$39.00
We live in divisive times. Multiculturalism rises hand-in-hand with racial tensions, and politicians seem powerless to even bring people within earshot of their convoluted message. It’s time for a different perspective.
On his second studio album, More Arriving, Sarathy Korwar blasts out his own vibrant, pluralistic missive for the world to hear. This is not necessarily a record of unity; it’s an honest reflection of Korwar’s experience of being an Indian in a divided Britain. Recorded over two and a half years in India and the UK, More Arriving draws on the nascent rap scenes of Mumbai and New Delhi, incorporating spoken word and Korwar’s own Indian classical and jazz instrumentation. This is a record born of confrontation; one for our confrontational times.
With this album, Korwar expands his politicised narrative to envelop the entire diaspora. “This is a modern brown record. The kind of record that a contemporary Indian living in the UK for the past 10 years would make,”Korwar says. “This is what Indian music sounds like to me right now.” It all begins with the title: “More Arriving comes from the scaremongering around Brexit,” Korwar says. “It’s a tongue-in-cheek play on the fact that there are more people coming and you’ll have to deal with it!” Through this defiance, Korwar takes clear pride in the knotty mix of his identity – harking back to the new India of the Mumbai hip-hop kids, as well as identifying with London’s cultural diversity. “I want the idea of brown pride to come through,” he says. “My voice is one amongst a thousand, but this record is a snapshot of something much greater than myself. It’s the chance to send a message. - Leaf
Label: Leaf – BAY 112V |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album |
Country: UK |
Released: 26 Jul 2019 |
Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop, Jazz, Folk, World, & Country |
Style: Carnatic, Conscious, Fusion, Indian Classical, Spoken Word, Hip Hop, Hindustani |
$39.00
Never colonized, Thailand has remained purely itself across the years even while developing, evolving and selectively adopting international influences; the same can be said of Thai popular music, and can be clearly heard in previous releases of Thai music on EM Records.
Juu, a Thai talent who represents Asia and locals from the opposite direction of 88rising, and therefore creates completely fresh music that is globally accepted. Is it Captain Beefheart who got the auto tune? Is it a drake on a buffalo? 1st full album "New Luk Thung" is released.
This is Juu's first full-length album, which was completed in about two years after the talents and OMK members collaborated with each other and started co-producing with the lead of Stillichimiya / OMK's Young-G. Most of the tracks are in Young-G's hands, and the sound is also full of ambitions that reflect OMK's attitude. Thai instruments such as chin, cowbell, cane, and pin are used everywhere, but never used for exotic seasoning. In order to inject the original beats and grooves in Thailand, they are inevitably incorporated. And what oozes out in the mellow song is the flow (singing heart) that is similar to Luk Thung and Japanese enka. They create an indescribable "new song feeling" through Juu's background HIPHOP and reggae. - Em Records
Label: EM Records – EM1186LP |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album |
Country: Japan |
Released: 27 Jul 2019 |
Genre: Hip Hop, Folk, World, & Country |
Style: Luk Thung |
$39.00
The Japanese trumpeter’s dense and cosmic sixth album blends jazz with Afrobeat, hip-hop, neo-soul, and funk.
akuya Kuroda hails from Kobe, Japan, a nation that to a dedicated strand of Western jazz obsessive serves as a sacred tomb of rare riches. You can place the trumpeter next to 20th-century Japanese virtuosos such as Toshiko Akiyoshi, Masabumi Kikuchi, Ryo Fukui, and Koichi Matsukaze, and he looks extremely comfortable in the lineage: All respected the core tenets of jazz while offering their own unique interpretations. Kuroda, after all, is a guy who has name-dropped Lee Morgan as an inspiration while playing in DJ Premier’s touring outfit, the Badder band.
Having relocated to New York to study jazz and contemporary music at The New School in the mid-2000s, Kuroda has since traversed the city as a recording artist—he notably spent some time on Blue Note Records—and musician for hire. Sixth album Fly Moon Die Soon is the work of a man who has undertaken his own musical Gulliver’s Travels. The album’s nine cuts are united by Kuroda’s determination to branch out from jazz and into hip-hop, funk, Afrobeat, electronica, and neo soul. But Kuroda isn’t simply quoting corners of his own record collection; he skillfully synthesizes his influences, hitting sweet spots that feel purely of his own creation.
Most apparent is the music of 1970s West Africa (Kuroda has previously collaborated with a group of similar interest in New York’s Akoya Afrobeat). The horns, guitar stabs, and rattling percussion of “ABC” gesture heavily toward Fela Kuti, while the driving rhythms of “Moody” recalls 1970s Afro-funk bands like the Funkees and Monomono. The brass instruments throughout Fly Moon Die Soon are often used to deploy catchy riffs, Kuroda’s trumpet frequently amalgamating with Corey King’s trombone. The title track shows a more experimental side, with programmed beats and a Moog bassline that swirls like a Thundercat jam. It’s the kind of dense and cosmic jazz hybrid that would blow minds over at Brainfeeder. - Pitchfork
Label: First Word Records – FW216 |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album |
Country: UK |
Released: 18 Sep 2020 |
Genre: Hip Hop, Jazz, Funk / Soul |
$45.00
RSD 2020 Exclusive: Translucent purple vinyl release of remixes from The Weeknd's #1 album After Hours.
Tracklisting:
1. Heartless Remix (ft. Lil Uzi Vert)
2. Blinding Lights (Chromatics Remix)
3. Save Your Tears (OPN Remix)
4. Heartless (Vapor Wave Remix)
5. After Hours (The Blaze Remix)
6. Scared To Live (SNL Live)
Label: XO – 00602435160887, Republic Records – 00602435160887 |
Format: Vinyl, 12", 33 ⅓ RPM, EP |
Country: Europe |
Released: 27 Nov 2020 |
Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop, Funk / Soul, Pop |
Style: Disco, Pop Rap, Trap, Contemporary R&B |
$58.00
The Australian group’s ambitious third album overflows with ideas, samples, guests, and sheer stimuli. In their sparkling music, every sound feels like a treasured memory.
life, death, and the cosmos set the boundaries of the Avalanches’ ambitious third album, We Will Always Love You. The record begins with a farewell voicemail—a final communication, we are led to believe, from a young woman who has passed away—and it ends with the Morse code-like bleeping of the Arecibo Message, an interstellar transmission carrying information on the human species into the infinite beyond. In between those poles, the Australian group continues doing what it has always done: spinning the sounds of disco, soul, easy listening, and other nostalgic staples into luminous, ludic shapes, turning musical collage into a sparkling, four-dimensional fantasyland. - Pitchfork
Label: EMI – 060250849963, Modular Recordings – 060250849963, Astralwerks – 060250849963 |
Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album |
Country: Europe |
Released: 11 Dec 2020 |
Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop, Pop |
Style: Ambient, Soul, Disco, House, Indie Pop, Hip Hop |
$39.00
Much about ‘Beat Bop’ is shrouded in mystery. Who really produced it? Why was Jean-Michel Basquiat relegated from rapper on the track to drawing the cover and labels? What are they actually rapping about for most of the ten-minute length?
These questions, however, are all part of the enigma and rich legend surrounding a song that is an undisputed piece of true hip-hop genius. The combination of graffiti artist Rammellzee and rapper K-Rob is a potent one, with each MC adopting a persona - hustler and B-Boy respectively - that they maintain against an unusual swirling backdrop that must be one of the best instrumentals ever committed to wax.
The original Tartown Record pressing was limited to 500 copies, a mere test pressing in the eyes of the assembled artists, with scarcity further driven by Basquiat’s rising rep in the art world. Those few hundred copies – and a subsequent re-release on Profile Records (the same label where K-Rob played out the rest of his brief career) – punched well above their weight in terms of lasting influence.
Consider the early vocal tones of the Beastie Boys (who also sampled the track), or the huge part it played in the sound of Cypress Hill and B-Real. His voice is almost homage to Rammellzee’s on ‘Beat Bop’, while they also lifted the chorus of ‘Shoot ‘Em Up’ and even a sample of ‘Cypress Hill’ from the track too. It’s unsurprising – this is a multi-layered, complex song that reveals a little more of itself each time you play it but remains damn funky.
This reissue boasts the vocal and instrumental versions in full, as well as both the full cover and label artwork from the original Tartown Release. – Mr Bongo
Label: Mr Bongo – MRB12046 |
Format: Vinyl, 12", 33 ⅓ RPM, Single, Limited Edition, Reissue |
Country: US |
Released: 20 Nov 2020 |
Genre: Hip Hop |
$45.00
Some Old Bullshit is a compilation album by the Beastie Boys released in 1994. It compiles several of their early EPs, recorded in the early 1980s. These recordings present a sound radically different from that of the hip-hop sound generally associated with the band. Instead, these songs represent the band's part in the early New York hardcore scene. The album also features taped segments originally heard on Noise the Show, a popular hardcore radio show on WNYU in New York that played early recordings from the Beastie Boys. These segments feature the hyperbolic introductions of Noise the Show's host, Tim Sommer, an early supporter of the band. – Record Store Day
Label: Grand Royal – GR 003, Capitol Records – B0032587-01 |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Reissue, White, 180 Gram |
Country: US |
Released: 27 Nov 2020 |
Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop, Rock |
Style: Breakbeat, Leftfield, Punk, Hardcore |
$39.00
ESSENTIAL!
It would have been hard to match the artistic success of their debut EP on a full-length recording, but Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth did just that on Mecca and the Soul Brother, and they did so in the most unlikely way of all after the succinctness of All Souled Out -- by coming up with a sprawling, nearly 80-minute-long album on which not a single song or interlude is a throwaway or a superfluous piece. Granted, 80 minutes is a long stretch of time for sustained listening, but the music is completely worthy of that time, allowing the duo to stretch out in ways that their EP rendered impossible. Again, the primary star is Pete Rock's production acumen, and he ups the ante of rock-solid drums, steady cymbal beats, smooth-rolling bass, and fatback organ, not to mention his signature horn loops. C.L. Smooth is the perfect vocal match for the music. He is maybe one of the few MCs capable of rapping a fairly credible love song, as he does on "Lots of Lovin'." "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)," a tribute to friend and Heavy D. dancer Trouble T-Roy, who was accidentally killed, packs a poignant emotional weight, but it is Smooth's more direct and conscientious -- and frequently autobiographical -- side which ultimately carries the album lyrically. The songs are connected and the album is propelled forward by Rock's quick, soul-tight interludes; these are usually bits of old R&B and soul tunes but sometimes they're spoken pieces or spontaneous, freestyle sessions. These interludes provide a sort of dense spiritual tone and resonance in the album that is not religiously based at all, but fully hip-hop based, emerging from the urban altars that are the basements and rooftops of the city. – All Music
Label: Music On Vinyl – MOVLP1633 |
Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Numbered, Reissue, Silver, 180 gram |
Country: Europe |
Released: 18 Sep 2020 |
Genre: Hip Hop |
Style: Jazzy Hip-Hop, Conscious |
$39.00
The record is entirely crafted from sampling rare Soviet jazz and funk records from his home country of Russia and other former Soviet countries. Turned into deep and heavy instrumental hip-hop, with analog synthesizers, dub techniques, and subtle knob turns on a delay pedal to morph the context of these samples. – Rucksack Records
Label: Rucksack Records (3) – RSRECS-003 |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, 180 grams |
Country: Netherlands |
Released: 23 Oct 2020 |
Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop |
Style: Boom Bap, Instrumental, Trip Hop, Jazzy Hip-Hop, Hip Hop |
$39.00
Limited edition of 300 copies on black vinyl!
Originally released in 2015 on cassette via Urban Waves, this little stunner by Japanese beatmaker Tajima Hal finally gets a proper vinyl release on 2LP. 25 beats taking you around Tajima's imagination and inner world and includes 3 features by Lidly. – HHV
Label: HHV – HHV785, Urban Waves Records – HHV785, Radio Juicy – HHV785 |
Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition |
Country: Europe |
Released: 22 Mar 2019 |
Genre: Hip Hop |
Style: Instrumental, Lo-Fi |
$42.00
Fat Jon is a conscientious and gifted producer with a talent for creating tracks that work on multiple levels simultaneously. The grooves here are never less than utterly accessible and smartly funky. But like the album's artwork, there's a depth and a melancholy to almost all these tracks. "Feel the Void" is a standout in this regard, but "Depths" aches, too. Wave Motion isn't an accessory or an alternative like so many instrumental albums; Wave Motion is a serious proposition and a statement not only of Fat Jon's studio abilities but also of his introspective aesthetic. With the resilience and the emotional draw to outlast much of what constitutes any variant of hip-hop these days, this record puts Fat Jon on the radar. Expect great things. - Pitchfork
Label: Ample Soul – YL1918, YHS Records – YL1918 |
Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Reissue, Stereo |
Country: US |
Released: 11 Oct 2019 |
Genre: Hip Hop |
Style: Instrumental |
$36.00
While the rest of the music world currently awaits LA based TDE/Interscope rapper Kendrick Lamar’s sophomore album this year, It may be easy to neglect the music of long term Underground MC’s like Joe Styles (also from LA). Backed by production from Shinjuku, Tokyo producer Budamunk, “Soul Quest” takes plenty of influence from past Hip Hop albums where rappers would often utilize R&B vocalists or sing their own chorus quite often to the humour of listeners.
-
Albums like that would also seek to tap into the market that commercially viable hooks had on outlets like radio and music video channels. This does not however correspond to the modern R&B/Rap stylings of artists like Drake and Mack Wilds but instead more towards the direction of albums like Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s “The Main Ingredient” and Blu & Exile’s “Below The Heavens”.
The track “Soul Quest” serves as the intro, with Joe singing his heart out, approaching harmony and voice control in an intentionally funny way. Concepts on the song jump between smoking weed, to the appreciation of thick women and while Its content that had been explored minimally on their previous joint effort “From LA to Tokyo” It sets the tone for what is meant to be a very playful audio experience. - Medium
Label: Jazzy Sport – JSV-163, King Tone – none |
Format: Vinyl, LP, EP |
Country: UK |
Released: 15 Sep 2015 |
Genre: Hip Hop |
$48.00
Australia has been exporting plenty of diverse music, including works from Perth native and beat composer Ta-Ku. The Red Bull Music Academy alum has released a number of EPs over the last few years, most notably Late NYC and Re-Twerk Vol. 1 and 2. His latest, Songs To Break Up To, is a "cinematic musical journey for the broken hearted," unleashed just in time for 2013's cuffing season. Reminiscent of works by Nujabes, Flying Lotus, and Clams Casino, Ta-Ku invokes moods with his thoughtful use of samples, drum patterns, and effects. Going beyond mere instrumentals, he provides soundtracks to our life's journeys. – Couch Sessions
Label: HW&W Recordings – HW&W 031 |
Format: Vinyl, 12", 33 ⅓ RPM, EP, Reissue |
Country: US |
Released: 17 Jul 2020 |
Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop |
Style: Hip Hop |
$28.00
“The Ghetto Walk” originated from a session that resulted in Davis’ innovative 1969 studio album, In a Silent Way. Glasper isolated one two-chord pattern from the nearly 27-minute piece (released as part of the 2001 box set The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions) and looped it into the foundation for a jazz/hip-hop track.
AD “‘Ghetto Walk’ was so dope,” he says. “I got the concept quick because the name was already there. It’s called ‘Ghetto Walk.’ Those chord changes we sampled lend themselves to hip-hop so well.” – Rolling Stone
Label: Columbia – 88875149531, Legacy – 88875149531 |
Format: Vinyl, 12", 33 ⅓ RPM, Limited Edition |
Country: US |
Released: 16 Apr 2016 |
Genre: Jazz, Pop |
Style: Vocal, Contemporary Jazz, Jazz-Funk |
$48.00
Lefto (Belgium) & Free The Robots (California) found themselves on tour together a year and a half ago and had the wise idea to do a record together with the beats they were making from the inspiration collected along the way.
Fast forward to the present and that idea has grown into Karavan - an album full of international exotic melodies and heavy rhythms, that reflects the sounds gathered through their years of consistent nomadic touring. – On Bandcamp
Label: New Los Angeles – NLA020 |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album |
Country: US |
Released: 19 May 2017 |
Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop |
Style: Trip Hop |
$39.00
After the success of their collaborations on Bentley Bass Music and Trad Vibe compilations, as well as several DJ gigs in Europe, longtime friends DJ Cam and Moar team up for Beats. It's a special instrumental album, influenced by the great J Dilla, Pete Rock, New York in the '90s . . . and looking also into the future of beats in 2016. Limited blue vinyl. Includes download code. – Forced Exposure
Label: Trad Vibe – TVLP16
|
Format: Vinyl, LP, Blue, Free Digital Card
|
Country: France
|
Released: 19 Feb 2016
|
Genre: Hip Hop
|
$29.00
Redefinition Records
$29.00
One of the most popular instrumental series of all time continues to expand with HISS Foundations. This project is truly one of those records produced solely for the diehard fans of Damu's How it Should Sound (HISS) Volumes 1 & 2, but might also be a great introduction for newcomers. This 2XLP collection contains more than beats, but seeds of ambition long before the (original) harvest. Straight from the archives, literally salvaged from the original recordings and unedited, never before have these demos been publicly available. – On Bandcamp
Label: Redefinition Records – RDF091
|
Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Limited Edition
|
Country: US
|
Released: 04 Feb 2016
|
Genre: Hip Hop
|
Style: Instrumental
|
$36.00
Fredfades and his ability to capture a tangible mood through his productions has touched a fair few of our favourite records over the past two years. Wether he’s working with Kristoffer Eikrem as part of the Jazz Cats project or assisting on production duties for a member of the Mutual Intentions crew, Fredfades’ productions are immediately recognisable for their dusty charm and soulful inclinations. Music with the personality of a rare 7″ found amongst cobwebs in old second hand stores are brought into the present through the contemporary voices of peers like Ivan Avenue and Yogisoul where Fred’s music flits between grey areas amongst Jazz, Hip Hop and Nuo-Soul.
Warmth, his first fully realised solo work perpetuates the Fredfades sonic aesthetic, calling on an infallible list of voices to bring that human dimension to staccato arrangements where Fender Rhodes chords and synth melodies bounce off lethargic break-beat rhythms. A healthy dose of surface noise and needles clipping against tiny scratches on vinyl bring a healthy dose of colour and personality to the record, where they bound with life. Was it John Peel that said: “Life has surface noise”? Well Warmth certainly has that idea of living life engraved in its grooves. - Jaegeroslo
Label: KingUnderground Records – KU-039 |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album |
Country: Europe |
Released: 2017 |
Genre: Hip Hop |
$45.00
Low End Theory resident & veteran Los Angeles DJ Nobody creates the crucially timed full-length Vivid Green via Alpha Pup Records. Embracing the flux within LA underground musical movements of the last fifteen years, Elvin Estela has been on the studio grind while touring internationally refining chops in bass heavy beats, electronic bangers and psychedelic rock.
Vivid Green is strongly instrumental, but boasts the vocal collaborations of The Mars Volta's Cedric Bixler-Zavala, electronic songwriter Baths, laid-back SoCal rapper Nocando, freak-soul Kendrick Lamar collaborator Anna Wise (Sonnymoon), and Teri Gender Bender of Les Butcherettes/Bosnian Rainbows. – On Bandcamp
Label: Alpha Pup Records – APR059 |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue, Green Marble |
Country: US |
Released: 11 Dec 2015 |
Genre: Electronic |
Style: Hip Hop, Downtempo |
$39.00
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 |
$39.00
As with her previous work, Woods utilizes what’s functional—clapping games, lullabies, Paula Cole, headlines, statistics—to make music that defies categorization but not meaning. The result is unmistakable: HEAVN is protest music that sounds like a children’s playground. Every song here is resilient and steadfast without being angry and militant; almost each tune is a jingle. Produced largely by a coterie of ascendant Chicago stars—Peter Cottontale, oddCouple, Kweku Collins, Saba, and more—the tracks come off as if they’ve been cooked at a high temperature until all of the indignation has evaporated, leaving behind only hope and a rising strong vulnerability.– Pitchfork
Label: Jagjaguwar – JAG312, Closed Sessions – JAG312 |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album |
Country: US |
Released: 05 Oct 2017 |
Genre: Hip Hop, Funk / Soul |
Style: Contemporary R&B |
$39.00
Vivians is Mndsgn and Koreatown Oddity, featuring guest appearances by Zeroh, Cohenbeats, Quelle Chris and Jonwayne as Uncle Trill. This premiered as a limited edition cassette release in 2015. It’s now on vinyl.
Label: Akashik Records (4) – AKR001 |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album |
Country: US |
Released: 2020 |
Genre: Hip Hop |
Style: Instrumental |
Sold out
Straight Cold Beats – perfect for hip hop lovers into that colder side of things.
A Beat At the Table is An Instrumental Project by Koreatown Oddity conceputalized from Solange's A seat at the table Album.
A deep dive into the Black sounds & messages reinterpreted into 19 mins of Raw beat Energy as heard through the Ear of KtownOdd. - Bandcamp
Label: Strictly Cassette – none |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Clear Vinyl |
Country: US |
Released: 2018 |
Genre: Hip Hop |
Style: Instrumental |
$39.00
Jazzvolution' is our instrumental compilation series exploring the connection between beatmaking and jazz. The aim is to explore the boundaries of hip-hop beats, to showcase the idea that beatmaking is an evolution of jazz foundations.
And here we are, concluding the trilogy with the final chapter. In the words of Sonny Rollins: “Jazz never ends… it just continues.” And so does beatmaking. Let’s keep on looking for the perfect beat. – Bandcamp | Jazzvolution
Label: HHV – HHV853, The Find Magazine – HHV853, Rucksack Records (3) – HHV853 |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Limited Edition |
Country: Europe |
Released: 05 Jun 2020 |
Genre: Hip Hop, Jazz |
Style: Instrumental, Jazzy Hip-Hop |
$39.00
Sonoton / HHV
Dexter & DJ Friction – Diggin' Sonoton: Contemporary Beats & Movements Vol. 1
$39.00
Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of library music. For avid aficionados of the beatmaking and sampling scene, it’s no news that library records have always been a reliable source of obscure sample fodder.
Over the years, there’ve been compilations of library labels such as KPM and Bruton, but no one ever took on the extensive catalogue of German library company, Sonoton. DJ, producer and record collector DJ Friction (Freundeskreis / Four Music) got in touch with Sonoton to discuss a possible collaboration. Once they agreed, he asked Dexter (Jazz Files, The Trip) – one of the most in-demand hip-hop producers and beatmakers working right now – to join him on this journey into sound. The idea was to not only compile a number of standout tracks from the Sonoton catalogue, but to sample these old recordings and transform them into a brand new collection of beats. Luckily, Sonoton was game and allowed Frico & Dexter to dive deep into the basement of the company's HQ in Munich. Out of those 200+ LP releases from the early 80s the two producers picked their favourites and went back to the drawing board. The iconic artwork of Sonoton’s 80s releases also inspired the cover sleeve of their new collabo LP.
Dexter and DJ Friction each produced one half of Diggin’ Sonoton. The result is an eclectic, exciting, and well-rounded instrumental album that clearly displays their respective individual styles, while at the same time transferring the distinctive vibe of the original recordings into 2020. All these tracks are digitally distributed via Sonoton as well, making this ambitious beat album a new addition to the rich history of library music. - Bandcamp
Label: Sonoton – SON001, HHV – HHV846 |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition |
Country: Europe |
Released: 01 May 2020 |
Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop |
Style: Instrumental |
$25.00
With the original UK 7” of this release now as rare as hen’s teeth, and with the group having recently ‘reformed’ for one last album together, the Mr Bongo replica re-release of this 1990 masterpiece by Gang Starr couldn’t be more timely.
The now-legendary duo of DJ Premier and Guru dropped this at the height of hip-hop’s sampling of jazz, which had led to a creative leap forward for the genre. Yet while others plundered in the dark, this instant classic wore its influences on its sleeve and paid verbal homage to the musicians they were sampling. The “melodious funk” of “Thelonious Monk” gets namechecked, while the track samples two of his records, including 1958’s Bop gem ‘Light Blue’.
While both versions presented here have common elements, the ‘Movie Mix’ – so-named for the song’s appearance on the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s mythic jazz biopic ‘Mo’ Better Blues’ – goes in a few different directions to the ‘Video Mix’. Rather than just drop in an instrumental for the B-side, DJ Premier instead shows his versatility by switching up the base track (Kool & The Gang’s 1971 ‘Dujii’) and layering in other samples. In more ways than one, his virtuosity here echoes the improvisation of a jazz musician, akin to Denzel Washington’s Bleak in the movie.
Of course, he’s not the only show in town. The late Guru’s voice is as mellifluous as an instrument itself here, his potted history of the genre and the artists of jazz delivered with his own unmistakable cadence. Without this record, would he have gone on to make his ‘Jazzmatazz’ projects? – Light In The Attic
Label: Mr Bongo – MRB7161 |
Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Reissue |
Country: UK |
Released: Mar 2020 |
Genre: Hip Hop, Jazz |
$39.00
Wun Two at his best! Refined, realized, and rebooted.
German Hip-Hop producer Wun Two has been making a name for himself in the past handful of years. From an underappreciated producer for labels such as Radio Juicy to garnering over a million monthly listeners on Spotify, Wun Two is taking advantage of the spotlight he’s been under. His ambient style, which adds a languid layer to hip-hop, is typically cherished near the warm fire during the winter season or in the warm breezes of the summer night.
Besides last year’s Pirata, O Cavalo Vermelho is his longest album to date. The album contains twenty-four tracks of sultry and radiating beats patterned with relaxed drums and snares. Each track has some sample of chirping grasshoppers or shaking maracas to add to that nocturnal summer feeling.
With his previous projects, Wun Two crafted his beats with bebop jazz tonalities and heavy 1990’s hip-hop samples. This time, he took the approach to incorporate the sounds of humid South America, enmeshing his tracks with low fidelity chords and samba-like percussion. The result is a tranquil collage of warm and airless snippets. Each track doesn’t over welcome its stay, with each one only lasting around two minutes or less.
The album could calm the nerves of the most hurried and worried, which happened to be released during times of chaos and tumult. Wun Two, yet again, serves his purpose well. – medium.com
Label: Sichtexot – SE084 |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Red |
Country: Germany |
Released: 13 Mar 2020 |
Genre: Hip Hop |
Style: Instrumental |
$36.00
This 30 minute beat tape started it all for the lofi beatsmith Wun Two, cementing his sound in the scene. Mellow, low beats, cloudy samples and a vibe that immediately puts you at ease. Originally released in 2013 and reissued in 2017. Limited to 500 copies on white vinyl.
Label: Radio Juicy – none, HHV.DE – HHV603 |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, White |
Country: Germany |
Released: 15 Feb 2017 |
Genre: Hip Hop |
Style: Instrumental |
$36.00
Mellow, understated, jazzy hip hop drenched with the SP-404 treatment. Choice, classy samples are used throughout, backed with simple but effective drum sounds and an extremely laid back swing. This is Lo-fi Hip Hop at its finest, it’s none other than Wun Two with a great collaborator this time in Hubert Daviz.
Label: HHV.DE – HHV624, Backstein Ru'let – none |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album |
Country: Germany |
Released: 12 May 2017 |
Genre: Hip Hop |
Style: Instrumental, Jazzy Hip-Hop |
$39.00
Tasty, fluid future jazz with a heavy hip hop and breakbeat backbone!
Following up their 2019 release, Jazzbois Goes Blunt is their self-titled EP here in 2020. A promising trio of jazz and hip hop heads, their studied approach can also be seen as the foundation for improv. Definitely one to check out for fans of artists such as Karriem Riggins, Madlib, Kiefer, Kaidi Tatham, Henry Wu, Mansur Brown, Floating Points, and BBNG.
Label: HHV – HHV829, Cosmic Compositions – CC025 |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album |
Country: Europe |
Released: 24 Jan 2020 |
Genre: Hip Hop, Jazz |
Style: Instrumental, Jazzy Hip-Hop |
$45.00
1988 is the follow up to Knxwledge’s official debut album Hud Dreems (Stones Throw, 2015). The same year Hud Dreems was released Knx worked with Kendrick Lamar on To Pimp a Butterfly, earning the producer his first Grammy. A duo with Anderson .Paak called NxWorries was formed around the same time. Their single “Suede” became a viral hit, vaulting the singer to R&B stardom, and their album Yes Lawd! followed through on that song’s immense promise. Knx and Paak have quietly continued collaborating, and some of the new work is heard on 1988. A prolific artist in the extreme sense of the word, Knxwledge continues to redefine instrumental hip-hop almost in real-time with a stream of beat tapes numbering in the hundreds on Bandcamp, and video remixes on Instagram.
This prolific output began early. 1988 takes its name from the fact that much of the new record was created that very year, when Knx was an infant. As the story is told, little baby Knx was left alone by his mother for just a few moments and crawled to a family member’s vintage SP–12 sampler. When his mother returned he had already produced his first beats and nearly mastered the machine. These tracks, all produced before nap time while rocking a Nike diaper, were stored over the years on floppy discs, then brought to his studio in recent months where they were finished up, mixed, and mastered. – Stones Throw
Label: Stones Throw Records – STH 2409LP6 |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Purple |
Country: US |
Released: 27 Mar 2020 |
Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop |
Style: Instrumental, Leftfield |
$39.00
Re:verse is the instrumental album of the two remix EP's by FloFilz released years ago by Newtold - Keineideeistneu and Some More Remixes. In true Flofilz style, this is perfect for all beatheadz out there, looking to find that smooth touch to sample-based hip hop.
View Flofilz – Transit
View Flofilz - Metronom
Label: Newtold – NEWTOLD02 |
Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Limited Edition |
Country: Europe |
Released: 08 Dec 2017 |
Genre: Hip Hop |
Style: Jazzy Hip-Hop, Instrumental, Boom Bap |
$39.00
Sample based hip-hop treats by Belgium producer Flofilz. Released on Jarkta records – Speakthru is a perfect cross of Jazz and tasteful beats for head nodders and chill takers. Highly recommended for you’re a premium listening experience.
View Flofilz – Transit
View Flofilz - Metronom
Label: JAKARTA – JAKARTA091 |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album |
Country: Germany |
Released: Dec 2015 |
Genre: Hip Hop, Jazz |
Style: Instrumental |
$39.00
Ishmael Butler and Tendai “Baba” Maraire of Shabazz Palaces have always been proud iconoclasts, consistently breaking ground in spaces once thought incompatible with hip-hop. They were among the few rap acts signed to Sub Pop; they were pretty much the only rap artists to ever perform at the avant-garde Big Ears festival in Knoxville. This adventurous spirit continues down the Butler family line with Ishmael’s son Jazz, aka Lil Tracy. It seems that Jazz’s work has had a profound effect on his father’s project; in recent interviews, Butler cites his own son as an influence.
As one of the original members of the GothBoiClique, Tracy is an important figure in the development of “emo rap,” and what’s fascinating about Shabazz’s new album The Don of Diamond Dreams is the degree to which Ish seems to be learning from the new generation. Like polarizing label mates clipping., Shabazz’s brand of “alternative” hip-hop is not so much opposed to the mainstream as it is reflective of it, absorbing tangents of influence from trap, Auto-Tuned R&B, chopped and screwed, and other variants. Their lyrics are often shaped by the hip-hop hegemony too, playing off Rap Caviar tropes and taunting the Top 40 with a tongue-in-cheek braggadociousness, the kind that lets you know that Butler is still the same MC who told us he was cool like that all those years ago.– Pitchfork
Label: Sub Pop – SP 1335 |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album |
Country: USA & Europe |
Released: 17 Apr 2020 |
Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop |
Style: Conscious, Leftfield |
$58.00
Gilles Peterson presents a time capsule of musical magic on this exclusive. Taken from a day of live sessions in London’s legendary Maida Vale Studios – studio MV4 to be exact, it was originally intended just for Peterson’s BBC radio show broadcast on 20th October 2018. Struck by what a special moment the sessions captured, Peterson has decided to mark the results with a release proper on his Brownswood imprint.
A limited special double vinyl release, it features a diverse, all-star cast of some of the acts celebrated by Peterson in recent years, in a series of freewheeling and off-the-cuff recordings, several of the tracks backed by the group of Brownswood signee, Joe Armon-Jones. Featuring Dylan Jones, James Mollison, Mutale Chashi, and Marijus Aleksa as well as guest turns from Fatima, Asheber, Nubya Garcia, Hak Baker, and Oscar Jerome, plus a double track special from Bristol based collective, Ishmael Ensemble. – Music Is My Sanctuary
Label: Brownswood Recordings – BWOOD0218LP |
Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Limited Edition, Stereo |
Country: UK |
Released: 17 Mar 2020 |
Genre: Hip Hop, Jazz, Reggae, Funk / Soul |
Style: Contemporary Jazz |
$39.00
Jazz, soul and hip-hop influenced the collection of nine songs takes you on a gorgeous journey with rap, instrumentals and soulful vocals.
The album opens with the immediately immersive Cloudy Day featuring the captivating vocal presence of Minna Forouzandeh. As an opening track, it’s a winner. Minna also features on several tracks such as Battlefield, Dark Smoke and Cut to the Cheese, and carries each into the highly-seductive genre of lo-fi/neo-soul. Elegant, and dreamy and all enthralling.
Between these sumptuous singles, the band produce two modern hip-hop tracks both of highly-listenable quality. UK Rapper Isatta Sheriff spits rhymes, fluid and sassy on Stepney Tale. Her life reflected in engaging verses. And the single – Stay Mellow features fellow Dane Blacc El who delivers a smoother rap, with a Q-Tip, Arrested Development style of flow. There are 5.41 minutes here to savour. And interluded between these tracks are three instrumentals, Danish Design Part 1 & 2 and Club Berlin, demonstrating their jazz-influenced roots, with edgy beats, electronic keys and samples. The groove on these is endlessly-playable. Each track earns its inclusion and announces Athletic Progression as a band with an exceedingly bright future.
Dark Smoke is an album to inhale, absorb and enjoy – Scandinavian Soul
Label: HHV – HHV690, Super Bad Disco – none |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album |
Country: Europe |
Released: 25 Jan 2019 |
Genre: Hip Hop, Jazz |
Style: Jazzy Hip-Hop |
$39.00
Long awaited and highly anticipated - we're very proud and happy to finally announce the new album by our favourite Daddy (Suff Daddy)! It goes by the beautiful name "Pompette" which means tipsy in french and it features lots of Suffy's friends and fellows such as Illa J, Guilty Simpson, Torky Tork, S. Fidelity, The Lunchbirds and many many more and has become a great party celebrating beats, rhymes & life - Suff style of course! – Suff Daddy on Bandcamp
Label: JAKARTA – JAKARTA147 |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album |
Country: Germany |
Released: 28 Feb 2020 |
Genre: Hip Hop |
Style: Instrumental, Boom Bap |
$45.00
Seattle-raised, Brooklyn-residing Kassa Overall is a jazz musician, emcee, singer, producer, and drummer. His second, full-length album, I THINK I’M GOOD, is the work of an artist whose voice has ripened to its own hard-earned, provocative conclusions, erasing the need to talk about dissolving barriers between hip hop and jazz because he has begun a new conversation.
I THINK I’M GOOD is a window into the real life of Overall, a Bushwick-based artist wrestling with the abhorrent American prison system, the ebbs and flows of romantic relationships, and perils of trust, all seen through the kaleidoscopic lens of a brilliant 21st century composer. The backdrop to these varied themes is Overall confronting his experience with mental illness, which included a manic episode and subsequent hospitalisation when he was a student. Themes of incarceration and claustrophobia weave through the record, but never drown out the feeling of a fragile but vital hope. - Bandcamp
Label: Brownswood Recordings – BWOOD0219LP |
Format: Vinyl, LP |
Country: UK & US |
Released: 28 Feb 2020 |
Style: Fusion |