GUM Magazine - an experimental print publication set to challenge existing publications and zines with a focus real conversations and forward-thinking audiovisual work - while also absorbing Bjarki’s longstanding imprint bbbbbb recors next year. The launch arrives on the heels of the duo's recent conceptual audiovisual show ‘Look At Yourself’ exploring and experimenting with ‘AI’ technology during ADE at Amsterdam’s renowned Nxt Museum, with forthcoming appearances in Foligno, Italy on 29th December and in London in the New Year.

Opening 2023, the label boss unveils the first EP in a three-part series, ‘Look At Yourself Part 1’. Comprised of four expansive originals, the release welcomes a first look at the new audiovisual direction crafted and shaped by Sigurðarson and Harrington-Rawle, featuring his recently released single ‘Do You Like Yourself’, and new single ‘I Wish I Was A Mode’ - out 9th December..

“Differance Engine is mine and Thomas’ new platform where we will be testing out all kinds of material. It will also operate as a label and an engine which will run both bbbbbb records and GUM Magazine. There are a lot of magazines dying out and having a hard time surviving. Thomas and I want to show some depth into the hearts and minds of individuals through music, visuals and with words. 2023 will be the year of vulnerability and real talks.” - Bjarki.

Wandering the line between perceived and actual reality, the four productions balance playful AI-generated voices with darker sonics, deconstructing societal issues and exploring human-to-human interaction within cyberspace. Accompanied by a warping video, B2 ‘I Wish I Was a Model’ is a trippy dive into Harrington-Rawle’s ever-evolving world as he warps and twists human subjects amongst their surroundings.

MC/Lyricist Raw Poetic (aka Jason Moore) announces Space Beyond The Solar System, his new album out December 9th on 22nd Century Sound, and presents its lead single, “A Mile In My Head,” featuring legendary saxophonist Archie Shepp. Although Space Beyond The Solar System could be considered a concept album by its outcome, its inception started from a string of experiments between Moore and frequent collaborator/producer Damu the Fudgemunk. These initial sessions had no specific direction but became the catalyst for what would become a prolific wave of Raw Poetic projects; five of which have been released since 2020.

It was these initial sessions and the demos they produced that convinced Shepp—who is also Raw Poetic’s uncle—to record what would eventually become 2020’s Ocean Bridges, a collaborative album from Raw, Damu, and Shepp, praised by The FADER as “modern masterpiece at the intersection of rap and jazz.” The trio’s collaboration continues on Space Beyond The Solar System, which boasts three tracks featuring the jazz legend, including today’s “A Mile In My Head,” a sprawling and thought-provoking album stand-out.

At two hours, absorbing Space Beyond in its entirety may be overwhelming for most, especially in the present day, but Raw and Damu are very aware of this. With a total of over 40-plus years of experience between the vocalist and producer, the two of them went down memory lane taking every influence and experience in their personal histories to extract ingredients for a groundbreaking statement. Space Beyond The Solar System is their most comprehensive environment to date.

The creation of Space Beyond sparked a conversation between Raw and Damu about their creative chemistry, with Raw likening their direction to a “space beyond the solar system.” His comment was a eureka moment for the two artists, giving their wandering efforts a sense of definition that was needed. “I think we’ve been exploring music beyond our limits for a few years,” says Raw Poetic. “It’s hard to tell where we’ll land, but we are constantly pushing our way out of the norm. Hence the title, ‘Space Beyond the Solar System.’ It’s just to say, this is new territory for us. Where the sky was once the limit, now it’s just the start.”

Back in stock on Orange Vinyl !


Dynamite Cuts 45s series is proud to release two Funk n Soul super-sassy, sexy KILLERS by 9th Creation both taken from the mega rare LP “Bubble Gum”.
Both tracks are first time on 7” vinyl “Bubble Gum” b/w “Rule of mind” Massive hip-hop samples and rare-groove club tracks. This release will be in two parts black vinyl x500 and a limited x150 numbered Orange vinyl
A – “Bubble Gum” – Hip Hop; sexy, dirty funk, classic rare groove. Just the Real Thang….genius track. Sampled by ‘Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth’; also, by ‘Artefacts’
B – “Rule Of Minds” – Mid-tempo funk n soul groove, with soulful vocals, and a classic sample. What more do you need for First time on 45?Sampled by 3rd Base; Black Moon and The Alchemist

180g double LP, black vinyl, 45 RPM. Berlin-based psychedelic post-punk group The Third Sound (led by Brian Jonestown Massacre guitarist Hákon Adalsteinsson) are set to release a new Fuzz Club Session LP on December 9th. Recorded live at Berlin's Marie Antoinette club, the 10-track double album sees The Third Sound perform a discography-spanning set with tracks from last year's highly-praised 'First Light' LP (2021), 'All Tomorrow's Shadows' (2018), 'Gospels of Degeneration' (2016), 'The Third Sound of Destruction and Creation' (2013) and 'The Third Sound' (2011). The session is released on vinyl, digitally and as a series of videos by Fuzz Club Records. It's number 19 in the London label's ongoing Fuzz Club Session series which has also seen the likes of A Place To Bury Strangers, Night Beats, Holy Wave, Heaters, The Entrance Band, The Myrrors, Lumerians, The Underground Youth, 10000 Russos and more.

Salsoul is the 9th studio album by trailblazing Filipino-African American singer Joe Bataan, featuring his classic single ‘Mujer Mia’.
Re-issued for the first time since 1973 on limited edition blue translucent vinyl, Salsoul was born out of Bataan’s love for salsa & soul, which developed during his youth in New York’s Spanish Harlem.
Such was the impact of Bataan’s new sound, that Salsoul served as the catalyst for the creation of a label by the same name. Formed by brothers Joseph, Kenneth & Stanley Cayre, Salsoul Records spearheaded a new generation of charismatic artists that, influenced by soul, funk & Latin dance rhythms, gave the label a signature sound.
Re-emerging in samples and remixes, the Salsoul Records catalogue is proof of the label’s enduring legacy and it’s crucial role in shaping the sound of a new wave of disco.

Italian mainstay Leon makes a long-awaited debut on Hot Creations with Disco 3000. Set for release on 9th October, the three-track EP draws inspiration from a range of influences, most notably the early American house scene.

As the title suggests, Disco 3000 kicks things off in a feel-good fashion with punchy kick drums and an echoing lyric that states “making it for sure.” Groove It makes an appearance next, as spacey synths conjoin on a no-nonsense, up- tempo bassline to form a real peak-time dance number, before T-House rounds off proceedings with a fast-paced kick-hat backbone and infectious, echoing vocals.

A regular in the electronic music scene for more than a decade, Leon is no stranger to producing dance floor ready house music, having released on the likes of Relief, Defected and Crosstown Rebels to name a few. Performances at places such as Sunwaves and Pacha have helped cement his standing as one of the true heavy-hitters, whilst his recent releases, including those on Crosstown Rebels and Moan Records, have further confirmed his reputation.