Hip-Hop Vinyl New Releases - News

After releasing his debut album "Paradise" earlier this year to much critical acclaim, B. Bravo has swung back around for yet another trip to this island of cosmic delights, tapping into some of our favorite producers & extended fam for a special 12" to accompany the digital of "Paradise Remixed". The A-Side kicks off with Fool's Gold producer Sammy Bananas turning the squelchy funk of "Freak It" into a filtered French & Italo inspired funky house monster, perfect for peak time on the dancefloor, while Los Angeles' XL Middleton deliver's a low slung G-Funk & boogie inspired take on the album single "I'm For Real". On the flip, UK producer SMBD (better known as Simbad) turns "Lay It On The Line" a classic 80s synth beast that's been tried & tested around European festivals all summer, while Grandfeather (aka Anton Borin) comes through with a spacey & deep downtempo funk reversioning of "Can't Keep My Hands Off You". Los Angeles-based Adam Mori aka B. Bravo adds a touch of love to every soulful groove he gets his hands on. His signature sound, connecting outer space g-funk, r&b, and dance music has made him a name in the electronic music scene as well a key player in the worldwide modern funk movement, being hailed by the likes of XLR8R, FACT Magazine, Gilles Peterson and many more.

10 yrs have passed since this one first hit stores. Hud Mo and Mike Slott were right in the middle of lively and formative beats scene that linked Glasgow to Dublin to London to L.A. to Tokyo to Vienna to Sydney to ..... the Myspace era. Still a big TIP on this one!
2007 Press release:
Great new record by Mike Slott and Hudson Mohawke aka Heralds of Change. Six productions with killer drums, fresh programming and clever vocal chops, going from banging boombap sort of tracks like 'Work that', serious head-nodders like Winery' or 'Asswank' and deeper excursions like 'Future' or 'Amuse'. Tip!!

We are very excited to present the new collabo release between Cosmic Compostions and Jitwam's selftitled album " ".

Born in Assam, Gauhati, in Northeast India, but currently based in New York's storied borough of Brooklyn, Jitwam spent his formative years in New Zealand and Australia, before living in monasteries in Thailand, orphanages in South Africa, and washed out apartments in London. Of everywhere and nowhere, his music draws influence from a litany of iconoclasts including, but not limited to RD Burman, Moondog, The Velvet Underground, Yayoi Kusama, Jay Electronica, Jay Dilla, Moodymann, Leon Thomas, Madlib and Asha Bhosle.

Across " (selftitled)", he utilizes knowledge acquired through years spent digging through dusty crates, and talents honed as a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and vocalist. A series of stumbling, jazz/soul-rooted beat sculptures, each buried beneath a haze of fuzzy psychedelia, broken microphone blues, and articulated through a freestyled process he describes as "first thought, best thought", " (selftitled)" solidifies Jitwam's spot as a major emerging talent.

Recalling the fourth world dreamscapes explored by oddball songwriters like Connan Mockasin, Clarence Clarity, Jai Paul, Silicon, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra, it represents a time of transition and remembrance for Jitwam, while still fulfilling the core qualities he looks for in song. In his words, "Music is a refuge. A shelter from the storm. A place you can go to close your eyes."

Since he first shared his music with IZWID Records boss Kutmah at a Brainfeeder afterparty in London, Jitwam has released through Leaving Records, Cosmic Compositions, and The Jazz Diaries (the label he co-runs with Casey Van Reyk and Nigel Mphisa). He's also written with Inkswel (BBE) and Paul White (R&S), featured on Moodymann's K7! "DJ-Kicks" compilation and been championed by Gilles Peterson, Alexander Nut, Andrew Jervis (Bandcamp), and Funkineven. Mainly mixed and mastered by Matthewdavid at Stones Throw studios in Los Angeles, " (selftitled)" will be available on vinyl and digital formats.

For anyone preparing to battle a bout of seasonal-affective disorder, producer Martin Brew, otherwise known as Manchester's sonic-maestro J-Walk, is all set to shine a little limelight through the dark with eight deep cuts that shimmer on the brand new LP Limelight Nights.

'I started on Limelight Nights during the spring and it was very much inspired by the nice weather at the time which also seemed to galvanise me into making something 'summery' in feel,' Martin explains. 'It's all about light, time, seasons and how certain points in the day or year can invoke a certain feeling or mood...from melancholy to joyfulness and all the other places in between.'

Serving as a precursor to J-Walk's debut LP A Night On The Rocks, which captured the feel of a night-time world, Limelight Nights is inspired by what happens prior to that. The moment when twilight descends, the sun sets, the stars begin to sparkle and all the wild and wonderful anticipation, expectations and excitement it brings.

With 12 years between J-Walk's debut and sophomore release, fans waited whilst J-Walk took a break after touring, remixed Baaba Maal, Rae And Christian, Kings Of Convenience, and Nitin Sawhney, then took some time to recharge when 'life just kind of took over' but Limelight Nights was written in just 12 months. Surprising, given that J-Walk now plays the role of all members of a fictitious band, writing, playing and recording all instruments himself. 'I now record my guitars to my computer rather than tape and have to think like each separate member of a band to play that particular instrument. It means the process takes longer than a band writing and playing together,' Martin says.

One thing that hasn't changed is the influence of Manchester. Whilst the city centre buckles under the weight of change and lines the pockets of the already rich, Limelight Nights takes a fresh new stance; 'I live just outside Manchester and see it every day! It's a dynamic city with all the development that's still going on, but it's now the fringes of the city where the interesting stuff happens... in the old run-down industrial arches and warehouses; in the hinterlands that are probably an embarrassment to the council... this is where the young and hungry creative energies can be found that I find inspiring.'

Wiping off the raindrops and peering in from the outside, each track is shot with serotonin and brings a voyeuristic positivity to the changing northern landscape. Since the days of the project's incarnation after using one of New Order's old Akai S900 samplers - an artefact that no longer works, but still takes pride of place in Martin's home ('I can't let it go as it's a little piece of history and very special to me!') J-Walk's musical influences and passions have once again been given the treatment they so brilliantly deserve with a body of twisting sweeping synths for a deeper dance vibe.

The seductive French vocals of 'Aimons Toujours' and infectious West-Coast groove of 'Twilight' draw inspiration from producers and artists such as Bibio, Peaking Lights, Jaakko Eino Kalevi, and MGMT plus The Durutti Column, Tom Tom Club, Sly & Robbie, and the Style Council. There's even a nod to local legend, the late Rob Gretton. 'Rob gave me my first break and released my first record...something I'm eternally grateful for,' Martin recalls. 'He was warm and brilliantly sharp, and always took a keen interest in the music I was making. I miss him and still think about him lots - in many ways he defined Manchester for me since my teens and still does, because that musical legacy and the city are inseparable.

The vital thing, however, Martin says, is to keep looking forward and keep it light; 'As an artist it's important to develop and push yourself further all the time. I've been DJing since my teens, and have been buying records religiously since I was 13, so in a sense it's my job to keep up to date with what's happening. I'm very proud of the music I have made, and am currently making - it's all part of the journey and the overall oeuvre.'

Sampled by Drake ( Jungle') and G-Eazy ( Running'). Instrumental versions of Gabriel's Stones Throw Records debut Jardín now available on limited edition wax. Gabriel Garzón-Montano's formidable skills have come to fruition on Jardín in his Stones Throw debut. This album came out of wanting to make music that reminds people how beautiful life is and how delicate their heart is,' he said. I've always wanted to make music that is healing, comforting, and funky. I named the album Jardín hoping for it to create a space for healing when people put it on. A garden is full of life, growth and beauty,' Gabriel said of choosing that unifying image as the title for his new album. It makes me think of green and white and all the colors as they appear in different flowers.' That vivid spectrum bursts forth on Jardín itself and the album contains references to fruit of all sorts, sour mango, juicy tangerines and sweet peaches. From the heartache and aching vocals that float over the dusty drums of Crawl' to the stutter-step thump of Bombo Fabrika' to the high falsetto he nails on Octave,' Garzón-Montano proves himself to already be one of 2017's biggest breakout talents.

What started out as a simple email exchange between a young, hungry beatmaker and a seasoned player in the worlds of jazz and midwestern indie hip-hop, has resulted in a vibrant record nearly a decade in the making. On one side of Let It Out sits Miles Bonny, a long time musical collaborator who spent his youth soaking in powerful musical moments in NYC under the tutelage of his trumpet-slinging father, Francis Bonny, and later as a teen immersed in New York's busy indie-hip-hop scene. As he grew up Miles cemented himself a niche in the Midwest, most notably in Lawrence, Kansas where tireless forays into beatmaking led to the founding of the much-loved INnatesounds Crew and record label, as well as a series of solo releases and collaborative projects.

Eventually shifting his focus to his own vocal stylings, it wasn't long before Miles caught the attention of the international music community, including the young, curious ears of the at time unknown, soon-to-be future R&B sensation Ta-Ku. Through a series of emails and conversations, Ta-Ku asked to send Miles beats and the two planned to work on a series of tracks. From there the pair developed a friendship that was built upon mutual encouragement and a creative admiration between two artists both navigating their own personal and professional responsibilities.

The Let It Out EP, released on Brooklyn's Bastard Jazz Recordings, acts as the culmination of such an intimate and organic journey. Recorded by Miles in Kansas City during a time he was experiencing the oft-turbulent tasks of true adulthood, the record focus on the life of a young father, underpinned by how we often bottle up difficult emotions and creativity when the pressures of today's complicated world reach fever pitch. Brimming with emotive, intimate lyrics from Miles spread amidst Ta-Ku's soul-drenched beat work and syrupy future grooves, the EP will hit close to home for anyone whose daily lives calls for a much needed dose of personal reflection and chilled-out decompression.

It's been four years since Zach Saginaw, aka Shigeto, returned home to Michigan from a stint in Brooklyn, NY, and since then, the multi-faceted musician has become a part of the fabric of Detroit's music scene. While always having a personal approach to his projects, Saginaw's influences for his third album, The New Monday are more about the community of Detroit than anything else. Named after a weekly DJ event called Monday is the New Monday that Saginaw does at the unassuming Motor City Wine with a group of friends, The New Monday is the result of Saginaw diving into the city's deep record culture, where there legacy of artist's of the past help Saginaw embrace his own contributions.

It's focused on a couple things and they all kind of come together to represent different things,' explains Saginaw. My time back in Detroit, back living in Michigan and spending time with a lot of kind of original people who have always been here, learning from them, hearing stories from them, being influenced by them, and inspired by them.'

While, in the past, projects like Lineage or No Better Time Than Now were rooted in strong personal messages, family and relationships respectively, The New Monday represents a communal eort where solidarity is the key. Going for a simplified approach of just trying to make good tracks, The New Monday is diverse in its styles leaning more into a dance music direction - new ground for a Shigeto project. A new air of confidence in Saginaw has expanded his horizons since his return to Detroit, but traces of his past work will continue to be present.

I don't want people to think I'm leaving anything,' says Saginaw. I'm still me. It's a result of me being immersed in the culture, and inevitably making music that is influenced by that culture whether it be house, techno, jazz, rap. It doesn't matter. It's all coming from what I love about Michigan.'

While The New Monday still features the jazz textures long associated with Shigeto projects, the varied elements that make up the album cohesively come together to show the distinct inspiration that Saginaw has drew from since his return home to Detroit. Like on Barry White', which features Detroit hip-hop artist ZelooperZ (a member of Danny Brown's Bruiser Brigade crew who Saginaw also has a side project with called ZGTO), Saginaw captures everything he's been doing all on one track. As much as it's hip-hop influenced, it's a mutant that encompasses elements of dance music, jazz, and ambient sounds

Throughout The New Monday, Saginaw poignantly references the musical influences that have either always been with him or newly discovered. It is Saginaw's interpretation of Detroit's rich culture of innovative artistry, but done so with respect for the history and to contribute, not disrupt.

I think over the past four years, I can confidently say that I found my place here,' describes Saginaw. I'm happy here and I feel that I have the respect from the people I need respect from, that I want respect from. It's all of the result of embracing it and embracing, not Detroit, but embracing community, embracing family, being closer to my parents, being closer to my oldest friends.

- Shigeto's third full length, his first album since 2013's No Better Time Than Now
- In between has remixed Anna Wise, Hundred Waters, Su-an Stevens, U.R. etc.
- Media support from BBC Radio, Pitchfork, Stereogum, Fader, THUMP, Resident Advisor,
- Vinyl is housed in a matte gatefold jacket with purple foil

'We Are Vinyl' reissue - a 10 track double vinyl on 140 gm black vinyl with download code.

We welcome back long-time First Word family, Souleance, with 'Bamboule', fresh from their respective cut-ups for our sister label, Excursions, and their recent 'Raw Funk' set, we have a 5-track EP containing something for all the family, crafted with love once again by France's Fulgeance & DJ Soulist. A truly eclectic collection, comprised of afro grooves, tropical vibes, b-boy rhymes, head-nodding shakers and intensely hype floor-fillers. A seriously fun selection.

It kicks off with 'Partay', a mid-tempo slice of bouncy tropical boogie that does exactly what it says on the tin. An effervescent synth-bassline rides on top of a delectable disco shuffle, complete with classic reggae chants.

Title track 'Bamboule' is a seriously energetic afro-funk beast. A truly infectious percussive rhythm track, laced with an immense bassline, vocal chops and synth rides, this one is 100% guaranteed to entice any dancefloor into a trance-like state of bugged-out body moves.

'That Guy' is some uptempo piano-rolling hip hop business, enlisting the help of Brooklyn MC, Von Pea, from the crew Tanya Morgan, who've been making noise on the independent hip hop scene for over a decade, as well as recently collaborating with GUTS.

We dip down to around the 85BPM mark for 'J'aime Marcher', a lounging boom bap bumper with sloppy drums, jazzy rhodes and vivacious horns.

Closing the EP is 'Brown Bags', an almost Dilla-esque cut-up, complete with rolling neck-breaking drums, sweet soul samples and stabs of prog rock. An abundance of variety, we think you'll agree.

For those that don't know, the Parisian duo hooked up just over a decade ago, and haven't stopped to rock & shock parties, clubs and festivals globally since, building a fan-base of solid party people and revered selectors along the way. As always, the wonderful Alice Dufay provides the artwork, making this an essential package for you and yours.

3 John Tejada produced tracks for Just Another Beat.

Funeral Balloons is the new album from acclaimed producer & NYC fixture Blockhead (real name, Tony Simon). Funeral Balloons is as bold and irreverent as the title suggests, from the uplifting and energetic mood of Bad Case of the Sundays' to the spaced out airy grooves found on UFMOG' all the way to the 1970s car chase anthem like Escape from NY', the songs never stop in one place. While, at its core, Funeral Balloons doesn't stray far from the kind of music Blockhead has been making since his debut Music by Cavelight, his evolution as a producer is on full display, exploring different avenues and sounds with every new release and continuing to forge his own lane between the worlds of hip-hop and electronic music.

Reginald Omas Mamode IV follows last year's self-titled debut album with 'Children Of Nu', set for release on 3rd November 2017. The 20 track album draws influence from the world around us, everyday life. As we witness rising poverty, global events, political and ethnic divisions - these factors prompt some of Reginald's themes and call for humanity to recognise we are all interconnected. We are all related. We're all brothers and sisters with common ancestry, common history and a common origin regardless of race, geographic location or belief systems. Love and compassion are universal feelings/practices we all should embrace and apply to all aspects of our lives, our interactions and our relationships, regardless of the kinship'. - Reginald Omas Mamode IV Children Of Nu' encompasses Reginald's musical and sonic influences - Afro Roots music through to jazz and soul. It draws from Africa as much as the west, an attempt to make a record that can exist in many contexts, the present, the future and past.Recorded with freedom - most tracks remain from the first take - the process of creating 'Children Of Nu' was an open ended development from a natural, intuitive, starting point. Made with minimal thought of how tracks would end up, the music was led through the creative process. Born of a moment, each track
is an attempt to capture that instance, mood, feeling or subject.
Last year's self-titled debut album was warmly received, collecting critical success including Mojo ( A brand-new-retro delight'), Mixmag ( Peckham beat brilliance'), Record Collector ( Equal parts D'Angelo to J Dilla'), The Wire ( Soul music turned all the way inward') and a Bandcamp Album of the Day ( Breathing
lifeforms that are equally steeped in hip-hop, funk, soul and jazz'). It was also nominated for 'Album of the Year' at Gilles Peterson's
Worldwide Awards 2017.Along with Mo Kolours, Jeen Bassa, Henry Wu, Al Dobson Jr and Tenderlonious, he's helped forge in the 22a co-operative that The FADER calls a kaleidoscopic patchwork of hip-hop, house, and groove investigations bound by one thread: a timeless belief in rhythm as a universal language'.

Since releasing his last album on Hypercolour in February 2016 ('You Exist'), DMX Krew has not for one moment rested on laurels, releasing two further LPs on the Ekster and Abstract Form labels, as well as EPs and singles for Central Processing Unit, Shipwrec, Revoke and more. Continuing to remain faithful to the roots of electro, IDM and the deeper shades of techno, and without compromise, DMX Krew cranks out emotive and brain scrambling electronica at a mighty rate, and never disappoints. 'Strange Directions' is album number 21 from DMX Krew, and lands once more on Hypercolour, the British label that continues to make heady waves in the music scene with genre shifting releases from the like of Matthew Herbert, Luke Vibert, Gary Gritness, The Cyclist, Outboxx and A Sagittariun in the last 12 months alone. You'll know what kind of ride you are in for from the first few bars of album opener 'Snowy Blue'; hypnotizing bass and spatial keys float over dusty micro breaks, produced with an infectious aesthetic that continues over the long player's fifty-five minute tenure. Experimental and expansive joints such as 'Odd Chill' and 'Strange Directions' sit comfortably alongside funkier techno jams such as 'Thin Hype' and 'Zero Sum', whilst the melancholic synth sensibilities of tracks like 'Hip Hopeless' and 'Axial Mode Beat' catches DMX Krew on fine form.

Step Time Orchestra was the collaborative work of producers Jori Hulkkonen and Toumas Salmela, who began producing music together in the nineties whilst studying in Oulu, Finland. Whilst all their friends would be getting up early to go to university, they would only just be going to bed, having spent the night listening to house records from New York, drinking Whiskey and programming their MPC 2000!

Step Time produced a slew of tracks during this time, some of which were licensed and pressed on 12" singles during the late nineties/early noughties on labels operating in North America and Europe, but not everything they made saw the light of day. Heavily influenced by labels like Ibadan and Spiritual Life Music at the height of the New York House Scene, 'Jazz Error NYC' and '2am in Africa' were never signed, not fitting the profile of their other releases at the time, they were left in the drawer and sadly forgotten!

Skip forward to Winter 2016, and FBNM's Lorenzo, whilst over on a DJ excursion, visits Jori in Finland. Keen to keep working together, he presses him for something uniquely special. Magically, the Ajos E.P jumps out of the drawer into Hulkkonen's hand, and as it turns out, it has aged with a rather remarkable grace. Written using a combination of MPC sequencing and an Atari ST powering vanilla Cubase for some midi programming duties, it features the sounds of the Italian made Siel Opera 6, an Alesis S4 Rompler and other vintage Roland, Yamaha and Kawai Synths. They went full out on this one, even finally learning to play keys for that jazzy piano action. It was recorded live through a soundcraft analog board with outboard Fx, creating a sound that transcended it's time to feel remarkably fresh today!

The Ajos EP is named after an area in their native city of Kemi, Northern Finland, which is where they wrote and produced it in 1999.

A collection of improvisations and loops from a 2 hour session @ the studio compiled into a limited edition beat tape....much love. Limited edition..TIP!

Repress of MNDSGN produced EP "Low Jams" which caused a little buzz on the net and deserves another vinyl re-release, including instrumentals by Stones Throw producer Mndsgn. Watch out for Ivan's new LP later this year!

"Ivan Ave manages to flow effortlessly over MNDSGN's jazzy but inventive instrumentals. Ave's flow is very reminiscent of Blu circa Below The Heavens, delivering thought-provoking rhymes in a very relaxed and soulful manner. MNDSGN continues to prove himself as one of the best producers in the game, with a collection of beautiful piano based soundscapes that flawlessly compliment Ivan's calmness." Earmilk

Photay's debut full-length Onism inherits the same historical tension in an age of climate change and social media addiction. It is also a reflection of personal conditions, a meditation on place, community, and its creator's own embodied history. The word 'onism,' invented by John Koenig, means the frustration of being stuck in just one body that inhabits only one place at a time. Shornstein contrasts spacious near-silence with bombastic saturated peaks. Fangled robotic tones ('Screens') meet with forest floor ambience ('Storm'), evoking visual designs for the built and natural worlds, while the overwhelm of metropolis ('Balsam Massacre') and the digital age ('The Everyday Push') is eased by the liberatory forests of Woodstock ('Outré Lux' feat. Madison Mcferrin) and assumptions into imagined realities ('Bombogenesis'). The demonic swing of 'Balsam Massacre' imagines the sounds of a tree's innards as it is felled with a chainsaw, while 'Storm' thunders distantly in triumphant reverie. On 'Aura,' Shornstein sings for the second time in his career ( Take the time to hear yourself'). The message hints at a common denominator to his meditations, resonating also as a warning to the world, an everyday push to the role of electronic music in storytelling the future of the global environmentalist movement. 'Onism' is pressed on 12' 140 gram clear transparent vinyl and includes a double-sided full-color 12' insert along with a digital download card.

The sixth heavyweight plate from the Banana Stand Sound crew comes full force with summer vibes to close out the warm months of 2017. The A side of this 180g vinyl features the musical stylings of US based Subtle Mind and Dillard. This collaboration is everything you would want from this pairing, featuring jazzy grooves and deep bass, reminding listeners that dubstep can be musical and still get the dancefloor going. The B sides, perfectly named Cubano Dub, is a real gem coming from Sam ULG. A truly unique use of samples opens a new door of experimental sounds unlike anything you've heard before at 140 bpm. These tunes are sure to keep you warm inside while the weather gets colder outside.

Repress!

For those who know, Bambooman is one of the most sought-after, probing, and distinctive voices in UK electronic music right now.

The Yorkshire-born producer's catalogue builds into an aural mosaic, comprising everything from scrunched up hip-hop to techno deviance, all delivered with an impish sense of individuality.
'Whispers' certainly resonates. It's a lengthy, bucolic work, an album of great breadth but also one of sustained mood – think those hazy summer evenings when shadows stretch out across the road, and autumn lingers around the corner.

This new album has a dusty, organic, and decidedly personal feel, much more at home with Jon Hassel's 'fourth world' aesthetic than the club.

The results are also imbued with an incredible sense of mystery, with Bambooman's productions frequently being shot through with a hallucinatory sense of the uncanny. Entirely self-composed, 'Whispers' utilises "lots of field recordings that I've collected over the last few years, while within the tracks you can find lots of the instruments, percussion, bells and whistles that have been gathered throughout my life."

In certain ways 'Whispers' is entirely autobiographical: Bambooman reaches back to his varied alter egos, to the ambient releases, art commissions, and soundtrack projects that litter his discography. The cover art was even pieced together by Oliver Pitt – of Glasgow group Golden Teacher – who was an early ally in the producer's sonic quest.

Stylistically 'Whispers' veers from avant hip-hop of Flying Lotus to the theoried composition of Terry Riley, from the future-forward percussive energy of Battles to the ever-evolving electronics of Mark Pritchard. It's a record marks by a fiercely independent spirit, but also by a close-knit cast of collaborators.

King Kashmere takes a starring turn, following the pair's collision on the recent 'SUPERGOD' EP.

Each vocal is recorded, chopped up and then spliced across the album, with Elsa Hewitt also making a number of appearances and re-appearances.
credits

New 3 Track 12" release from Chunky complete with a 2 track 7" with 2 vinyl only tracks bundled for Swamp 81 sublabel, 81. Mastered at Metropolis

Gritty & raw tight funk breaks, with Hammond organs, electric pianos, exotic instruments, razor sharp guitar lines & nasty thick bass lines. All recorded live to tape with vintage tube studio gear.

DJ Krush commemorates his 25th anniversary with Kiseki, a brand new collaborative album which reaffirms his status as Japan's original beat master. There's every-thing we've come to expect from the man, heavy breaks with fierce raps, serene soundscapes and seamless pro-duction. All tracks produced by DJ Krush. Disc One

Little is known about this south pacific recluse. Far from his australian hometown, he now evolves close to trees, birds and spirits of Meganesia's remote Coral Sea. Abstract, Electronica, Dub, Lo-Fi, Ambient, Downtempo, Ethnic field Musics or experimental hip-hop... qualify the analog music of this
australian musician is a difficult exercise. Oceania, his last album under the alias of Tropical Hi-Fi, will be soon available on vinyl on UK imprint Emotional.
Cover painting by Tokio aoyama

Little is known about this south pacific recluse. Far from his australian hometown, he now evolves close to trees, birds and spirits of Meganesia's remote Coral Sea. Abstract, Electronica, Dub, Lo-Fi, Ambient, Downtempo, Ethnic field Musics or experimental hip-hop... qualify the analog music of this
australian musician is a difficult exercise. Oceania, his last album under the alias of Tropical Hi-Fi, will be soon available on vinyl on UK imprint Emotional.
Cover painting by Tokio aoyama

The visionary talents of multi-instrumentalist Zach Witness have sprouted full life in this world, lending his sonic touch to the bulk of Erykah Badu's latest album, But You Caint Use My Phone (Motown Records). This project was brought to life with Erykah Badu at the Badudio and World Witness Studios in Zach Witness' hometown, Dallas, Texas. This project put him on a unique trajectory, harnessing his intricately designed fusion
productions into the periphery of an entirely new audience around the world. His forthcoming debut EP, Electric Revival: Rise of an Outkast Nation, is the first project to find the light of day after this expansion phase, initially created as a birthday gift to Zach Witness' friend and collaborator, André 3000.
The catalyst behind the creation of Electric Revival has a very specific initiation point. During the recordings for But You Caint Use My Phone, Erykah Badu called on André 3000 for collaborative assistance. This would result in the album's last track, Hello,' created at the home studio Zach Witness has lived in his whole life. This moment in time compelled Zach Witness to create an offering for André 3000, and this was in the
form of an entire body of music.
Electric Revival takes on the stories of the lives entangled around
society's most crippling and hopeless of situations. The social and
political intentions of the EP paints a very defined purpose in this context.
Experience the transformative sounds of Zach Witness and his debut manifesto.

Continuing his luscious ambient beat explorations in jazz, post-Dilla hip hop and leftfield electronica Asta Hiroki produces a stunning instrumental piece in 'Channels' and cleverly enlists the help of forward-thinking producer/vocalist Suzi Analogue (Never Normal Records, Fresh Selects) to contribute the vocals on the emotive 'Vulnerable'.

In-demand as both a producer and a vocal artist, Ms. Analogue brings a neo soul twist à la Erykah Badu to Asta's gorgeous arrangement. Lyrically focusing on shedding the various masks people wear and allowing oneself to be completely themselves, she showcases all the attributes that have made her a favourite of online press like FACT, The Fader, Okayplayer, Paper Mag. It's a perfect match of styles from these two artists with the tune carrying a liberating and relevant message in today's image-focused world.

'Channels' is a jazzed-out slice of leftfield hip hop and electronica, taking cues from the likes of Robert Glasper, Bonobo and Shigeto. As per its name it perfectly captures the meditative and ever-moving nature of water with no 2 bars the same throughout. Powerful low end frequencies underpin the beautiful flowing keys work and fluttering organic percussion to keep it ever-evolving and exerting a calming influence on the listener.

REPRESSED !

'Dark Days & Canapés' is Ghostpoet's most defining album to date. A stunning and stimulating return, this is a record that captures the sense of unease felt by so many in recent times.

Obaro Ejimiwe's latest Ghostpoet offering is swampy and delirious, with wiry post-punk and distorted electro threads woven through his signature vocals. - The Line of Best Fit

Indie Retail Deluxe LP features gatefold heavyweight vinyl on white vinyl - Limited Edition x 200

Hyperdub + Warp Records artists Babyfather and GAIKA rework two 18+ tracks from their second album 'Collect'.

Hyperdub's Dean Blunt, a category-rejecting artist and an art-pop provocateur tackles 'Drama' under his Babyfather guise, looping a low slung swagger beat under the vocals of DJ Escrow and Samia Mirza.

Warp Records multi-disciplined South London artist GAIKA rips apart Glow into a discordant sub-low bassline drone, pitching Samia's vocal as slow as can go, harsh high pitch tones and field recordings.

One of the strongest things we've heard from the divisive producer.' - boomkat

Strictly limited to just 200 dinked white labels - One for the collectors.

A record about broken dreams and lost hopes, breathing an atmosphere of harrowing gloom and disturbing bitterness. Very limited batch!

Charlie Abbott delivers an exquisite Producer EP for BRRWD.

RRWD is a label collaboration between Ta-ku/ repeat pattern & Jakarta Records.

Lapalux veroeffentlicht sein drittes Album auf Flying Lotus' Label Brainfeeder!

Lapalux veröffentlicht Ende Juni sein drittes Album, - Ruinism , auf Flying Lotus' Label Brainfeeder. Sein letztes Album, - Lustmore , war z.T. inspiriert vom Konzept der Hypnagogie, dem auch - Wachdenken genannten Bewusstseinszustand, der beim Einschlafen und/oder Erwachen auftreten kann. Auf - Ruinism setzt der britische Produzent nun seine Entdeckungsreise fort und erforscht diesmal den sogar ominöseren Schwebezustand zwischen Leben und Tod. In diesem Bereich, wo sich das Endliche und das Unendliche vermischen, ist Lapalux zu Hause - auf - Ruinism mehr als zuvor. Auf seinem neuen Album benutzt er zum ersten Mal in seiner Karriere ausschließlich Hardware und echte Instrumente, er hat Synthesizer und Drum-Versatzstücke aufgenommen und erneut gesampled, gepitcht, verbogen und miteinander verschmolzen, - until it was ruined , bevor er die völlig entstellten Samples aus dem mittlerweile entstandenen Trümmerhaufen barg und erneut versuchte, diese in etwas Kohärentes zu verwandeln, wie er selbst beschreibt. Mit Marielle Tepper als Kreativdirektorin auf - Ruinism , wird die LP als hervorragende und streng limitierte Deluxe-Doppelvinyl-Ausgabe erscheinen, die in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Pariser Atelier - Impremerie du Marais entstand.

In 2017, the musical term electronic' is nearly obsolete given the ubiquity of computerized processes in producing music. Even so, the prevailing assumption is that musicians working under this broad umbrella must be inspired by concepts equally as electrified as their equipment. Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith has demonstrated in her still-blooming discography that this notion couldn't be further from the truth, and that more often than not, rich worlds of synthesized
sound are born from deep reverence of the natural world. Smith (who by no coincidence, cites naturalist David Attenborough as a contemporary muse) has embodied such an appreciation on
The Kid in as direct and sincere a way as possible by sonically charting the phases of life itself.
The album, which punctually follows up her 2016 breakthrough EARS, chronicles four defining cognitive and emotional stages of the human lifespan across four sides of a double LP.
The first side takes us through the confused astonishment of a newborn, unaware of itself, existing in an unwitting nirvana. Smith's music has always woven a youthful thread befitting of the
aforementioned subject. Here she articulates it in signature fashion on the track An Intention,' which serves not only as a soaring spire on The Kid, but on her entire output. There is playfulness here, but it's elevated by an undertone of gravity into something compelling and majestic that is fast becoming Smith's watermark. The emotional focus of side two is the vital but underreported moment in early youth when we cross the threshold into self awareness. The subject is profound enough to fill an entire album, but rarely makes its way into a single track, indicating Smith's ambition to broach subtler and deeper subjects than the average composer. This side offers up another highlight in the form of In The World But Not Of The World' which serves its subject well with epiphanic, climbing strings and decidedly noisy textures over a near-Bollywood low end pulse.

Side three emphasizes a feeling of being confirmed enough in one's own identity to begin giving back to the formative forces of one's upbringing, which is arguably the duty that all great artists
aim to fulfill. This side ends with the exploratory album cut Who I Am & Why I Am Where I Am' recorded in a single take without overdubs on the rare EMS Synthi 100 synthesizer. This humble
piece of sound design serves as a contrast to side four's verdant orchestral moments, all written and arranged for the EU-based Stargaze quartet by Smith herself. This final side represents a
return to pure being, the kind of wisdom and peace that eludes most of us until the autumn of life. On To Feel Your Best' this concept is voiced in the bittersweet refrain one day I'll wake up
and you won't be there' which Smith intended to be a grateful acknowledgement of life rather than a melancholy resentment of loss. The song has both effects depending on the mood of the
listener, and both interpretations are equally moving.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith belongs to an ilk of modern musicians who are defined by their commitment to creating experiential albums despite the singles-oriented habits of modern listeners,
and here she represents her kind proudly. The subjects on The Kid are not simple to convey, and yet through both emotional tone and lyrical content, Smith does just that. There is a similar
gravity to both birth and death, and rarely is that correlation as accurately and enthusiastically mapped as it is here.

Alan Watts, another logical inspiration of Smith's, once expounded that people record themselves to confirm their own existence, and as such, echoes and resonance are reminders that we are alive. You're not there unless you're recorded,' Watts muses, if you shout, and it doesn't come back and echo, it didn't happen.' The Kid speaks to this idea directly. As Kaitlyn Aurelia
Smith explores her existence through music, she guides us in gleefully contemplating our own.

Paul Blackford returns to CPU this time donning a 7" downtempo tip. Light Years vinyl takes 2 of the highlights from the accompanying digital LP, all of which demonstrate his versatility in expressing his hip hop and funk influences from an electronic music perspective.

On first pass you might think you are listening to Nightmares on Wax, but without the heavy sampling as Blackford favours creating his sounds from scratch. Comparisons to Photek's Hidden Camera can be made in terms of atmosphere but keeping things within a slower trip hop framework.

Light Years is for chilling out, but there's a strong temptation to mix hip-hop vocals over the top due to the LP's solid instrumental foundations.

All original organic groove trip hop coming out of Cincinnati Ohio. Analog recorded, hard hitting vintage funk drums, thick grooving bass lines, meticulous guitar riffs, soulful electric piano's & Hammond organs create an original soundscape of emotion & groove. This music (we feel) is in a class of it's own. We are not trying to duplicate a sound of yesteryear but explore a distinct natural sound of our own. In 2016 Grimez brought some of Cincinnati's best musicians in the studio to record raw analog recordings using vintage gear. Guitarist Brad Myers currently has a phenomenal jazz cd out Prime Numbers.' Organ/Keyboard prodigy, J-SKillZ, is a frequent session musician for Hi-Tek. Tim Hensley is the drummer for The Cliftones, a reggae band that is touring and receiving well deserved national notoriety. The remaining musicians all have degrees in Jazz and perform in many shows throughout Cincinnati.