Featured
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XL Recordings
M.I.A. – Kala
$65.00
Visit product page →Kala is here on 2LP exclusive neon purple & neon green vinyl, half-speed remastered by Barry Grint with Cicely Balston at Alchemy Mastering at AIR, and with an art print and new original Listening Notes. It's the VMP Essentials Record of the Month for April 2021. – Vinyl Me Please
"Born in London and then raised in Sri Lanka, India and back in the UK, Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam, known best as M.I.A., epitomises what it means to be a citizen of the world. Her music basks in the abundance of the globe, and on no album is that clearer than her vivid, technicolour second full-length, 2007’s 'Kala.' In many ways, what M.I.A. is really the precursor to is music in the age of streaming. She was one of the first artists to understand how to build a following online: her glittery graphics so often recall the early days of the internet, and her ability to meld together all number of sonics on this album is arguably prescient of an era where music is innately so accessible that genres are beginning to dissolve. She tried to decolonise that Western hegemony over what was pop and what was so-called “world music.” To that end, on 'Kala,' the arbitrary delineations of borders are dissolved too. For third culture kids, the brash neon of this album cemented something we always knew: that the world is so much bigger than our backyards, and we are all infinitely richer for it."
Label: XL Recordings – XL281LPE
Series: Vinyl Me, Please. Essentials – E100
Format: Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM, Purple Neon, Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM, Green Neon, Unknown, Album, Club Edition, Reissue, Remastered, Stereo, Half Speed Master
Country: US
Released: Apr 2021
Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop, Reggae, Pop
Style: Grime, Hip Hop, Dancehall
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Island Records
The Streets – None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive
$39.00
Visit product page →The fact it’s been almost a decade since The Streets released a full-length record sits at total odds with the outfit’s continued cultural resonance: stick on ‘Fit But You Know It’ at any well-oiled gathering (imaginary in these times, of course), and you’re guaranteed to witness at least a handful echoing back the entire number verbatim, ad libs and all.
Plus it’s not as if Mike Skinner has even spent much time away. Since 2011’s ‘Computers and Blues’ he’s had his hand in remixes, toured DJ sets, and formed projects The DOT, Tonga Balloon Gang and most recently - up until the handful of new one-off Streets tracks began trickling through in late 2017 - The Darker The Shadow, the Brighter The Light.
So whether ‘None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive’ truly constitutes a ‘comeback’ is up for debate; what isn’t is that it’s a stellar record. Akin to David Beckham casually striding back onto the Old Trafford pitch to smash in a twisting volley from 30 yards out, this is a turn-of-the-millennium hero with a legendary reputation reminding us what he does so well.
Which is to say, it’s bangers, bops and top-notch observational lyrics at every turn. - DIY MAG
Label: Island Records – 0888558, Island Records – 00602508885587
Format: Vinyl, LP, Mixtape, 180 Gram
Country: Europe
Released: 10 Jul 2020
Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop, Pop
Style: UK Garage, Grime, Experimental
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Modern Love
Zomby – Mercury's Rainbow
$48.00
Visit product page →Zomby is a product of his surroundings. The British electronic music producer has been exploring the musical tradition of the UK '80s and '90s rave sub-scenes, from jungle and drum 'n' bass to later, and incorporating these alongside UK garage spirit and dubstep modernization. His take on these genres, and his incorporations of diverse sounds to further an electronic music vision has caught the attention of a number of labels, through which he has released full-length albums. Following his seminal debut Where Were U In '92?, he released two albums, Dedication and With Love through 4AD, before releasing 2016's Ultra through Hyperdub. Now he returns with a blast from the past in Mercury's Rainbow, that comes with a touch of nostalgia.
Zomby's new album is not especially new, as it features unreleased material dating back to 2008 and can be considered the missing chapter between his debut and Dedication. While the stylistic side has not significantly mutated through the years, Mercury's Rainbow is much more direct in its perspective, finding Zomby much closer to his Wiley influences than on his later works. The whole record is a love letter to eskibeat, and that is directly obvious from the texture of the synths, which take on an ethereal and expansive characteristic. Coming in as waves they produce an otherworldly environment, centered around the heavy and direct percussive elements. "Waterfall of Ice" displays an almost soothing quality before it traverses to darker territories, while the title track features an expansive collage of synthetic sounds. - Pop Matters
Label: Modern Love – LOVE107
Format: 2 × Vinyl, 12", Album
Country: UK
Released: 23 Nov 2017
Genre: Electronic
Style: Grime
