Hip-Hop Vinyl New Releases - News

Aloe Blacc's affecting voice, perceptive lyrics, and dapper sartorial flair are already familiar to music lovers around the world. The soulful singer-songwriter co-wrote and provided vocals for Swedish DJ Avicii's international hit single ''Wake Me Up,'' which hit No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs and Dance/Electronic Songs charts, as well as in over 100 countries around the world, including the U.K., where it became the fastest-selling single of 2013.

It is the latest global hit that Blacc has been involved with. In 2010, his international Top 10, platinum-selling single ''I Need A Dollar'' surged across the world, ringing out from the streets of Paris to the soul clubs of London, combining social consciousness with irresistible pop. Throughout 2011, Blacc and his touring band, The Grand Scheme, hit the road in support of Blacc's second solo album and international breakthrough Good Things, turning in memorable sets at iconic festivals like Montreux Jazz in Switzerland and Glastonbury in the UK. Blacc performed ''I Need A Dollar'' on the French TV programs Taratata and Le Grand Journal, as well as the influential British music show Later... with Jools Holland, spurring the track to become the de facto anthem to the post-Great Recession recovery. Blacc has cast an eye toward expanding his phenomenal European success to America. It's where the California native was born and raised, and where he has been a voice on the indie hip-hop scene since high school. It's also where most people know ''I Need A Dollar'' as the theme to the HBO series How To Make it In America.

This year Blacc made his first major-label debut via XIX Recordings/Interscope Records in September with the release of his EP, entitled ''Wake Me Up''. Blacc has also been in the studio working on his upcoming album, Lift Your Spirit, with such songwriters and producers as Pharrell, DJ Khalil and Harold Lilly, among others.

A treasury of unreleased rare and hard to get mixes from the first generation of master tapes.

Dinked repress two tracker from two different artists from the Phillipines & Peru respectively. Angelina Goalie was a goalkeeper/Captain for a Filipino sunday league soccer team just outside her home town of Manila.Recorded in the wet season when the monsoon downpour kept the team off a water logged pitch some of the squad who were musicians used the time to knock out cover versions of Stax and Motown hits.Rock Steady is one of better known instrumental tracks they eventually went on to record as The Football Funkateers.On the flip Louis Perez & The Peruvian Persuasions were often found improvising guitars,percussion and drums with hand made instruments found/made at the local rubbish tip. Their repetoire was generally heavy breaks inflicted latin styled covers of songs originally made by USA pop acts of the time slipping in an original compositions that would sit nicely next to material you might have heard by the likes of Fania Allstars & Ray Baretto

One night in 2011 King Midas Sound's Roger Robinson returned to Brixton from touring and inadvertently walked into the centre of the London riots. Through the flames and smoke he felt compelled to tell the stories of the people he saw rioting on the street that night. With disrupt's dub soundtrack highlighting the triumphs and tribulations in the lives of the people of Brixton, the album unfolds like a documentary film, extending from the epicentre of the riots and rippling out from there. Roger showcases all his poetry and singing styles over the sonic tower blocks and underground caverns of disrupt's dub soundscapes, evoking the golden era of dub poetry of the likes of Prince Far I, Big Youth and Linton Kwesi Johnson - a time when dub poetry made you dance in the club but also made you think on the way home. Done with lots of voltage, old school samplers, DIY synths, home made delays, dictaphones and even onboard computer mics this gritty disc will take you straight to Brixton's streets. Cover artwork by Elen G. / MyLord

Snakehips are always hitting the top spot. Last year saw them hit the higher-region of the Hype Machine chart multiple times with their remixes of the likes of Banks, Raury, Bondax and The Weeknd. This year's different though. Judging from the strength of latest single "Forever (Pt.II)", they're still going to be racking up the plays but it's going to come from their own compositions rather than remixes.

First ever legit vinyl reissue of this obscure Cosmic Disco / Balearic / Afro gem from Mexico, originally released as a private pressing in 1978 and featuring famous drummer Jesús Muñoz Tilico', a giant musician who appeared on countless recordings and accompanied famous figures like Paul Mauriat and Carl Tjader among many others.

Four superb long tracks including the Cosmic underground club classic Ritual Song'.

Hot Pepper was a studio project created by Mexican drummer / producer /arranger Jesús Muñoz Tilico' who in the late 70s decided to record an album in a disco-funk vein, helped by some of his friends who were top session musicians. Spanglish Movement' was the result, written and produced by Tilico', released in 1978 as a tiny private edition housed in a fabulous Afro cover. Being Tilico' an enormous drummer, you can expect here lots of heavy drums, congas and percussion, surrounded by crazy space synths, male-female vocals, Latin horns, Afro touches and occasional fuzz guitar.

*Insert with liner notes and rare photos.

File under: Disco, Funk, Balearic, Cosmic Disco, Space Disco, Latin...

2 of the most iconic hip hop breaks to come out of the Salsoul camp: Instant Funk's "The Funk Is On" & Gaz's "Sing Sing". Neither version ever released on 7", & the Gaz appears as a DJ friendly Undercover Brother edit.

Classic early funk sounds from Johnnie "I'm Hungry" Morisette. A sure-shot on every dance floor, not only due to the monster drum break.ORIGINAL VINTAGE 45RPM SINGLE - NO RE-ISSUE!

Repress!

THE BROTHERS first caught our eye in 1975 with the release of their RCA album Disco Soul featuring a cover version of Carl Douglas' King Fu Fighting', an instrumental take on Barry White's You're My First, My Last, My Everything' and, of course, the superb Are You Ready For This'. Blackpool Mecca were certainly ready as it soon filled the floor and, 40 years on, it's still filling the dance floor. Vying for attention are The Trumains with their 1977 New York smooth disco anthem Ripe For The Pickin'', their final recording.

The ever popular imprint 'Mellow Mellow Right On' kick off the new year with two fantastic re-edits of much sought after boogie and modern soul classics.....


The in demand up-tempo killer 'She's a Super Lady' by Luther Vandross gets a little re edit set to re-ignite dance floors once again.....


Tatsuro Yamashita's Modern soul classic 'Love Talkin' gets a new edit & will be unleashed to a whole new audience to round off another must have Mellow Mellow Right On 7 inch this time on orange crush vinyl...

Soak up the sound of sunshine with this fantastic EP of super hot Caribbean disco delights. Featuring the awesome 'Is It Groovy Now' by Calypso legend Duke, an irresistible party-starting disco soca hybrid taken from his impossible to find 1981 LP 'Over & Over & Over Again', followed by Tremille & The Jamals' 'If You Feel Like', a floor-filling funk bomb from the Virgin Islands. The flip side keeps up the pressure with the in-demand dub version of the mighty 'De Hardis' from Trinidadian artist Shadow, a heavy hypnotic masterpiece with a fat driving b-line and crazily beautiful strings. Lastly representing St Kitts & Nevis, we have Gerald PJ Browne with his sublime disco funk rarity 'Sexy Lady'.

Quality reissue of the highly sought-after promo 12' of the legendary Idris Muhammed's incredible 1977 disco classic 'Could Heaven Ever Be Like This' - eight and a half mesmerising minutes of hypnotic slow-building disco-funk huge on the early NYC disco scene which became an anthem at Mancuso's Loft parties and is still in high demand today. On the flip, 'Tasty Cakes' is a nice lighthearted disco bubbler but the clear go-to track on this side is the awesome hot funk groove of 'Turn This Mutha Out' as sampled by to great effect by Moodymann for his 'Amerika' KDJ release. Essential!

Two fabulous, collectable, sides from the Goldie label that proudly boasted Here's a Goldie For You' on every disc. The top side is Take A Giant Step' by The Profiles, a stunning beater that belies its 53 years old age, little wonder that it has drawn such a following from Northern Soul collectors. The B-side is also a winner by the unlikely sounding Johnny Appalachian, Up In Smoke'. Both sides were penned by Carl Spencer who scored many a jingle alongside Jimmy Radcliffe and also gave us the classic Cover Girl'.

The legendary Clarence Reid has long been a towering figure over Black music for almost 50 years! Even if you're not instantly familiar with his name you have %100 heard some of the man's music... he's produced, played for, written for & performed with endless amounts of legendary artists in his career, he is simply put, a legend.

Hand picked from TK Disco's vaults, this 1973 LP was released on TK's sister label Alston & features Reid's own unique brand of music from start to finish. Often sampled & edited by many contemporary DJ's & producers, the sounds on this obscure LP are timeless, if you dig deep Soul Funk or R&B & you're not down with Clarence this is the perfect place to start (& obviously the Blowfly LP's too, but that's a whole other story!).

"Like Running Water" is a bit of a rarity these days so it's about time the LP got a %100 legit re-issue, re-mastered & re-released with the original Alston artwork & labels it's great to see it back on the shelves! Don't believe what you read or hear, this re-issue has been done with Joe Stone / TK Disco's total co-operation, bringing some Soul back into your lives for 2015...

Vancouver DJ/producer (Homebreakin') kicks off his 7"-only label w/some synth-driven disco-funk propelled by the "Bom Bom Bom" chant. The flip is a hair more chill but still hooky, with a cinematic flair.

Key-selling points:
- strictly limited to 400 copies
- original label artwork
- officially licensed
Lonnie Lester was born in Dorena, Missouri in 1937, the oldest of thirteen children. In 1946 his family moved to Gary, IN. Encouraged by his grandmother, he started singing in church at the age of six. As a teenager he performed with doo-wop groups in and around Gary. In the mid 1970s he cut some R&B singles for the Nu-Tone label. His most sought after recoding is by far So This Is Love. The b-side of this re-issue features an even rarer, earlier version which most soul DJs have never even heard of. Pure class on both sides!

The album that captured the essence of Fat Freddy's Drop jam origins, 'Live at Matterhorn' is being released on heavyweight vinyl for the first time. Originally released on CD, the new limited edition 2LP 180gm vinyl features four tracks 'Runnin', 'Rain', 'No Parking' and 'Bounce' that span a total of 70 minutes with the songs taking up a side each. The recording was made in March 2001 when Freddys was honing its sound and chops in the Wellington underground music scene. The stage was literally the back garden of Wellington's den of inequity The Matterhorn. The audience consisted of a random collection of 30 people most of whom from memory were hospitality workers having a drink after work. Freddys had started as a few musician mates playing along to instrumental B-side records dropped by DJ MU and by 2001 had grown to a solid six piece who liked nothing better than to jam. It's Fulla Flash aka Warren Maxwell on saxophone, the fore runner to Chopper Reeds, and trombonist Hopepa aka Joe Lindsay is yet to join but Freddys distinctive hi-tek soul qualities shine through led by the velvet vocals of singer Joe Dukie aka Dallas Tamaira.
'Live At Matterhorn' went on to sell Platinum in New Zealand and while it pre-dates the bands record breaking 'Based On A True Story' studio album it is a touchstone for those wanting to experience Freddys early jams, the source for where Freddys story began.

Keysound Recordings are excited to announce the return of one of their most elusive and celebrated acts, LHF. After a trio of vinyl EPs and a cult 2012 double debut album the clan disappeared to regroup. Now in 2015 they have emerged with an EP of dark rolling beats featuring Hackney's legendary Ragga Twins. In true clan style, the Ragga Twins vocals were less recorded, more unearthed from an unlikely source dating back many years. The Hackney jungle pioneers gave LHF their blessing and the EP was born. The vinyl art, shot by Keysound photographer Nico Hogg, was shot in the heart of the 2011 London Riots. Consisting of core and satellite sounds, LHF have built an alternate sonic platform upon which they can operate freely, familiar in essence but essentially an unknown quantity - harbouring both ghostly memories and echoes of past underground movements since faded as well as glimpses of what might be. Members of LHF include Amen Ra, Double Helix, No Fixed Abode, Low Density Matter, Octaviour, Escobar Seasons, Solar Man and Lumin Project. Members are as at home in London, Mumbai, LA, Rio, New York, reaching out into the near reaches of the cosmos or the past. TRACKLIST:

On the cover of his first album for a decade, saxophonist Kamasi Washington stares intently out, the universe stretching out to infinity behind him. You see, Washington is something of a Sun Ra acolyte, and there's something of the great man's spiritual, psychedelic and far-sighted feel about The Epic. Rooted in a loose, soulful and occasionally riotous blend of spiritual jazz, it more than lives up to its' name, stretching across three themed CDs. While Washington's tenor sax offers a focal point throughout, it's merely part of a greater ensemble effort - Sun Ra Arkestra style - that helps The Epic fly by in a flurry of loose-limbed drums, rubbery double bass, hammered-out pianos and intoxicating vocals.

Hard Times has been the source for many Hip Hop artists - Tribe, Ghostface, Diamond D to name but a few, but for the flip we take it back in time to the inspiration behind Baby Huey's classic in the form of Gene Chandler's 'In My Body's House' penned by Curtis Mayfield who released his own version in 1975 - here you get two rare tracks on one collectable 45 - grab yourself a copy before they're gone!

New Orleans divas Mary Jane Hooper & Inell Young get the serious boom bap treatment. "I've Got Reasons" & "What Do You See In Her" feature some heavy funk, layered with hard- hitting drums, bass lines and scratches.

Rarer Jazz und Funk aus der Sound-Library von Edizioni Musicali Devega, Mailand: "Vinyl only"-Reissue aller wichtigen Tracks von Angel Pocho Gattis Promotion-Album "Turbomusic" (1981), dazu andere verlorene Funk-Schätze seines 70s Devega-Repertoires. Italienische Library Music zwischen Big Band-Funk und Bossa Rhythmen, mit wirbelnden Hörnern, virtuosen Flöten und schwirrenden Synth-Lines - inspiriert und gelegentlich umrahmt von Motorengeräuschen der Formel 1. Erste Sammlung verlorener Aufnahmen des argentinischen Komponisten, Arrangeurs und Pianisten, inklusive "Don't Problem Boys", "Turbocinque", "Zeltweg" und "Jaguar", analoges Remastering 2015.

Jazzy Sport's feverish 3 piece dance music band Cro-Magnon is back with their fifth album, simply called 'V'! Limited pressing.
Various styles present here, as you could expect, all recorded with vintage instruments and analogue multi tape recordings

LIMITED REPRESS... ONLY 300 MORE COPIES THERE WILL BE NO MORE... PSYCHEMAGIK'S SECOND EVER SINGLE FROM 2010 NOT BEEN IN PRESS FOR OVER 3 YEARS...
More relics from disco's more esoteric side; this time curated by Psychmagik. The a-side, 'Persian Rub' is an exotic, 'middle eastern' version of the infectious euro-disco classic 'Margherita' whilst on the b-side, lies the more psychedelic, 'cop show' funk of 'Tokyo Takedown'.