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Classic 90s boom bap from Poor Righteous Teachers with two of their biggest tunes on 45 for the first time!

Another boom bap sure shot from back in the day as KRS One attacks the wax alongside Channel Live on the hard hitting "Free Mumia". On the flip, a stripped back neck snapper - real DJs need doubles

Another dope 90s classic on 45 for the first time. Madkap dropped only 1 album back in 1992, but what a killer album - here are just 2 highlights from it. Limited to only 300 copies!

Another double sider of classic 90s boom bappers for the first time on 45! A couple of mixtape bangers from ex-Brand Nubian legend. Limited to 300 copies

Another Boom Bap Classic sureshot lining up a legendary b-boy anthem "A Chorus Line" from Kool Keith and Co, splitting the epic track up over 2 sides of one 7". Limited to only 300 copies!

More underground 90s rap bangers from Boom Bap Classics as they line up this supreme neck snapper from west coast lyricist Rasco. "Unassisted" is loved by backpackers and turntablists alike, whilst "Take It Back Home" features fellow Californian vocalist Planet Asia for more of the same.

PRESSED ON BLUE SWIRL AND ORANGE SWIRL COLORED VINYL PACKAGED IN A GATEFOLD JACKET WITH PRINTED FOLD OUT LYRICS SHEET

Originally released in the fall of 1993 Return of the Boom Bap is KRS-One's first official solo album. The album is pure 90's Hip-Hop filled with KRS-One's trademark conscious raps and storytelling with boom bap beats from the man himself, DJ Premier, Showbiz, and Kid Capri. The album kicks off with a Preemo trademark intro leading into "Outta Here", a tale about coming up in the 80s with a message to emcees not staying true to their roots. Throughout the album KRS-One tackles corrupt police, fake emcees, religion and provides some comical relief on "I Can't Wake Up" where he dreams about being a blunt passed around by a who's who of 90s emcees and Bill Clinton! The album was selected as one of The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums and received a 4 four mics rating in The Source in 1993. Get On Down is proud to present a limited edition pressing of Return of The Boom Bap to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the blast master's classic debut solo album. Includes the bonus freestyle track "Hip-Hop vs Rap" that was on the original "Sound of Da Police" 12-inch.

Two more classic 90s boom bap jams from the vaults - never been on 45 before! Only 300 copies.

Golden era boom bap classics on 45!

Mit ihrem unterhaltsam-bewegenden Rock‘n‘Roll Stil, gepaart mit sozial- und gesellschaftsreflektierenden Texten, inspiriert von Größen wie z.B. Dylan, den Rolling Stones oder Bruce Springsteen, revolutionierte die Kölschrockband BAP in den 70er Jahren die deutsche Musikszene und begeistert seitdem Fans und Kritiker, was sie schließlich zu einer der erfolgreichsten deutschen Rock-Gruppen machte.

Letztes Jahr gab die legendäre Band zur Feier des 40. Jubiläums ihres ersten Albums, den Startschuss für die Veröffentlichung ihrer BAP VINYL-Reihe. Jetzt erscheint der zweite Teil der beliebten Serie und
verspricht nicht weniger Unterhaltung, ganz im Gegenteil. Die BAP VINYL VOL. 2-Reihe präsentiert die gefeierten BAP Alben der 90er Jahre. Enthalten sind diesmal die erfolgreichen Alben: X für e’U (1990),Pik Sibbe (1993), Amerika (1996), Comics & Pin-Ups, sowie Tonfilm (beide 1999).

Mit ihrem unterhaltsam-bewegenden Rock‘n‘Roll Stil, gepaart mit sozial- und gesellschaftsreflektierenden Texten, inspiriert von Größen wie z.B. Dylan, den Rolling Stones oder Bruce Springsteen, revolutionierte die Kölschrockband BAP in den 70er Jahren die deutsche Musikszene und begeistert seitdem Fans und Kritiker, was sie schließlich zu einer der erfolgreichsten deutschen Rock-Gruppen machte.

Letztes Jahr gab die legendäre Band zur Feier des 40. Jubiläums ihres ersten Albums, den Startschuss für die Veröffentlichung ihrer BAP VINYL-Reihe. Jetzt erscheint der zweite Teil der beliebten Serie und
verspricht nicht weniger Unterhaltung, ganz im Gegenteil. Die BAP VINYL VOL. 2-Reihe präsentiert die gefeierten BAP Alben der 90er Jahre. Enthalten sind diesmal die erfolgreichen Alben: X für e’U (1990),Pik Sibbe (1993), Amerika (1996), Comics & Pin-Ups, sowie Tonfilm (beide 1999).

Mit ihrem unterhaltsam-bewegenden Rock‘n‘Roll Stil, gepaart mit sozial- und gesellschaftsreflektierenden Texten, inspiriert von Größen wie z.B. Dylan, den Rolling Stones oder Bruce Springsteen, revolutionierte die Kölschrockband BAP in den 70er Jahren die deutsche Musikszene und begeistert seitdem Fans und Kritiker, was sie schließlich zu einer der erfolgreichsten deutschen Rock-Gruppen machte.

Letztes Jahr gab die legendäre Band zur Feier des 40. Jubiläums ihres ersten Albums, den Startschuss für die Veröffentlichung ihrer BAP VINYL-Reihe. Jetzt erscheint der zweite Teil der beliebten Serie und
verspricht nicht weniger Unterhaltung, ganz im Gegenteil. Die BAP VINYL VOL. 2-Reihe präsentiert die gefeierten BAP Alben der 90er Jahre. Enthalten sind diesmal die erfolgreichen Alben: X für e’U (1990),Pik Sibbe (1993), Amerika (1996), Comics & Pin-Ups, sowie Tonfilm (beide 1999).

Mit ihrem unterhaltsam-bewegenden Rock‘n‘Roll Stil, gepaart mit sozial- und gesellschaftsreflektierenden Texten, inspiriert von Größen wie z.B. Dylan, den Rolling Stones oder Bruce Springsteen, revolutionierte die Kölschrockband BAP in den 70er Jahren die deutsche Musikszene und begeistert seitdem Fans und Kritiker, was sie schließlich zu einer der erfolgreichsten deutschen Rock-Gruppen machte.

Letztes Jahr gab die legendäre Band zur Feier des 40. Jubiläums ihres ersten Albums, den Startschuss für die Veröffentlichung ihrer BAP VINYL-Reihe. Jetzt erscheint der zweite Teil der beliebten Serie und
verspricht nicht weniger Unterhaltung, ganz im Gegenteil. Die BAP VINYL VOL. 2-Reihe präsentiert die gefeierten BAP Alben der 90er Jahre. Enthalten sind diesmal die erfolgreichen Alben: X für e’U (1990),Pik Sibbe (1993), Amerika (1996), Comics & Pin-Ups, sowie Tonfilm (beide 1999).

Mit ihrem unterhaltsam-bewegenden Rock‘n‘Roll Stil, gepaart mit sozial- und gesellschaftsreflektierenden Texten, inspiriert von Größen wie z.B. Dylan, den Rolling Stones oder Bruce Springsteen, revolutionierte die Kölschrockband BAP in den 70er Jahren die deutsche Musikszene und begeistert seitdem Fans und Kritiker, was sie schließlich zu einer der erfolgreichsten deutschen Rock-Gruppen machte.

Letztes Jahr gab die legendäre Band zur Feier des 40. Jubiläums ihres ersten Albums, den Startschuss für die Veröffentlichung ihrer BAP VINYL-Reihe. Jetzt erscheint der zweite Teil der beliebten Serie und
verspricht nicht weniger Unterhaltung, ganz im Gegenteil. Die BAP VINYL VOL. 2-Reihe präsentiert die gefeierten BAP Alben der 90er Jahre. Enthalten sind diesmal die erfolgreichen Alben: X für e’U (1990),Pik Sibbe (1993), Amerika (1996), Comics & Pin-Ups, sowie Tonfilm (beide 1999).

This album is a return to the collaborations of Moar with unreleased versions on vinyl and also rare tracks. You will find the boom bap flavor that he likes so much in his hip-hop productions and also some names familiar to the label Trad Vibe!
10 tracks with delicious flavors that will make you travel in time all produced by Moar and his faithful MPC & SP1200.

Blue Vinyl

After the hot first single with Sadat X (Brand Nubian) & El Da Sensei (Artifacts), Moar present the full LP Boom Bap Mentality featuring the legendary Dumi Right (Zimbabwe Legit), the underground Finsta (Finsta Bundy), the explosive duet Dirt Platoon, le real Mc Napoleon da Legend, Rita J from Chicago, LS Brigandes from NYC & the newbie & homie Miss Kraze from Nantes (France). All beats produced by Moar on the MPC’s & SP1200 with many taste of Jazz, Soul & Sera Groove vinyl samples ! Cuts by Moar himself & Dj Impact (Switzerland)

Limited to 500 on gold vinyl WW!! Over two decades later, KRS One's debut solo album Return of the Boom Bap finally gets the reissue it deserves. Pressed for the first time on gold vinyl, this double LP not only includes a bonus 7' of Kenny Parker remixes, but also features the first-ever colour sleeve on a U.S. pressing. Stripping away the intricate production of the final Boogie Down Productions album, Sex and Violence, Return of the Boom Bap saw the already iconoclastic rapper return to the bare bones, gritty territory of his landmark masterpiece Criminal Minded. KRS-One's delivery, burned with a reinvigorated fury, spits out his rhymes with pummeling cadences and world-wise intelligence. Although the record isn't as focused on social activism and political protest as the latter Boogie Down albums, KRS-One never made his lyrics simplistic, nor did he turn his back on what could now be called prescient social commentary. The combination of raw beats and emotion-driven rhymes made Return of the Boom Bap a genuine comeback for KRS-One, one of the founding figures of modern hip-hop.

180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
INCLUDES TWO INNERSLEEVES WITH TRACKLIS-
TING, CREDITS AND PHOTOGRAPH OF KRS-ONE
FEATURING THE CLASSIC HIP HOP TRACKS
SOUND OF DA POLICE' AND P' IS STILL FREE'
ORIGINAL MEMBER OF BOOGIE DOWN
PRODUCTIONS ALONGSIDE DJ SCOTT LA ROCK
LIMITED EDITION OF 1.000 COPIES ON
TRANSPARENT VINYL Return of the Boom Bap is KRS-One's first official solo album, released in 1993. It peaked on the Billboard 200 charts at position 37. According to KRS-One the album has sold over 300,000 copies.Unlike the majority of the Boogie Down Productions LP's, KRS here takes a step back from the production duties and invites rising underground stars DJ Premier, Showbiz and Kid Capri to handle the beats in addition to his four contributions. The track P Is Still Free' appeared on the Menace to Society Original Soundtrack (MOVATM152) labeled as a B.D.P. track. The track Black Cop' was originally released as a 12' single and a track for the CB4 movie soundtrack, thus also labeled as a B.D.P. track.The album was selected as one of The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums. The record was originally rated 4 mics in The Source in 1993.

2026 Repress


Eclectic Music Producer and DJ Marc Mac (from 4hero) returns with another Mixtape Style album following on from 'Extend The Knowledge" & "It's Right To Be Civil". Marc's formula of Boom Bap Beats, Breaks, Jazz and Soul pull together soundbites from the Vietnam War era. Beats are intertwined with soundbites from the 1960's Vietnam War protest era where African American's were sent to fight during the Civil Rights period in the USA.

Marking the 10th anniversary of this series of 'mixtape style', revolutionary and thought provoking albums, Omniverse Records have pressed a short run of never before on Vinyl releases. The complete set of records "It's Right To Be Civil", "Extend The Knowledge", "Message From Soulville" and the new "Generation - X" albums will be available each on single record continuous play vinyl. The albums are a must for the fans of Marc Mac's side projects, each album has a story to tell and the collection makes great listening both musically and subtly informative. This is most defiantly for the collectors. Not to be slept on.

From Hip Hop to Soul, then from Soul to Beatmaking, Sly Johnson never really changed universe. Today, it's immersed in the mechanics with processors and printed circuits that we find him, under the alias of TAGi, producer-beatmaker who, for the occasion, has joined the services of Steven Beatberg. It's together, in artistic autarchy with the only presence of softwares, samplers and sequencers, that they have built their pieces in the light of their computer screens.
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After three EP dominated by instrumentals, the duo finally chose to realise their dream: to craft a multi-voice album where customized production for each guest would guide the creative process.

Rapper Big Pooh, the former member of the Little Brother group (With Phonte & 9th Wonder), the contemporary soul of Lisa Spada, but also the rapist #madeinfrance Pumpkin (worthy descendant of MC Solaar, Fabe ...), multi-faceted Georgia Anne Muldrow, the MC Finale, the new rising wave of artists of the Hip-Hop scene in Detroit. Tiemoko from Paris, Saga an MC who follows the pure tradition of the New York Hip-Hop, the very smooth-jazzy Elodie Rama and Dilouya, the producer of the previous record of Sly (The Mic Buddah), are of this casting where men and women share the roles and where TAGi as soon as the mic presents itself to him, becomes again Sly Johnson for some refrains, choruses or solo rereading of the sublime "Retrograde" of James Blake.

Guided by Hip Hop since the 90's until today, worked in great detail, YOUARESURROUNDED highlights vintage keyboards on granular rhythms, injecting a lascivious Soul, P-funk, electro futuristic or melancholic in black and white touches on 13 tracks that are as atmospheric as they are emotional.

After kicking off the year with releases by Wheelman and General Ludd, we're very pleased to announce that Naum Gabo completes our recent trilogy of releases from Glasgow based artists. Alongside Ivan Smagghe, it's no secret that Optimo have been a huge influence around these parts and having released Ivan's Smagghe & Cross project on Belters last year, it's a huge honour to work with Naum Gabo - the production partnership of Jonnie Wilkes (JG Wikes of Optimo) and James Savage (Mastering Engineer for Optimo Music).Fittingly enough, Naum Gabo played live at the first ever Optimo related parties we attended at the Sub Club back in 2005 and Jonnie's influential and supportive presence has been felt over the years as we started to become more involved in the Glasgow scene and as the label developed.
So it didn't require much thought to do this release before we had even heard these new Naum Gabo tracks...they are absolute slammers of the highest order! Really big release, bringing to our minds the likes of Errorsmith.Belters is a new club-focussed label brought to you by Huntleys + Palmers.

Every coastline develops its own rhythm. The Adriatic is no exception.

For decades, Italy’s eastern coast has been shaped by funk, Cosmic Disco, Balearic sounds, Italo Disco, House, Latin rhythms, Brazilian music and countless other influences. Rather than blending into a single style, these musical worlds have lived side by side, constantly inspiring new generations of DJs, musicians and dancers. For more than fifteen years, Soul Fingers and Funk Rimini have explored that landscape from different perspectives. Founded by Claudio Cavallaro in 2013, Soul Fingers grew into a vinyl-driven community where groove matters more than genre. Its philosophy has always been simple: if the groove is right, genres stop mattering. Brothers Ricky and Francesco Cardelli developed Funk Rimini into a project rooted in funk, disco, live performance and electronic production. Anima Adriatica is where these two journeys meet.

The project didn’t begin with the ambition of making an album. It began behind the turntables. As DJs, Claudio Cavallaro and Ricky Cardelli found themselves constantly searching for records capable of connecting distant musical worlds inside their sets; from Afrobeat into disco, from hip hop into Latin, from Brazilian grooves into boogie, from cosmic electronics into deep funk. Sometimes those records existed. More often, they didn’t. So they stopped searching and started writing them. Not records designed to belong to one genre, but records designed to travel between genres. That space between musical worlds became Anima Adriatica.

The music grew through spontaneous jam sessions with Ricky and Francesco Cardelli, drummer Enrico Mao Bocchini and, gradually, a wider circle of musicians, singers and longtime friends, making Anima Adriatica less a traditional band than the beginning of an open collective. Recorded at SynthPosio Studio, founded by Ricky and Francesco Cardelli inside Rimini’s iconic skyscraper, the project also carries a symbolic connection to the building itself, where many Italo Disco classics (including records by Betty Miranda, The Creatures and many others) were recorded decades earlier.

Betty Miranda returns not as a nostalgic guest, but as a bridge between generations. On the title track she performs a spoken-word text written by Claudio Cavallaro, reflecting on the invisible thread connecting the Adriatic dancefloor across time. From Baia degli Angeli to Cocoricò, from the legendary clubs of Riccione to today’s independent communities gathered around projects such as Soul Fingers and Funk Rimini, the places have changed, but the dancefloor continues to tell the same story. Much like Pier Vittorio Tondelli’s Rimini captured the Adriatic through literature, Anima Adriatica imagines its soundtrack.

Brazilian musician Daniel Plentz (Selton) expands that vision on Açúcar and Alegria, bringing another coastline into the story. Across its four tracks, the EP moves naturally between analogue funk, boogie, Brazilian music, underground disco, cosmic textures and the wider Black musical tradition, with All Down The Line paying tribute to the Paradise Garage era.

Released by Bordello A Parigi, the project found its natural home through a shared love of adventurous dance music, records and club culture. More than the title of an EP, Anima Adriatica marks the beginning of an open collective; a meeting point where musicians, DJs, producers and friends continue building bridges between genres, generations and communities.

Because Anima Adriatica doesn’t live inside a genre. It lives between genres. If soul music has always reflected the places where it was born, Anima Adriatica is simply our own Adriatic Soul.

Possibilities Vol. 1 is a transatlantic collaboration between legendary Brooklyn MC Finsta (of the iconic 90s duo Finsta Bundy) and Finnish boom bap production collective Recluse Crew. This powerful joint effort blends gritty New York lyricism with soulful, sample-heavy beats rooted in classic hip hop tradition. Finsta, known for his sharp delivery and timeless voice, brings raw energy and wisdom earned through decades in the game. Recluse Crew complements his bars with expertly crafted instrumentals that honor the golden era while keeping things fresh for today’s underground heads. Released by the new Finnish record label Mood Monarch, Possibilities Vol. 1 is a must-listen for fans of true school hip hop, offering head-nodding beats, reflective rhymes and a rare synergy between two scenes, New York and Finland, connected through a deep love for the culture.

180g Heavy double vinyl LP with liner notes by Tyran Grillo. Limited Japanese Obi for the first pressing. Original artwork by Russell Mills and photography by Jean-Baptiste Mondino.

The third Time Capsule is a body of dub reinterpretations by celebrated producer Bill Laswell of Ethiopian singer Gigi. Curated by Tokyo record collector, music researcher and seasoned reissue supervisor Ken Hidaka, it is the first time Illuminated Audio is pressed to vinyl after its CD release in 2003.

Ejigayehu Shibabaw was born in 1974 in Chagni, northwestern Ethiopia and by pursuing a career as a singer, went against her father’s strict, traditional gender roles. As Gigi, she embraced the same musical freedom she had strived for in her personal life, incorporating the Ethiopian church, funk, hip-hop, West and South African music into her work. She first settled in Nairobi, then Addis Ababa, where she quickly established herself as one of the city’s leading singers. A move to San Francisco in 1998 led to a long and fruitful creative partnership with bassist and producer Bill Laswell.

Around the same time, Chris Blackwell had stepped away from Island Records to start the art house film company and label Palm Pictures. He took an interest in Gigi and together with Laswell, pulled together an all-star cast of musicians for her self-titled US debut album, including Herbie Hancock, Pharoah Sanders and Wayne Shorter. It won international critical acclaim, not just for its musicianship but for making Gigi a “defining voice for the Ethiopian expatriate community”, as journalist Tyran Grillo praises in his Time Capsule liner notes. From the nation-defining 1896 victory over Italian invaders to the quiet revolutionaries who wear simple shemma garments, Grillo believes the themes in Gigi make it “a shower of sunlight on her homeland for those ignorant of its struggles.”

After its success, Blackwell encouraged them to go back into the studio to rethink the album and Illuminated Audio was born. “Anyone can make a voice sound worldly”, Grillo remarks, “but rare are those who can make one sound inner-worldly.” Gigi was clear with Laswell to give her vocals a minor role “because it’s already been done.” Instead her Amharic verse is fleeting, exhaling through the textures like ghostly fragments; soaring yet muted. Yet the album is still titled under her name, an assertion by Laswell of her central role in the album’s creation. Not only was it a fully endorsed project by Gigi, but she would be present throughout its development, giving feedback on half-finished ideas as Laswell played them back in the studio. “It works perfectly”, she reflected after the album’s release. “We wanted to capture the whole spirit of each track, and Bill’s remixes create a different music language that really puts you in a pleasant place”.

This new vocabulary takes its lead from a technical approach that Laswell had been perfecting during a furtive creative period at the turn of the millennium. Much like his ambient interpretations of Miles Davis (Panthalassa, 1998), Bob Marley (Dreams of Freedom, 1997), and Carlos Santana (Divine Light, 2001), Laswell approached Illuminated Audio by returning to the original multitrack masters. Gigi wasn’t just reworked, but recomposed into an expansive lattice of instruments, submerged in a watery ambience of dub and trance undercurrents.

Sonically, this new language that Gigi refers to, is manifested by the original album’s more understated parts being pushed to the fore. Explaining his contrasting methods, Laswell saw Gigi as being “put together in a way that fits”. Contrastingly, in Illuminated Audio, “a lot of things that I featured in the remix weren’t as audible in the original.” Instrumentation laying near-dormant, deep in the mix, are brought to the fore: the acid rock guitar and Wayne Shorter’s saxophone on ‘Tew Ante Sew’, Graham Haynes’ flugelhorn on ‘Nafekeñ’, Laswell’s bass on ‘Kahn’, the melodica in Mengedegna or the floating synths and talking drums in ‘Gud Fella’.

Brought to his attention by mentor DJ Nori, Hidaka describes Illuminated Audio as a “masterful sonic exploration into ethereal ambience and dub” and made sure this reissue also contained a full remaster to give its “deep musicality” much better dynamics and density in the overall sound. Hidaka admits that Laswell's music “is sometimes so out-there, it is often misunderstood” and, indeed, to dub album non-believers this might seem like a prolific producer imposing himself on another artist’s work; eternally developing rearrangements that never quite get to its destination. But that’s missing its true power and triumph. This is more than the reissue of a remix, but “a wholly unique musical entity”, as Hidaka describes. Illuminated Audio refers to the illuminated manuscripts that comprise the major part of Ethiopian art and its new compositions stand in proud solitude as a rare body of reworks that both informs and enhances their originals.

Two years in the making, “Talk About It” delivers on all the hype and promise of Blimes and Gab's 20-million-view YouTube sensation “Come Correct,” which blew up the Internet. (It’s included here as a vinyl-only bonus song on side D!) Hip-hop heavyweights Method Man, Jay Park, Bahamadia, and Iamsu! each drop by for features. The song “Feelin It” appeared on HBO’s Insecure. Single "Hot Damn" was featured in the soundtrack for the movie Cut Throat City. Uproxx Music named "Talk About It" one of their top albums of the year. Billboard says “Blimes and Gab drip with pure swagger: Seducing the listener with entrancing melodies and hot-and-heavy lyrics,” while Variety describes “Feelin It" as "the perfect summer song.” This deluxe double LP is pressed on yellow and black vinyl and includes liner notes by Miss Casey Carter. Only 500 individually numbered copies have been made.

The first Jet Set series is back in print and now repressed on colored vinyl. St. Louis producer Bonus Points scores high with Off Topic, an outstanding four-song EP for the Cold Busted label. With previous appearances on Chillhop Records, Sundae Sauuce, Horizon, and others, Bonus Points delivers a dazzling take on boom-bap beats and future funk. Bonus Points is a graphic designer by day and, in turn, his musical compositions reflect attention to color, form, and detail. These beats are visual. The release’s title cut opens things with a spacey intro before delving into some serious sunshine lounge vibes. A cool breeze wafts through these melodies. “Zoned Out” follows with a distant, romantic guitar and a lonesome, pensive feeling that’s perfect for seaside pondering. Next up is the old-timey jazz bop of “Coffee Lounge,” recalling the St. Louis swing of yesteryear over some phat beats. Off Topic closes with “Back And Forth

The Rotterdam producer duo Vesuvio Vortex and DJ Seutek first connected through a shared love for records, long listening sessions, and spontaneous DJ sets at his record store.

One evening, Seutek recited his poem ‘Ruimte Zat’ (In Space There’s Space Enough). The reaction was immediate: this had to become a record. That same night, the vocals were recorded and the music began to take shape.

The result is a melancholic piece driven by his unmistakable voice, weaving spoken word through ’80s-inspired sounds. Raw and unmistakably Rotterdam, ‘Ruimte Zat’ finds hope in uncertainty while keeping its eyes on the horizon.

Join the trip with some breakbeat euphoria by HAAK. on the flip. Ga mee op reis!

Brooklyn-based producer and lathe-cut specialist P-Sol returns to his own imprint (as he does on an impressively frequent basis, frankly) with another irresistible double-sided 7". Both tunes continue to carve out his own soulful, sample-driven corner of hip-hop and r&b, starting with 'A Little Personal' with its elegant strings and classic boom-bap era drums topped with a silky smooth and loved-up vocal. The B-side, 'Pete's Soul' is a fitting tribute and nod to make great from this world and bumps gently but with a catchy vocal edge. Another heady crate-digger's delight from a man whose purple patch continues.

Channeling his honed sample craft towards the ominous portent of modern times, Romare returns with his fifth album Oblivion, with the previous 3 out of 4 LP's appearing on Ninja Tune. Across a suite of downtempo, broken beat, bubbling grooves and brooding reveries Archie Fairhurst threads a narrative that wrestles with the big questions of the present moment — the tipping points of the planet and technology, the fight for social justice and the power structures that govern our existence. While his trademark source material continues to cast a long line back through recorded history, this is Romare at his most contextual.

Nothing is placed by accident. 'Machines' hums its throbbing 4/4 pulse along to a German language recital of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's 'Blessed Longing' — an enduring reflection on the human condition that rings true from way back in the 19th Century when it was written. 'Computer Love' slinks into a sumptuous trip-hop lull laced with sci-fi flourishes sculpted from samples of old computer documentaries — a bittersweet romantic backdrop to our complicated situationship with the devices in our lives. 'Take Us' goes one step further on its hard-stepping boom-bap strut as a subtle tale of possession by screens unfolds around Romare's signature strain of technicolour mutant funk.

There is space for optimism in the message on Oblivion as well — the strength of the suffragettes as a benchmark for social justice and activism amidst the speakeasy slink of ‘Deeds, Not Words', and spring-loaded acid house joint 'Change' pointing to the need for positive action in the face of imminent calamity.

The artwork for the album follows Fairhurst's thought process, drawing on Edvard Munch's iconic 'The Scream' along with Philippe Halsman and Salvador Dali’s ‘Voluptuous Death’ to help render the ideas of the album visually.

The wild ride of Oblivion races towards a final beguiling opiate on 'The Last Lullaby' — the perfect sedative after the rush of information and emotion that comes with a full-length trip through Romare's vivid, uniquely creative world of sound.

Best known as the longtime DJ for Sugar Ray, DJ Homicide brings decades of turntable experience to this pair of soul-soaked hip-hop instrumentals. 'You're No Good (Flip)' rides a classic boom-bap groove, layering warm samples and heavyweight drums into an effortlessly head-nodding cut, while 'Rich Kind Of Poverty (Flip)' digs even deeper with smoky brass, vintage soul textures and laid-back swing. Unfussy, authentic and built on faultless foundations, both sides underscore Homicide's knack for transforming familiar sounds into grooves that feel fresh.

In a blizzard of crushed breaks and dissonant tones, Shelley Parker lands on Sneaker Social Club with her third album, Screed. Taking a forensic approach to noise sculpture and harmonic interference, the UK-based artist maintains a fringe perspective on the legacy of hardcore-derived dance music, extrapolating the renegade spirit of the earliest innovators into unexplored zones where sound art and sound systems collide.

Parker's path through the underground has been informed by her art school background, equally at home in the parallel world of galleries, installations and institutions as she is in the club. This dualistic dimension to her practice charges her music with an outsider spirit that manifests across 10 striking new productions on Screed. Focusing on the sound over an umbrella concept, it's an album that rejects comfortable, functional formulae in favour of original expression.

There are plenty of forthright structures for DJs and dancers to lock onto, from the militaristic techno thrust and tightly clipped breakbeat loop of 'Relentless' to the splayed boom bap guiding the giddy string sequences of 'Stargazer Lily'. The insistent pulse of 'April' meanwhile offers only the faintest of paths to navigate dense thickets of jerky, swinging static and metallic clamour. 'Georgian Wire' closes the record out on dissembled drum licks with a brittle patina - a scooped out closer with the skeletal remains of a rave dialect that's second nature to someone with as much skin in the game as Parker.

In amongst those tracks lies a wide-ranging tapestry of rhythmic, textural and emotional approaches, from head-knocking beatdowns to billowing clouds of dub techno, angular stabs and industrial smudges. On Screed, Parker proves herself to be peerless and purposeful in her quest to find new forms within the well-worn canon of hardcore and rave.

“I marvel afresh at Béla’s extraordinary vision, his indefatigability as a creator, his galvanizing presence as a bandleader, and of course, his freaking banjo playing. Live Heart will reverberate through and energize the bluegrass community forever.” – Chris Thile Live Heart: My Bluegrass Heart at the Ryman is a 3LP set that captures one legendary night in bluegrass. On January 8, 2022, in the aftermath of a Nashville blizzard, Béla Fleck was joined by three generations of renowned players who together brought the fire: Sam Bush, Michael Cleveland, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Sierra Hull, Edgar Meyer, Justin Moses, Mark Schatz, Billy Strings, Bryan Sutton, Tony Trischka, and Molly Tuttle. The celebrated banjo virtuoso and musical adventurer has both dug deep into his instrument's complex global history and unlocked the breadth of its possibilities. He has earned 19 Grammy awards, and his acclaimed studio album My Bluegrass Heart, was a homecoming in sound. The music Fleck composed for his GRAMMY-winning My Bluegrass Heart is the third chapter in a decades-spanning trilogy that began with 1888’s Drive and the Bluegrass Sessions in 1999. This live record encompasses bluegrass in its core – the intergenerational passing down of music – and is nothing short of a masterpiece in sound, artistry, and community.

Following on from his electric appearance on Diamonds in the Night, Tallac returns with a four‑tracker of low‑orbit elation. Tessitura blends floor‑facing energy with sleek space synths, elegant undercurrents washed in bold bars to produce a one‑of‑a‑kind sound. Drums hit hard on “Carbon Copy,” driving percussion providing the launchpad for synthlines to swoop and soar. Tempos are taken down a notch for the analogue embrace of “Kiss Me Quick.” Notes bend and flow in this smoky dreamscape, samples pulling the listener ever deeper. The rumbling kicks and hissing hi‑hats of “Pythia” are punctured by a throbbing beat; gliding above the rolling snares and luxurious breaks is a melody that thrums with palpable intensity and unbridled joy, a track made to ignite audiences. Never adhering to genre tags or style pigeonholes, Tessitura closes with “Cybersyn.” Touches of cosmic melt into late‑night glow‑stick energy, dawn’s light piercing the warehouse windows while the speakers continue to bounce blissfully.

Step into the backroom of the Bordello, the lights dim and the soundtrack adopts a different tone. L.F.T. leans against the wall. Nestled under his arm, Sonic Boom: four tracks of acid-inflected electro disruption. Love, Fist, Tears is no stranger to the more gnarled side of the machines, and that unadulterated rawness is evident from the needle drop of “Locked in My Head.” From its bent and buckled intro, the track launches a beat that punches before drawing the listener in for more. Vocoder lyrics are mangled with distortion, static soaked chords blighted by corrosive chemicals and industrial decay as the knives are drawn from the outset (and this is only the beginning). Blistered and cracked beats are doused in a pestilent haze for “Las Plagas” and a message of intent is firmly stated: there will be no let up on Sonic Boom, no reprieve. “Ningen” opens the flip. Grisly, petrol smeared beats splutter below a juddering synthline that coils and twists with serpentine menace. A probing tom is lanced before being set alight in the finale. Sinister and unsettling, “Schmutzig Personality” is as physically powerful as it is psychologically gripping. Barrages of drums rain down, barbed snares and sharpened claps, as an assault of acid is further weaponised by machined vocals. L.F.T. doing what he does with an EP that will leave bodies and speakers broken.