Hip-Hop Vinyl New Releases - News

Cuthead got known to the wider public via his releases on Uncanny Valley but his roots reach way back before the label's start. There was a time when Cuthead and his brothers from another mother threw wild parties at abandoned industrial locations or in the woods around Dresden. The crew, which was known as Kunst:stoff Breakz, also established a label where Cuthead released two albums and one EP as free downloads between 2006 and 20














14. Cuthead - No Logic
15. Cuthead - All Night Long
16. Cuthead - Iron Lung
17. Cuthead - Skit
18. 3 Chinesen mitm Kontrabass

Gravel is an attempt to capture the contradictory thoughts that trip up your head at 3 a.m. Gravel is the soundtrack to sleepless nights spent ruminating on both right and wrong decisions. Gravel is the new Anticon EP from Djavan Santos, better known as D33J. Upon first listen, its aquatic textures, faded neon haze, and blend of 808 drums and lo-fi desk claps, might recall D33J's fellow Weditit Collective family, Ryan Hemsworth and Shlohmo. But closer listening reveals that D33J's experiments yield a unique alchemy. 'It was about self-reflection—trying to replicate the feeling of sitting alone after you get home late, still drunk and on drugs,' D33J says. 'You're high and thinking about life and whether these stoned thoughts are even worth anything in the end'The record was created during D33J's stint living with 30 people in a warehouse in downtown San Francisco. The building was essentially an art frat called 'The Matrix 1061,' with almost all the inhabitants engaging in some form of creative project. Adding to the artistic ferment was the fact that only two rooms got natural sunlight. You can hear this darkness and fluorescent light in the tones of Gravel.'My room lacked sunlight, so if I wanted to escape the social mosh-pit I'd turn the lights off and pretend I was gone—sometimes for hours,' D33J says. 'I'm self-conscious of my singing, so I'd sing into the computer mic so people wouldn't hear my vocals bleeding through the paper thin walls.'This experiment from necessity led to the record's particularly intimate vibe. It's only light is the one emanating from lit spliffs and the LED glow of the computer screen. It boasts a weird digital rawness destined to feel vintage in some far-off future. But don't pigeonhole D33J as just another bedroom producer with low Serotonin levels. Gravel's gestation merely occurred during a period of great flux. Raised in Los Angeles, the 22-year old graduated from Hamilton High's Music program (Baths, Syd the Kid, Groundislava) and San Francisco Art Institute before making Gravel. He studied experimental audio and visual design and applied the theories and emotion to his record—most of it recorded over just one month. The finished result is not just only aesthetically cohesive record, but also one that bristles with the uneasy feeling of living in a compressed space. Largely a one-man project, D33J also pulled in a friend and neighbor, 'Kreyola' to contribute vocals whenever he'd be walking down the hallway. He'd record stream-of-consciousness vocals, which D33J would chop up later. The producer applied some of that technique to his own vocals as well. This is Gravel broken to bits—an attempt to find organic light in unnatural darkness. A familiar feeling that feels somehow foreign. This is the album that you want to hear as you attempt to drift off to sleep.

* D33J's first EP for Anticon* Limited EP includes download code
Tracklisting:

Necessary Mayhem Black present Killa Mosquito and Macka B's 'Computer'

****EXTREMELY LIMITED COPIES****

*Young Echo formed and broadcasted their first radio show in 2010. Its members met growing up in and around Bristol, and became close through a shared enthusiasm for electronic music. Young Echo counts Kahn, Vessel, Jabu, El Kid, Zhou, Ishan Sound, Killing Sound, Gorgon Sound, REI & Baba Yaga members of the collective.
*Launchpad for the careers of Zomby, SBTRKT, and many others; RAMP is very proud to announce Young Echo's debut album Nexus
*Unmistakably from Bristol, the group would be hard pushed to avoid comparisons with Portishead & Massive Attack. While sharing sonics with the former, and the gang mentality of the latter, Young Echo update the Bristol Sound will the collective knowledge of Dubstep, Grime, Techno & Garage.

Texas DJ/Producer DJ SUN's new album blends hip hop flavored downtempo with soul and jazz samples. Soulful and funky, but also chill and laidback. The vinyl features 12 of the tracks from the CD, includes all the collaborations. Comes in a gorgeous gatefold sleeve with track info. Don't sleep on this!

THWIS is a warm bass journey through the untraveled back streets of Brooklyn's underground future dub landscape. Though you can hear the rootsy lovers feel THWIS is not a derivative dub record but a truly original reflection from one of Brooklyn's loved underground producers. THWIS follows in the footsteps of Olive's classic Bodega release and his work with New York's legendary electronic trio We™. There is little distortion on the bass and the kick is soft and warm making for a velvety sunrise vibe through out. The snare is surprisingly absent but then suddenly shows up like an old friend. Smokers Delight mixed with Boards of Canada mixed with Rhythm and Sound, THWIS puts its arm around your shoulder and walks you through the party with a calm inviting smile, making your body wander around the unicorn bass while the vintage analog synth tickles your head.

"With calexico worthy pedal steel and mariachi trumpet. `jim dodge at the penguin cafe' exemplifies the albums reservoir of piquant texture, while `velbon' is a heartbreaking extrapolation of beethoven and eno."*4/5 mojo
"touchpool offers further proof that his expressive gifts survive the loss of pen and paper. A triumphant vindication of his decision to sally forth." 4/5 sunday times
"seedy orchestral chill-out. Ideal for those nights when you're left drowning in booze, vomit and sexual guilt."*4/5 dj
Whether it's the addition of live musicians or l pierre's sheer determination to better his debut album `hypnogogia' i dont know, but this is a right beauty!."*4/5 mixmag
"darkly cinematic soundscapes." observer music monthly
Across his many projects past and present, it's under the moniker of L. Pierre that Aidan Moffat has perhaps best opened up the bare bones of his thirst for sonic exploration. The Island Come True is Moffat's fourth album as L. Pierre and is a work assembled from the vast cavern of his assembled field recordings and samples, a collage that works as a sonic patchwork of the 39 year-old's own mind. A popular lyrical raconteur whether as one half of Arab Strap, writing under his own name or when collaborating with Bill Wells - as on last year's Scottish Album Of The Year award winner Everything's Getting Older - it's as this carnation where the true extent of his musical eclecticism is revealed.

As such, the album is as a dreamscape, with fragments of classical works, drum samples, instructional speeches and, in a link back to his last album, recordings of nature. Electronics elements previously employed on past albums have been discarded, the album in its entirety consisting only of these found sounds.

The record is overridden by the hissing of tape tracks and drones, and there's good reason for that: 'there's something beautiful in hearing the grit and hiss of old recordings' professes the artist, who admits that he's even gone as far as adding and embellishing click tracks and surface noise. 'Everything sounds so clean and clinical and perfect today, but I love hearing something that sounds worn and suggests the music has a history. It's gorgeous and sad at once, as though it's lived a life and survived to tell the tale.' Sadness is a word that could readily be used to describe big sections of Island Come True, a fine line trodden between soothing warmth and bleaker depths throughout.

Previous albums under the Pierre guise had a specific mood or ambience that they attempted to portray; 2002's Hypnogogia, Moffat explains, was his own home-made comedown album, its 2005 follow-up Touchpool a warped take on lounge music, whilst third LP Dip represented something more physical, consisting largely of countryside recordings. With The Island Come True, though, the onus is on the listener's own imagination and not his; 'it's about taking the listener on a wee journey, but where that journey goes is entirely up to them' says Moffat. 'I wanted this one to be more suggestive and mysterious than the previous records.'

It's apt that such an otherworldly LP has been named after the title of the chapter in Peter Pan where they discover Neverland. Pan celebrates the power of the human imagination and its Island Come True's aim to do that too, the open-ended nature of the eleven sprawling constructions allowing listeners to take away their own interpretation of what exactly it is that the Scotsman is trying to evoke and achieve. Song titles, too, delve into the extraordinary, the surreal and, more often than not, the sinister; 'KAB 1340' is the name of the radio station being listened to in John Carpenter's The Fog, 'The Grief That Does Not Speak' is taken from a speech in Macbeth, 'Tulpa' is a Buddhist term for a physical object brought about purely by the power of the mind. Moffat admits that he thought he was done with L.Pierre after 2007's Dip, confessing that his sense of happiness with that record made him feel like he didn't need to revisit the project any further. It's a relief that he gained an urge to reprise it late last year. For all the wonderful work that he's put out in his various guises over the past 17 years, it is arguably as L.Pierre where he's at his most beguiling and unexplained, collecting and sculpting these pieces of aural history together for reasons that he never quite tells us. Such is the beauty of the project and of The Island Come True - it is for us to draw our conclusions upon.

Your Dreams Come True:
Double LP
LP comes with digital download card
Videos in The works
UK Online and print press and radio by In House Press


Tracklisting:

Recorded in late 2010 and mixed in a remote studio during the Finnish snowstorms of early 2011, Donky Pitch present 'The Trick EP', by Helsinki resident and skweee pioneer V.C. Six original tracks of synth soaked computer funk, electro inspired slow jams and colourful hip hop heaters.

3 track vinyl sampler from RON's "DANCEFLOOR BOOGIE DELITES" CD.

One of the clichés about Scandinavian countries is that they are neat and tidy, well
ordered, clean. The same could not be said of Copenhagen four-piece When Saints Go
Machine's second full-length album, 'Infinity Pool'. The opposite, in fact. It's a record
born out of an atmosphere of chaos.
It's harder, darker and more synthetic than its predecessors. It opens with 'Love And
Respect', which features a guest vocal from Grammy award winning rap artist Killer
Mike, who freewheels over chugging, synth-drenched beat. Elsewhere, 'Dead Boy' sees
Vonsild's tremulous falsetto digitized and then floated over a semi-ambient sounds-
cape, while 'Infinity Killer' pitches skittering sound effects against a low-end drone.
On the previous album, 'Konkylie', we tried to make machines simulate nature,' says
Vonsild. 'With 'Infinity Pool' we were trying to capture a feeling of the absurdity of
mankind trying to construct nature. Maybe it's something to do with being in the city.
You are always influenced by what's going on around you.'
It's also to do with the music that inspired them. 'There are a lot of references to the
early '90s on the album,' says Vonsild. 'It's not a rave album, but there are a lot of
elements of rave on there. 'Degeneration' sums up what we were trying to do. There are
some tracks on the album that could almost have been rave songs under other circum-
stances. I think that it's one of the songs that I don't think anyone else would have
made.'
Rather than go at these rave influences full tilt, they did the opposite of what might be
expected: they stripped them down and twisted them into new shapes.
The dark undercurrent that coloured the band's previous releases is intact, then. It's
something that makes the fact that When Saints Go Machine won a string of awards in
their native Denmark last year all the more surprising. Vonsild is sanguine about that
kind of music industry approval.
While it's nice to be liked, Vonsild says it's far more important to challenge people as
well as yourself. He says they felt nervous about the direction they took on 'Infinity
Pool', unease that they were operating outside their comfort zone. 'But,' he adds,
'that's a good thing. Whenever you feel a bit scared about putting something out, that's
how you should feel as an artist.'

The young maestro rides again the 2nd Mini Therapy Chops, a soulful flip of Al Jarreau's "Alonzo", all Rhodesy & wistful. The B diverts Sigur Ros' "Sæglopur" into a deeply rhythmic channel.

Debut vinyl release of new russian label based in Moscow ,hosted by AGCP ( A Guy Called Phone) also more known in Russia as Sasha PartyPhone. Focused on producing young russians (and ex USSR republics) underground artists , who was inspired by 70's, 80's and 90's . Also concentrate on producing not only basic dance music , but and music for the different moments of live with the funky,old school and different other influences as well

Rush Inside (witch is in same time sounds like Russian Side) - its a compilation of deep, funky, groovy , new disco sounds by unknowns underground producers from Moscow and St. Petersburg. The first step in attempt to present a part of
contemporary russian electronic scene .

From the label that introduced the world to Dark Sky, Blue Daisy, Romare and Alby Daniels we have the latest new rookie, feroX. The Gargoyles EP is a bad acid mix of an unhealthy 'Video Nasties' VHS tape obsession, an 808 drum machine and deft drum programming skills. feroX lays it on thick with this his warmly received Black Acre debut. Tape-hiss and analogue fuzz do their best to hold back booming 808 kicks and crunchy claps. On 'Gargoyle' a straight hypnotic 4x4 attack is the solid foundation to repetitive sinister samples. 'Critter' jumps in dubstep's grave with a lurching tribal swing and abyssal bass depth. Both intro 'goD' and outro 'Beyond' are nods to feroX psychedelic sample realm with a Hip Hop heart.* Official youtube video launch Jan 11th.* DJ Mag: 4/5 '..this is the soundtrack to a rave Leatherface just walked into; blood, guts and limbs splattered across the walls, screams in the air, as the DJ continues to play Gargoyles and Critters on repeat. Terrifyingly good."* Support : Addison Groove, Om Unit, Lefto, Commodo, Blue Daisy, Kid Kanevil.

Scientist/Producer/Artist Reavis Mitchell breaks the sound barrier again. Though he recently became prominent as an architect of the Beat Thang Mobile Music Production System, Rev has been manufacturing beats for years.. On Soul Beats Volume 1, the Soulbeat Scientist concocted a collection of signature soul-infused hip hop and funk for your sonic toolbox.

How could we talk about Kavinsky without evoking the movie that introduced his music to the general public Dazzling success of the independant film industry of the last couple of years, Drive is the kind of movies in which the soundctrack takes a front seat role. As in his previous realisations, Nicolas Winding Refn took great care, with the help of Cliff Martinez (former drummer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers), to select the tracks that would feature in his latest movie. It's in this way he picked Nightcall for the opening scene, and we soon cannot tell anymore if the music responds to the picture or the contrary.



There's no need to point out that the world of Kavinsky and the atmosphere of Drive have a lot more in common. Highly influenced by the silver screen (he started his career as an actor, including in Quentin Dupieux's Steak or Bouli Lanners' Novorama), the musician explained in one of his rare interviews that image and narration are an integral part of his creative process. Thus, when he released his first EP « Teddy Boy » in 2006, the scene was already set : in a neo-noir Los Angeles, the character of Kavinsky perishes in a tragic car accident in 1986. Reimbodied into a zombie, the boy wanders at night tearing up the track at the wheel of a Ferrari Testarossa. Pursuing his girlfriend, he scoffs at the cops, helps old ladies to cross the street and beats up the bad guys in a John Carpenter-ish modern tale of love and loss in which Giorgio Moroder meets Terminator.



Before being revealed to the greatest audience through the success of Nightcall, Kavinsky released various EPs which aroused an enthousiastic suspense among the french electro music sphere. Remixed again and again by leading artists of the scene like Mr Oizo, Arpanet, A-Trak, Sebastian, Justice, Jackson or Breakbot, he was chosen by the Daft Punk to open their world tour Alive in 2007, alongside Sebastian, The Rapture and Klaxons. But their kinship doesn't end there, as Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, half of the robots duo, engineered the production of the melancholic and hypnotic Nightcall, to which Lovefoxxx from the band CSS lend her voice in 2010. Kavinsky's tracks featured many ads and video games, as Testarossa Autodrive in « GTA IV », Road Game for Mercedes-Benz and « Hitman Absolution » or Odd Look for BMW.



While the buzz surrounding Kavinsky is at its peak with 30 million views on Youtube for his biggest hit, his lifelong label Record Makers announced in november the imminent release of his first album « Outrun » to be launched in march 2013. A long-awaited records which promises to be packed with featurings.



The album features 13 tracks including 8 previously unreleased and some reworks. From the first notes, we can hear Paul Hahn (manager of Daft Punk) recounting an introduction to the adventures of Kavinsky. Warm and electric, Blizzard makes its entrance and sets the tone before allowing Protovision to take its place, which with its nervous and synthetic melody was the first excerpt of « Outrun » that whas released on an EP and whose videoclip came out in december as a teaser for the album. Then arrives Odd Look, the first vocal song of the record, which unveils a mysterious funky voice that can remind the groove of Marvin Gayer or Prince. It's then Rampage's turn to take us with its menacing orchestral atmosphere ; after what comes the persuasive beat of Suburbia on which notorious Havoc from Mobb Deep lent his voice. The upgraded version of Testarossa Autodrive confirms the efficacity of this unstoppable melody, and it's at this point we find Nightcall again, the famous ballad produced by Guy-Manuel from Daft Punk and featuring Lovefoxxx from CSS. Dead Cruiser arrives then, muscled yet melancholic, followed by Grand Canyon which takes us with its electrical ritournelle. The voice of Tyson, the new funk revelation from UK, transformed the instrumental First Blood into a génuine hit. The rythmic and melodious Road Game leads us to Endless, which gently closes this long-awaited revealing first opus, with as a conclusion a narrated epilogue by Paul Hahn again

Deep4life brought a breath of fresh air to house music in the late 90´s. A handful of really good synthetic and timeless house music releases made it a cult label. Now the owner, Chris Gray and one of the leading figures, DaRand Land, meet to do it again. They give us a delicious LP with large amounts of deep moods; Atmospheric and emotional house music (but not only) with synthesizer lines, synthetic basses, voices and breathing sequences. Chris and DaRand are a winning combination. No doubt.

This project is features extracts from the audio portion of a documentary film shot of a discussion led by James Baldwin and Dick Gregory at the West Indian Student Centre in London in 1968.
Baldwin was in the middle of the civil rights movement, he was in the march to Selma, an observer of the SNCC voter drives, and initiated two meetings between prominent black leaders and then Attorney General Robert Kennedy. In 1963 he was on the cover of Time magazine "There is not another writer who expresses with such poignancy and abrasiveness the dark realities of the racial ferment in North and South".
In 1968 Baldwin was 44; this was the year of the Tet offensive, the My Lai massacre, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr, and Robert F. Kennedy, the Civil Rights Act of 1968, the police riot at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and the year that Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their arms in a black power salute at the Olympics in Mexico City.
His novel "Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone" was also published in 1968, dealing with issues of homosexuality and bisexuality, incarceration as a means of preserving economic and racial inequality, Christianity, white privilege, and institutional racism.
The P&S rhythm tracks are based on live bass and drum sessions recorded at The Wayback Machine in the Summer of 2011. Remixes are by Area and Afrikan Sciences.

Eclectic & exotic pairing pours native vibes to club floors. Badume's Band is a French band charmed w/Ethiopian magical grooves. Oki is a Tomkori (string) player from N Japan. Misako Ooshiro is 76 vocal legend from Okinawa

* London based label 'The Crescent' returns with yet another sterling release; this time from up-and-comer eleven8. Fresh off the back of his critically acclaimed 12' for Blu Martens BMT Music imprint, the 'Changing Colours EP' is a true showcase of the producer's diversity, competence and raw talent at 130bpm.
* Joined by the young yet established drum and bass talent Clarity, fresh off the back of a slew of releases on labels including dBridge's Exit Records, title track 'Changing Colours' is raw cinematic pressure for the dance floor. With an almost orchestral brilliance, the track retains depth but with much force.
* On the flip, 'I Fell into a Memory' is a fine example of eleven8's ability to keep things deep and sample-led in one emotionally stirring beauty of a track. True Tiger, taken aback by the piece, chose to run it on their BBC 'Daily Dose of Dubstep' takeover. 'Scattered', on the same side, adds to the splendour perfectly, incorporating live guitar and (unsurprisingly) epic scattered drum arrangements. A highly recommended and undoubtedly varied release.
* Early support from, Flight, True Tiger, Synkro, Indigo, Blocks, Eleven8, Clarity, DjRum, Troy Gunner, Cursa, Gacha, Versa and many more*

Bulgarian artist Strahil Velchev aka KiNK for the second volume of the "Tracks from the Vault" series.
After the Aphex KiNK EP and KiNK's tribute to Richard D. James, Sharivari releases another 6 tracks from the man, all produced between 2004 and 2009 in Sofia and showcasing again his love for the dirty side of electronic music, from pure warehouse techno to some funky and warm broken beats, with a subtle touch of acid, as always with KiNK. 300 copies pressed on grey vinyl.

New project from multi-instrumentalist is a multi-movement sound-scape that touches on the contrasting themes of life (sadness, happiness, courage, fear, etc). 4 tracks. LTD 300 180gm.

Hotly tipped 'Maximalist' Bobby Tank releases his debut Vinyl cut on MofoHifi records which includes the highly acclaimed 'Afterburn ' and exclusive track 'Vorpheum'.

2012 has been a busy year for Bobby Tank; his debut release 'Afterburn' on MofoHifi Records was quickly picked up by Zane Lowe on Radio 1, becoming one of most hyped records on UK specialist radio with over 60 plays across XFM and BBC Radio 1 over a three week period. Since then he has remixed AlunaGeorge, Rudi Zygadlo, DJ Fresh, Niki and the Dove and contributed a track to the upcoming Halo 4 soundtrack album. Tank has also been hitting the live scene with shows at Ibiza Rocks (W.A.R alongside DJ Fresh) and Field Day, to name a few.

Clearly influenced by UK dubstep, glitch-hop and 80s boogie, Bobby Tank's sound is buzzing with nostalgic synths, soulful, blenderized cut-ups, woven leads and atmospherics, thick with heavy bass pressure. The intent is disco, but the delivery method is dubstep.


REVIEWS / PRESS



Zane Lowe "Massive massive summer vibes from Bobby Tank. The track is called Afterburn. He calls himself a 'maximalist' I guess in reference to the fact that that track has a huge amount going on in terms of ideas and melody and sounds and dynamics, but look at the way he ties it all together: Wonderful." (Zane Lowe. BBC Radio 1 'Next Hype')

Sonic Router 'Its like that post coitus chill that comes just before sleep, or that 5 or 10 minutes just before the codeine comes on when everything's starting to almost float and soften at the edges.'

Stoney Roads 'An interesting release from ever-impressive UK label MofoHifi, Its not your usual dubstep deal; think Hudson Mohawke on steroids and you're somewhere close!'

The Guardian 'It makes mad maximalists like Rustie and Hudson Mohawke sound like stripped-down Delta bluesmen'

CLASH ' Colourful, outlandish, psychedelic Bobby Tank's music is a trip for the head as well as the body. New EP 'Afterburn' is a case in point - all outrageous dips and soaring highs, it seems to push things further and further with each passing second.'

Mixmag (Zane Lowe review of Afterburn) 'This plays around with genre and tempo. A monster of a record that is completely oblivious to what it should' sound like.'

K Mag 'Title track 'Afterburn' has already been getting widespread support and you can see why as it explodes in an utterly infectious rainbow of brash 80s funk, sickly cascading synths and warm vocals'

Eddie Temple Morris 'I LOVE THIS SO MUCH.... it ticks all the boxes for me it's got every musical genre in it; it's got Soul it's got funk it's got dubstep, some drum and bass little bits of garage it's got rock in their as well, I love it'

Nitetime is the new production duo from Boston, USA comprised of Kon (from Kon & Amir) and Whisky Baron and was actually first send to us by fellow Bostonians Soul Clap. Nitetimeís debut EP Jive Talk sits on a bridge between OG boom bap hip hop - with its tough drums and grooved up interludes - and the 4/4 rhythms of classic house and disco. It also comes packed with a little more history than meets the eye...

Partner in cult Italian label Aquaplano w/Donato Dozzy, Nuel departs from the techno that he is known for by overdubbing his performances on a range of acoustic & electric instruments for a personal, intimate sound, that retains his trademark stylings.

Huge sought-after Radiohead remixes plus an all-time mash up - unmissable!

Chimp Beams "Lumber" is one of their earliest tracks, from their 1st album; never released on, & oft-requested on vinyl. Marter & Yony are Jazzy Sport's Marter, w/Yoshio Kobayashi (47.5, Akoya, Dub Nomads).

"Andromeda" is the first single for the upcoming debut album by Deckard entitled "For A Better Tomorrow". The release heads off with the original version of "Andromeda", an incredibly well produced downbeat/electronica tune with a new twist that blends into a grooving sci fi dub/reggae part, refined with a catchy flute sample. Even though there is a dark mood in almost all of Deckard's music this great track should put a smile on everyone's face.