Hip-Hop Vinyl New Releases - News

We begin 2018 on a slightly spiritual note, and a brand new Excursion. A vinyl-only 7" flip courtesy of a delightful dream-team duo, Tall Black Guy and Karizma.

A real pleasure to welcome these two to the fold, here with 'A Franklin Black Excursion' - a double-header of beautiful re-interpretations of a classic by the Queen of Soul...

For those that don't know, Tall Black Guy is a regular favourite from our sister-label, First Word Records, on which he's released two albums over the past few years ('8 Miles To Moenart' and 'Let's Take A Trip'). Detroit-born Terrel Wallace has built a solid rep in recent times as one of the most revered beatmakers on the planet. Initially pricking peoples ears with a series of incredible edits, he has garnered fans far & wide from Gilles to Jazzy Jeff (with whom he's become a regular stalwart of The PLAYlist Retreat sessions). Production, remixes and collabs have included Moonchild, Little Dragon, Masego, Terrace Martin, Zara McFarlane, The Mouse Outfit and Stro Elliot.

Karizma, aka Kaytronik, aka Kris Klayton, is a deeply prolific cat from Baltimore, releasing music since the mid-nineties on assorted tips, Deep House & Techno, Broken Beat, Hip Hop and Jazz, including his massive club track last year, 'Work It Out'. His collabs include DJ Spen, Kenny Dope, Peven Everett, Osunlade, Atjazz and releases on labels like Strictly Rhythm, Defected, BBE and Sonar Kollectiv. The list of remix projects is remarkable too, including among it Mary J Blige, Lenny Kravitz, Roy Ayers and Jocelyn Brown. Kris has been awarded various accolades as a DJ over the years, his technical prowess on CDJs being the stuff of legends.

'Gifted People' has a low-slung double-time beat as its backbone, cruising across a classic piano loop, whilst the flip sees 'Kaytronik's Gifted & Black Remix' transposing the same groove to a solid deep no-messin' 4/4 beat and bassline warm enough to thaw that pesky Winter ice off your dancing sneaks. Both sides are heads-down lights-off dancery affairs.

These tracks were originally only available from TBG's fan site on a very limited release back in 2016. This is the first time these have ever been dropped on to the masses on a readily-available physical form! Don't expect this one to hang around for very long though... Essential piece of wax.

9xLP Boxset featuring Biggie's four albums: Ready to Die 2xLP, Born Again 3xLP, Life After Death 2xLP & Junior Mafia’s Conspiracy 2xLP. Bundled together for the first time, pressed on clear vinyl and housed in a boxed set.

Reissue from 1988 originally, killer digital Oswald Creary production

Names You Can Trust is proud to continue the tradition of collaborations with the finest musical talents the world has to offer, sin fronteras. The latest release features a pair of cuts from the renowned Ava Rocha, backed by punk cumbiero all-stars & NYCT alumni, Los Toscos. Rocha, the daughter of Latin American film legends from Brazil and Colombia and a multi-disciplinarian triple threat herself (music, film, visual art), calls both countries home and has long held a reputation for no-holds-barred artistic commentary on the political follies of the neighboring, intertwined societies.

What she brings on her latest single easily stands alone on musical merit, but gains greater nuance and significance as the powerful lyrics emerge. With a disarming chanteuse vocal delivery and a stark groove that would be equally at home on an early Tom Waits record or in the psychedelic jam sessions of a '70s Fuentes group, this double sider is ultimately a great introduction to Rocha's Latinx punk social commentary but should also slide right in with DJs looking for a versatile addition to their boxes.

Reissue of harmonious vocal 1987 roots.

Born in 1973 in Paris, DJ Cam has been one of the most influential artists in the "French Touch" era, thanks to his participation in La Yellow 357 together with Dimitri From Paris.

DJ Cam is back with an instrumental hip hop album - a tribute to his favourite producers and MC’s, and to his childhood spent in New York during the summer of ‘92. Cam’s beat are infused with the cool daisy age vibes popularised by A Tribe Called Quest and J Dilla.

The vinyl album contains 2 exclusive remixes made by DJ Cam for Nas and Cypress Hill: only available on this vinyl release.

Reissue from 1988 originally, top drawer digital Oswald Creary production

Reissue from 1988 originally,
top digital Oswald Creary production

"Guitar/Rebellion

Matt Karmil's fifth album is a meditative collection of woozy loops and soft focus house. STS371 is the follow-up to IDLE033, - - - -, ++++ and 2018's acclaimed Will. Matt Karmil is British born - growing up in the rural town of Salisbury, near Stonehenge. Suffering a prolonged illness as a child, he spent much time indoors whiling away the long hours by playing with a classical guitar. Eventually he was well enough to see the world that had almost left him behind, and he spent his early twenties as an international traveller, DJing, record collecting and working as a producer-engineer in London, Paris, Stockholm and Berlin. In 2012 he decided to settle on Cologne âÇ" a city famed for its excellent club scene and ultra-minimal take on techno via the collective of artists and producers around the Kompakt label. With a studio established in Cologne, Matt made his LP debut with the well received (but hard to Google) "----", combining dusty samples and elegant tape hiss with scuba-diving grooves and minimalist vibes. In the same year he released the jubilant club anthem 'So You Say' on Tim Sweeney's Beats In Space label and remixed John Talabot and Axel Boman's (Talaboman) single 'Sideral'. Recent years have seen a raft of new releases from Matt, remixing XPress 2 for Skint, the albums idle 033 and ++++, as well as 12"s for YumAc Records, Idle Hands, Endless Flight and Studio Barnhus, received with great reviews in publications from The Wire to Resident Advisor and beyond. 2016 also saw Matt much in demand for his skills in engineering, mixing and mastering, working extensively with Matias Aguayo for Crammed Discs, Kornel Kovacs for Studio Barnhus and Talaboman for R&S, among many others. At the invitation of artist Christine Sun Kim, Matt composed a sub-20Hz piece for Bounce House at Sound Live Tokyo 2015, while his video collaboration with Boston's MIT Media Lab, Time Moods, was premiered in late 2017.

Killer 1989 digital bizniz from the one and only

Repress!

This instalment follows on from our acclaimed 'Volume One' - Lauren Laverne's 'Compilation Of The Week', supported by the likes of Disclosure, Jeremy Underground, Horsemeat Disco, Hunee and Laurent Garnier. 'Volume Two' picks up where the last one left off — with a touch more soul and disco — records we've been spinning in our DJ sets and on the radio show of the same name, that inspired this series.

We opened a new record shop in the centre of Brighton late in 2016 - 13 years after the mighty London store closed it's door. Now situated on the ground floor of our Gloucester Yard home the shop is open every Saturday to sell records that we love, some of which you'll hear on the radio shows, and on this album.

It's been a resounding success and we've been able to host sunny instore events and Facebook Live broadcasts with guests including Nick The Record, Dimensions Festival family Debora Ipekel, Flamingods, Slugabed, The Physics House Band and Remi Kolawole & Sensible J.

In 2017 and beyond, we will be releasing more of our official reissues including lesser-known essentials from Brazil, such as Gal Costa's 'India', Robson Jorge & Lincoln Olivetti, Burnier & Cartier alongside 1980's Mexican psychedelia from Luis Perez. We've been digging deep, and will share another edition of our 'The Original Sound of...' series, this time across the border from Mali to neighbouring Burkina Faso. As ever, you'll hear these first, on our radio shows.

There will be more 'Mr Bongo Presents' events - we brought Alain Mion & Cortex to the Jazz Cafe in London in 2017 - and we've highly anticipated slots at Bestival and Lost Village festivals, plus a return to RAPPCATS in Los Angeles, more guest shows on Worldwide FM and NTS Radio and, of course, the continuation
of our own radio shows.

Compiled by David 'Mr Bongo' Buttle and Gareth Stephens,
plus a few personal favourites from Gary Johnson, Ville Marttila and Graham Luckhurst.

12" reissue of killer cuts from the Canadian label, Oswald Creary's Half Moon.