Hip-Hop Vinyl New Releases - News

Munich based producer Cap Kendricks joins the MPM fam with his new album "Keepsakes". It is his third instrumental project and will be released on April 20th. Cap Kendricks is a well-known producer who has worked with some of Germanys finest MCs. His instrumental works are a rich mix of analouge sounds mixed with synths. Cap knows how to create deep atmopsheres , sometimes melancholic, sometimes bouncy, with great care to detail. His sound is influenced by Dilla, Easy Mo Bee, Flylo, Madlib, James Blake and Betty Ford Boys. But he also digs Curtis Mayfield and Fela Kuti. Cap Kendricks has recently remixed upcoming UK rap group Summers Sons and has released beats via KO-OP and Chillhop in March 2018.

Repress with new cover art & self adhesive vinyl sticker
Fredfades: SP-1200 / Eikrem: Trumpet
Remastered 300 copies
Ft. Ivan Ave, Azon Blaze, Skyblew, Lindsey Whittington
Cover by Even Suseg
For fans of J Dilla, Madlib, Mndgsn, Ivan Ave
Fredfades on the SP:1200 & Eikrem on the trumpet = "Jazz Cats". New cover art and remastered.

Fredfades is making his name in hip-hop circles worldwide as one of the most jazzy producers around. He's joined up with the gifted jazz trumpeter Kristoffer Eikrem for a full "Jazz Cats" LP. Needless to say, the project lives up to its title. The two enlist several other jazz musicians on this innovative LP, as well as rappers like Ivan Ave.

7"

After the first vinyl release (Analog Dub Sessions) Dub Communication is back on 7". This time Frenk is using his Korg MS20 to lay down an analog 'Militant Dub' bass foundation. Creating subs, stabs and catchy melody lines. A live played Melodica, dipped in spring verbs, adding a human touch to the mix. Futhermore we got atmospheric chords and heavy drums rhythms, as we know, Frenk likes to produce. For the B side, there's a heavy remix from Belgium dub producer Digid. His signature bass growl takes over, filtering and phasing through the audio spectrum. He adds more weight to the drums and new melodies on top. From the half time to the steppers rhythm as Frenk took it the other way around.

Further explorations in electro soul badness from purveyor of fine funk, Gary Gritness! On this limited 12' hand stamped disc, Gritness presents four cover versions of some choice club standards, lovingly replayed and rearranged in his own inimitable style.

Tim (aka Jean Marie Tiam)and the sadly departed Maurice Foty who died in 2011. The musical cousins hails from Bafoussam in Cameroon. Their signature vocal harmony sound may be the first thing you hear, however they also have produced a host of funkiest African funk around. They sing in their native language Ngomâlah, as well as Duala and English.

We start the album off slowly with the scene-setting and largely instrumental "Douala By Night". Tight guitar and choppy clavi drive this song along. The groove is so deep even Missy Elliot couldn't resist a cheeky sample. "Funky Bafoussam" carries on the theme and expands it to include a kick-ass horn section. "More And More" is next and here the vocals burst forth over this up tempo punchy pop-funk track. With "Love Is Light" the pair show their versatility with a smooth English-sung soul ballad.

The hopelessly upbeat "Aie" is next with its earworm keyboard riff, slice guitar and catchy falsetto vocal. "Not So Bad" brings on the boogie. "I Love Yaounde" is a smooth swinging boogie-ballad with a killer chorus hook. "Eda" is a hit from early in their career. We close of the comp with the disco funk of "Funky Boogie Love" and synth grooves of "Eya Mba".

The songs on the comp represent only a 2 year period but some of the finest from the duo. These days Tim keeps the Tim and Foty flame alive. He currently lives between France and Cameroon. A musical flame that most definitely is burning bright.

For our third Leroy Hutson 45 Acid Jazz have commissioned an exclusive edit by London DJ stars the Disco Freaks.


This see's Mr. Hutson's seminal classic Lucky Fellow make it's first appearance on 7 inch vinyl. Backed by his dance-floor winner 'Don's it make you feel good'.

This release forms part of Acid Jazz's ongoing reissue campaign of the recordings Mr. Hutson made for Curtom in the 1980s. All these releases are fully approved my Mr. Hutson, we are committed to honouring his legacy.

Aaron Hemphill veröffentlicht unter dem Namen Nonpareils sein Debütalbum "Scented Pictures"! Die Tracks des seit 2015 in Berlin lebenden Hemphills strotzen vor poppigen Ideen und üppigen Farben, doch ihre Strukturen zielen darauf ab, der Logik zu trotzen und die Songs in seltsame und neue psychedelische Ecken zu führen. Dafür begann Hemphill mit der Arbeit an "Scented Pictures", indem er stapelweise akustische Instrumenten aufnahm, während er in seinen Worten "die dümmsten Dinge tat". Er spielte Schlagzeug ohne Klickspuren, ermutigte seinen Toningenieur ihn abzulenken und spielte Klavier, während er schlecht aufgestellte Mikrofone vom Instrumentenkörper fallen ließ. Letztendlich wuchs die Klangpalette weiter und wurde durch einen breiten Sound von virtuellen Instrumenten ergänzt. Herausgekommen ist ein spannendes und nicht alltägliches Avantgarde-Werk.

Soul Jazz Records' Brasil album was recorded in Rio de Janeiro in 1994 with a host of legendary Brazilian musicians including Sivuca, Raul de Souza and singer Joyce Moreno - and has remained one of the key defining early releases from the record label.

Out-of-print for over 20 years the album has now been fully digitally re-mastered for this new 2018 edition. The album was recorded at the height of the first wave of interest in Brazilian music in London in the 1990's. Joyce and a group led by husband drummer Tutty Moreno had just been brought to the UK for the first time ever by Gilles Peterson and Brazilian music obsessive Joe Davis (and future head of Far Out Records) and performed to over 2.000 new young fans.

Singer-songwriter Joyce had been a living legend in her native Brazil ever since the Bossa Nova movement of the 1960's and had made her first record when she was just 20, and described by Antonio Carlos Jobim as 'one of the greatest singers of all time.' Joyce Moreno agreed to be involved in the project to record an album in Brazil produced with a UK sensibility and Tutty Moreno's group signed up as the house-band for the project. Stuart Baker (founder of Soul Jazz Records) and Joe Davis then flew to Rio de Janeiro, searching out studios and rehearsal spaces.

During this time in Brazil more artists signed up for the project including legendary figureheads of the Brazilian music Sivuca (who brought his own group) and trombonist Raul de Souza. Other key figures included singer/guitarist Celia Vaz who worked extensively as arranger with the legendary Quarteto Em Cy and drummer Dom Um Romao; Wanda Sá, who played in Sergio Mendes' original seminal bossa nova group Brasil 65 (during which time she married the artist Edu Lobo); and legendary saxophone/flautist Teco Cardoso whose bio reads like a who's who of Brazilian music and includes work with Edu Lobo, Dori Caymmi, Baden Powell, Joao Donato, Carlos Lyra and others.

Final piece to this Brazilian jigsaw was the addition of percussionist Pirulito, whose stunning display of self-made instruments allowed him to magically create the massive sound of Rio's Samba Schools live inside the studio. The album was recorded over one hot summer, mixed in London and then released at the end of 1994.

Over 20 years on and Soul Jazz Records' Brasil album manages to capture both an important cross-cultural musical moment in time between Brazil and London while at the same time sounding as fresh as if it was recorded today!

Following the original success of this album Soul Jazz Records' continued its love affair with Brazil and went on to release a host of Brazilian albums including classics such as Tropicalia, Brazil 70, Bossa Nova, a Bossa Nova cover art deluxe book with Gilles Peterson and releases by Sergio Mendes, Baden Powell, Edu Lobo and more.

New edition of this very rare deep spiritual jazz album (currently £400 on Discogs for an original!), first released as a private-press album in 1970 on flautist Lloyd McNeill's own Asha Record label in Washington, DC. First reissued on Soul Jazz Records' Universal Sound sub-label in 2011 (long deleted) and now available newly digitally remastered on Soul Jazz Records main label. Lloyd McNeill is an African-American flautist, painter, poet, and photographer born in Washington, D.C., in 1935. His multi-disciplinary creative life led to encounters and friendships with Nina Simone, Picasso, Eric Dolphy, Nana Vasconceles and other legendary cultural figures. Lloyd McNeill's hypnotic 'Washington Suite' was originally commissioned as a piece of music for the Capital Ballet Company in Washington, DC. McNeill grew up through the era of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and his life and work is a reflection of those ideals. In the mid-1960s he moved to France where he became friends with Picasso, working with a number of émigré-jazz musicians whilst living in Paris. In the late 1960s he taught jazz and painting workshops at the New Thing Art and Architecture Center in Washington. In the 1970s he travelled throughout Brazil and West Africa studying music, and taught music anthropology in the US. This album is released as a limited-edition 1000-copies worldwide LP (+ download code), and limited-edition 1000-copies worldwide CD edition and also as a digital album
on Soul Jazz Records.

New edition of this very rare deep spiritual jazz album first released as a private-press album in 1969 on flautist Lloyd McNeill's own Asha Record label in Washington, DC. First reissued on Soul Jazz Records' Universal Sound sub-label in 2011 (long deleted) and now available newly digitally remastered on Soul Jazz Records main label in a limited edition of 1000 copies worldwide.

Lloyd McNeill is an African-American flautist, painter, poet, and photographer born in Washington, D.C., in 1935. His multi-disciplinary creative life led to encounters and friendships with Nina Simone, Picasso, Eric Dolphy, Nana Vasconceles and other legendary cultural figures.

McNeill grew up through the era of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and his life and work is a reflection of those ideals. 'Asha' was the debut album by the Lloyd McNeill Quartet released on his own private-press record label, echoing the Civil Rights and African-American themes of the era - black economic empowerment and self-sufficiency - as well as a beautiful spirituality to the music. In the mid-1960s he moved to France where he became friends with Picasso, working with a number of émigré-jazz musicians whilst living in Paris.

In the late 1960s he taught jazz and painting workshops at the New Thing Art and Architecture Center in Washington. In the 1970s he travelled throughout Brazil and West Africa studying music and taught music anthropology in the US.

This album is released as a limited-edition 1000-copies worldwide LP (+ download code), and limited-edition 1000-copies worldwide CD edition and also as a digital album on Soul Jazz Records.

This album is released in conjunction with the album Lloyd McNeill - Washington Suite (1970) which was released last month also on Soul Jazz Records.

Artist and musician Alex Puddu, whom many already know for his "Danish Pornography" series and solo records, has written and produced the second album for his soulful band The Moonfires. A second coming that showcases strong R&B classic melodies, Afro vibes and tight funky grooves that take the listener up to a level of great bands like New Birth, Ohio Players, Mandrill, and Black Heat. This is Alex Puddu at his groovest!!!

Swiss timepieces are renowned for their precision, and they tick along nicely even under water. The mechanics, the cogs, the striking mechanism, the chronograph movements, the repeaters, the speed-up.... The fact that the cantons of this maximum-precision country should produce ultra-chilled SLO MO Dub like this, a style that has avid fans all over the world, is something we have DS & TH to thank for. The band are known for the formidable interior dynamism of their composition skills, their classic riddim craftsmanship, the psychedelic sound of their guitars, the pounding bass lines that approach infrasound levels, the space sounds and their grandiose sound dimensions. This is dub as dub can. Like few other electronically influenced styles, over the years DUB has shown itself impervious and resistant to all manner of short-lived trends. Like Bud Spencer recently laconically stated in one of his rare interviews: "DUB makes the difference." There are probably few people who - regardless of which music ghetto they inhabit - have not encountered DUB at some point.

On the new album DEEP DIVE DUB the band dives deeper than Jaques Piccard's team during their record-breaking dive in Trieste in the sixties. The focus of this repetition is the fusion of reggae, even though, instead of the lightness that is usually inherent in reggae, the album focuses on heavy grooves, grooves that drift off into fat, dark, mature places. With a hypnotic power, the musicians - all of whom are trained jazz instrumentalists - dive into a world of Space-Rock-Dub-Electro. On a couple of the tracks the band invited the Lucerne-based experimental vocalist Bruno Amstad (who has previously worked with John Zorn and Phil Minton) to contribute.Neither a slave to the great Jamaican heroes of the seventies nor lost in the great wide world of electronic dub - DS & TH tread their own path, reducing and abstracting as they dive deeper and deeper. Irony is the sword of the disenfranchised... and so DUB SPENCER & TRANCE HILL will continue to roll on - like the film duo they borrowed their name from - over the sliders and knobs of the mixing desks of this world!

Recorded at King Tubby's Studio, 1980.

Strange Valleys, the 2018 full-length from Starving Daughters, is a progression as well as a shift in sound from the LA band's already-stellar previous releases.

Make no doubt about it that the sound of Progressive Rock and Psychedelia still play a big role here but there's certainly a greater influence from Library Music on the new LP.

The Starving Daughters Vinyl Impressions blog, led by Chris Tillotson of the band, shared the music of Chris's collection of which many were Library LP's.
These records seemed to have seeped into the mind, body, and souls of the whole band on this Strange Valleys LP.
Everything from the instrumentation, the attention to melody, to the track-length shows the large appreciation they have for Library music.

That being said, this moog-heavy, psychedelic-prog-funk, California-themed record is certainly unique and adventurous.
Winding through the exotic roads of Strange Valleys is certainly a trip well worth taking over and over again.

First re-press since its original release. When The Skatalites splintered after Don Drummond's arrest for murder, McCook led The Supersonics for Duke Reid in the rocksteady and early reggae years, before becoming the pre-eminent horns arranger of the roots era. Having already fallen under the spell of John Coltrane's free jazz, Tommy had found a deeper meditational mood in the percussive rhythms of Count Ossie's Rastafarian drummers, and he brought this spiritual dimension into the militant rockers sound of the late 1970s.

McCook recorded extensively for Bunny Lee, and 'Super Star Disco Rockers', released in 1977, is a strong showcase for his meditational style of playing. The track 'Lamb's Bread Herb', a reworked version of Yabby You's 'Death Trap' with an overdubbed 'steppers' drum pattern, is a mystical highlight.

Bunny Lee: When Tommy join up with Bobby Ellis on trumpet, that is when he develop what we call his 'far east' sound. And especially when he play flute like on 'Death Trap' it give it that 'far east' sound. Or sometimes Tommy play clarinet for a different flavour. But mostly he play the tenor sax with that deeper, lower tone, like on 'Tommy's Rocking Vibration' - hear that big horn there!'

Other tracks include two cuts of Frankie Jones tunes, ('African Jumpers' and 'The Night Rose Of Sherron', both popular cuts with Fatman's sound system) and instrumental versions of Johnny Clarke and Cornell Campbell songs. Several tunes feature the higher alto sax of Lennox Brown alongside Tommy's tenor, and two tracks actually feature Lennox Brown alone.

'Super Star Disco Rockers', originally released on Dynamic Sounds' Weed Beat label, was overdubbed and mixed at King Tubby's Studio, where Bunny would line up the horns players in a spirit of healthy competition.

Featuring, among others: Sly & Robbie, Earl "Chinna" Smith, Tony Chin, Ansell Collins, Ossie Hibbert, Bobby Ellis & Lennox Brown.

Aretha Franklin is a giant both of soul and American popular music. Aretha was recognised as a talented musician at an early age. A gifted pianist and with a voice already containing the power that would become her trademark.
This collection puts a spotlight on the early Columbia years and gives a unique insight into the development of a singer who has long since become a household name.

The late 70s found Turkey in an economic slump, and there was a huge rise in political violence. Baris, who so often put out collections of singles, rose to the occasion by spending 6 months holed up with his longtime backing band the Kurtalan Ekspres. The result was this studio album of Anatolian bummer psychedelia, often unfairly overlooked because it came out in the rather un-cosmic year of 1979, but also considered his best work by many. Yep, there are still electrified versions of Turkish folk songs, and the spaceshot ARPs & Korgs of 2023' are here too, but don't expect a happy swing around the ceiling of a planetarium.

The real star of the album is the keyboard player, whose name translates to 'Sword Agent'. Yeni Bir Gun' is viciously funky & brilliantly arranged, with tidbits stolen out of the latest disco hits, & lean, mean synthesizers that emerge from the beats like carbonated bubbles. Melancholy maqams & catastrophic Korgs collide when the Turkish psych master glides unflinchingly into the grim late 70s!!

First time ever reissue, this release comes in gorgeous gatefold cover as the original, has a repro of the original poster as well, and brings an extra insert with extensive linernotes.

'Super Dub Disco Style' features the dub mixing skills of two of the most multi-talented engineers to come out of Jamaica. Pat Kelly is mainly known for the haunting singing voice that powered dozens of hit songs, and nearly had him signed to The Beatles' Apple label. And Stanley 'Barnabas' Bryan is also a deejay, percussionist and drummer, who played on big tunes for Sugar Minott, Junior Reid and Tenor Saw. Both fell under the spell of King Tubby's seismic experiments with dub music in the early 1970's, Pat Kelly as an engineer at Tubby's own studio in Waterhouse, and Barnabas at the larger Channel One Studio, run by Jo Jo and Ernest Hoo Kim.

Whereas most Channel One dub mixes sound very different from those mixed at King Tubby's, it is much harder to distinguish some dubs mixed by Barnabas, as he also introduced a filtering effect in imitation of the famous hi-pass filter, or 'squawky', at King Tubby's. It seems likely that 'Money In Your Pocket Dub', 'Super Rockers Dub', 'Portobello Special Dub' and 'The Aggrovators Special Dub' were all mixed by Barnabas at Channel One, applying an EQ sweep across the echo return.

The remaining tracks were mixed by Pat Kelly, and are mostly versions from the Ken Boothe album 'I'm Just A Man' which had been voiced in one night at King Tubby's. Pat Kelly remembers the original filter at King Tubby's as being like a secret weapon, which no one else could understand.

Pat Kelly: We had this one hi pass filter, which you could patch into whatever track you want. It effected like if you use an EQ, like a graphic, but it was this knob that you could rotate, so you get a different effect than if you was to push them up individually. When you rotate it, it's all simultaneously, and you get a different effect, you're skipping from one frequency within a few seconds. You generally use it on the track with the rhythm, the guitar, the piano, etcetera, because it's more effective at that frequency. Also often on the drum track to pick out the hi-hat - it's extra effective on those frequencies.

I probably mix about thirty LPs for Bunny Lee in my time. And in those times half the music you hear by other producers, it was really Bunny Lee give them the riddim track, and they just say they was the producer. And Bunny Lee never said anything - he never used to sell the track, just give it, and he still doing that to this day. Everybody's trying to be like Bunny, but there's only one Bunny Lee!'

Musicians include:
Sly & Robbie, Aston 'Family Man' Barrett, Earl 'Chinna' Smith, Ansell Collins, Jackie Mittoo, Gladstone Anderson, Bobby Ellis & Tommy McCook.

The legendary 1972 album from Celia, arranged by Arthur Verocai.

Célia Regina Cruz recorded four self-titled albums for Continental between 1971 and 1977, 'Amor' in 1982 plus several more before she sadly passed away late in 2017. Célia was a Brazilian vocalist who worked frequently with master arranger-composer Arthur Verocai in her early years and many other heavyweights
over the course of her extensive career.

This, her second self-titled LP from 1972, features an all-star line up, including Arthur Verocai, Erasmo Carlos, Roberto Carlos, Marcos Valle, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Nonato Buzar and Vinicius de Moraes, among others.

Célia's version of 'Na Boca do Sol' - taken from this album - is arguably her most well-known and well-loved song. An incredible take on Verocai's original, featuring waling fuzz guitars, strings, piano, horns and drums.

Needless to say clean, original versions of this record now change hands for
silly money.

Official reissue in replica of original gatefold artwork.

Reissue of 1983 release

Fresh from touring with Hugh Masekela ( The Boy's Doin' It'), Gboyega Adelaja goes into the lab to drop heavy keyboard science on his Moog and Fender Rhodes. Its Joe Sample meets the Afro Funk of BLO. With names like Jake Sollo on guitars, Mike Odumusu (BLO, Osibisa) on bass guitar and Gasper Lawal on percussion. This is a top quality, Afro-Funk, all-stars affair that shines from the inspired interventions, masterly arrangements to the sublime production.
.
Additional Notes:

I was already following Hugh Masekela when I met him, he was an outstanding musician and I knew of his collaboration with
Hedzoleh, that band brought him nearer to many of us, because he was playing authentic African melodies with the Hedzoleh
sound which was mostly percussion oriented. Yes I knew about Hugh's music before I met him. Infact when we started playing
together, he insisted that I stay with him in our three bedroom apartment, other members of the band had their own apartments,
but Hugh and myself shared the same 3 bedroom apartment'.

We were touring, under Casablanca owned by Neil Boggart, we toured as professional musicians, flying to our gigs. There was
a time when we were touring with George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic we had two luxury buses deployed for our use.
We made many friends where ever we went to play, we met many big and popular musicians who came to watch our shows, the
Spinners came to see us in Detroit, we met Wayne Shorter of Weather Report, Freddie Hubbard, we played a gig with Herbie
Hancock at the Carnegie Hall New York City, we toured almost all the 50 States of the US.'

Reissue of 1984 release

Wolf was a giant in more ways than one. At 6ft 3inches tall and weighing nearly 300 lbs in his prime, he was an imposing figure. But he was also a titan in terms of the blues, possessing a voice that sounded as if he gargled each morning on a glass filled with barbed wire. "Smokestack Lightnin'" is probably the most covered and "How Many More Years" was the first and most successful of four songs Wolf placed on the Billboard national R&B charts in the 1950s.

Reissue of 1983 release

Arkansas native, Lee Moore moved to Memphis in 1975 with only one goal in mind: to make it big in the music industry and to release music that would be played in New York, L.A and everywhere in between.

As a singer and songwriter Lee Moore spent the 1980s collaborating in Memphis with the best of the best session musicians and vocalists from labels like Volt and Stax Records to record and release futuristic boogie, soul, and funk. Lee Moore unfortunately never got close to reach his goals of fame and fortune.

Past Due records have saved the day yet again by reissuing for the first time the West Coast inspired funk full length 'Le Gamby - Double OO Too Sweet' from 1985, truly a rarity and another glimpse of the unheralded genius of Lee Moore. Yet again, this rare LP is virtually a ghost, known only to the hardcore Record collectors and Boogie Funk aficionado's. Now is the time!

Great rendition of legendary Burning Spear tune, with melodica & nyabinghi drums.

Harlem-based rapper Princess Nokia releases her 1992 Deluxe album via Rough Trade Records. This deluxe edition is an expanded version of last year's breakout mixtape 1992, featuring eight brand new tracks which have been fully remastered. The album is available for the first time on CD and 2xLP on November 10th.

Ras G and Moresounds explore the outer reaches of sound system culture for Dub-Stuy's new collaborative series of EPs. Brooklyn-based label Dub-Stuy kicks off 2018 with the inaugural release of a new EP series dedicated to unearthing and celebrating the outer reaches of sound system culture. Taking its cue from the classic dub releases where two producers would face off with their own versions, Dub-Stuy's Meets series brings together artists who have a clear dub influence but do not operate solely within the sphere of the dub and reggae world. The first such meeting is between Los Angeles beat supremo Ras G (Brainfeeder, Stones Throw) and Paris junglistic dub scientist Moresounds (Cosmic Bridge, Astrophonica).

Ras G Meets Moresounds features two brand new productions from each artist exploring the more experimental side of dub. On his side of the release Ras G freaks traditional dub riddims in a hip-hop style by slowing the bpm down, amping up the bass and smothering the tracks with echo and reverb. Gorilla Glue' adds animal sounds and a hypnotizing flute melody reminiscent of Augustus Pablo, while Global Shit-uation' goes deeper by juxtaposing bright keys with a wall of sirens and computer noises, as if Sun Ra had landed in Kingston for a jam with Tubby.

For his half of the release Moresounds taps into the melting pot of energy he's become best known for, a perfect blend of dance music, hip-hop and dub. We A Tribe' brings together traditional dub melodies with menacing synth lines, a steady kick snare pattern and a rowdy bassline. Deep Base' taps into the steppers vibe with a marching drum beat and floating percussion rubbing against ominous melodies and an ocean of sampled sounds.

A celebration of the timeless impact of dub on modern music, Ras G Meets Moresounds shows how versatile dub music can be today and how far it has come from its Kingston roots. Strap in, light one up and get ready for a deep dub dive.