Apollo doing his Triple Threat thing on about 50 classic break beats, edits & staple b-boy records. James Brown is therefore represented to the fullest, with a kingpin selection of original tracks, party breaks, Mr K edits and all types of bootleg...
expand review fun with lotsa doubling. For the seasoned vet, it's a semi-predictable selection, but if you don't know the UBB catalogue inside & out, this'll be quite the edumacation (track list included). -the mgmnt
From the Jones label, who brought you the head crushing classic "Chains & Black Exhaust," we now get this mix by old school Memphis dj Big Moe, live from R.C's Place. Big Moe was a former radio DJ for WJNS in Memphis...
expand review and was known for playing the best in funk & soul from that region. Vaulted in somebody's house in South Memphis for over 30 years, this live concert tape was discovered in 2003. The concert was Joe Perkins & The Memphians featuring Big Moe as the dj, and he delivers a set of both common and rare unknown Memphis recordings. All these tracks are either Stax, Hi Records, or local pressings, and some of the highlights include groups like the Memphians, Wendy Rene, Gene Anderson, The Charmels, The Fabulous Caprices, Smithstonian and Transplant. No tracklisting though, so you'll have to go after that yourself. And best believe, same as with Chains & Exhaust, people in two years are gonna be scrambling both for copies of this disc, and the original cuts contained herein. A great tribute to the Memphis sound, and a valid piece of history. Recommended. -the mgmnt
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They've done it again! Greg Caz and Sean Marquand, resident selectors at the great Brazilian Beat party and two of NYC's top spinners of South America's sexiest soul, have put together the long anticipated sequel to their necessary Baile Funk mix. There's...
expand review no weak spots in this collection of searing hot Brazilian funk, and in fact, if you get the impression that these guys could go on for days with this heat, you're probably right. The mix presents a feast of hooks, beats, grooves and melodies, as well as a collector's attention to obscure b-sides and forgotten album tracks (detailed in the informative liner notes). Picking highlights is as simple as hitting the "random" button on your CD player, but I'll try to narrow things down to a couple of my favorites. Os Incriveis get things popping right from the jump with their wicked dedication to Herbie the Love Bug(1), a cut that demonstrates the fun and funky elements that remain constant throughout (and really, how could you go wrong when the Love Bug's involved?). A few minutes later the boys turn up an unusual groover from legend Claudette Soares before moving on to "A Festa(2)" by Silvio Cesar, a slinky, mesmerizing cut. Breakbeat heads will not be disappointed either. Drum master Chico Batera has you covered with "Oxossi(3);" or perhaps the Boogaloo Combo(4) is more your style. The One Way/Al Hudson-esque jam "To Parado Na Tua" and Jorge & Olivetti's "Aleluia(5)," which could be a Rodney Franklin outtake, showcase a slick '80s West Coast funk feel that rounds out the summertime vibe of the set. I'm running out of room, and I haven't even mentioned the devastating Tim Maia jam(6), Wilson Simonal's amazing Bacharach cover, or the ridiculously rare Jorge Ben and Azymuth cuts. This is a mix that anyone could enjoy, and an absolutely essential chapter for fans of Brazilian funk. -monk
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Greg Caz and Sean Marquand gone legit! After years of holding down the "vintage Brazilian" flag at their weekly Brazilian Beat party in Brooklyn, hustling their excelsior Brazilian mix cds and all sorts of other cool stuff, Mr Bongo has given them...
expand review carte blanche to put together this compilation. Whereas most of these Mr Bongo's "Brazilian Beats" comps pride themselves on representing all aspects of Brazilian music, this one is focused razor sharp on the sounds that rock their party. That means strictly vintage tropicalia, samba, baile funk, and whatever other categories define that 60s and 70s sound. And being the ultra discerning music collectors & djs that they are, Greg & Sean's selection is amazing- every single track on here offers something new, ear popping and best of all, dancefloor approved. Here's some of my favorites: Os Oncriveis' "Uma Rosa Pra Dita(1)," which I've been digging ever since I heard it on one of their mix tapes, the Willy Wonka influenced Noriel Viela's "16 Toneladas (Sixteen Tons)(2)," drum crazy "Beija Flor Suite(3)" by Chalo Eduardo, Ely Camargo's girl power "Taieras(4)," Os Novos Crioulos' "Mar Afunda(5)" and Quarteto Uai's "Marcas(6)." Also check the Rita Lee (original Os Mutantes member) on "Agora E Moda(7)" and let it play for a while. Starts out sounding like some simple kitsch Brazilian disco (which, let it be clear, I would be perfectly fine with at this point), but it evolves into something that reminds me of Debbie Harry, Diana Ross and Gary Numan all the same time. Considering their track record, I'm not surprised at how good this cd is, but dudes, I am impressed. Recommended. -the mgmnt
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Citizen Kane is definitely one of those next chapter DJs. You'll see him at A-1 playing some crap ass record, then a couple months you'll be fiending for that suddenly essential piece of music. Both his prior mixes with Chairman Mao have...
expand review gone down in the books as classics, and now he's released this solo effort on the new imprint Disc Sinthomme. The mix starts in the realm of rare soul and rock influenced tracks and flows through disco/non-disco, and then into some of the more intense new house music being made today. The mix features some super-rare collector pieces, numerous Kane re-edits, and exclusive takes of newer gems. Featuring artists as diverse as Max Berlin, Tony Orlando, Nick Chacona, and David Astri, Kane has dug deep to provide an encapsulation of one of his club night sets. Fans of the Idjut Boys "Press Play" cd will find a kindred spirit in this mix. 24 tracks, over 70 minutes. -the mgmnt
Cosmo Baker's Love Break was, in my humble opinion, the best mixtape of 2005, so when he told me he was thinking about following it up with a sequel, I basically hounded him until it got done - and now here it...
expand review is! Scientifically engineered for maximum babymakingability, Love Break 2 features almost 30 tracks and runs over 74 minutes for those extra late nights (or early Sunday mornings). Just like the first round, this is basically the smoothest, most soulful shit in the world, with some pretty well known tracks alongside a generous sprinkling of dusty gems. (The upside, of course, is that if you lost your girl 'cause you spent too much money buying records on Turntable Lab, at least you can be smug and satisfied by identifying the tracks – out loud, to yourself – without looking at the insert.) The first volume of Love Break is one of the best-selling mixtapes we've carried, so I don't think I need to do much explaining here, but check some selected artists: Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Eddie Kendricks, Al Green, Dionne Warwick, Lyn Collins, The Ambassadors, Jackson 5, The Impressions, y mas y mas. Definitely on par with the first volume, and obviously recommended. -Chris Lemon-Red
"Cocaine is a powerful drug." No shit, Rick! For a while, it seemed as if the sublime musical legacy of the Superfreak would forever be eclipsed by the 12 hours he spent skied out of his brain sodomizing a groupie with...
expand review a crack pipe ("it's a celebration, bitches"). Fortunately, the now-legendary Chapelle Show sketch brought James back into the pop-culture spotlight, and has inspired Cosmo Baker and Eleven to tear through the entire back catalog of James' hits, obscurities, collabos and production work on this new mix CD. Punctuated by tight scratches and doubling, not to mention soundbites from Chapelle and Charlie Murphy ("DARKNESS!") themselves, the highlights include the Mary Jane Girls' party classic "All Night Long," Rick's "Give It To Me Baby" and my personal favorite Teena Marie's "I'm A Sucker For Your Love." Cosmo and Eleven also connect James' classics to more recent jams with "Mary Jane" (aka Redman's "Smoke Buddah") and a great megamix of "Cold Blooded" that blends the original with the cover version by ODB -- no stranger to the pipe himself. All obvious comedy value aside, this disc is a very solid listen, and a great reminder of just how good a funk and R&B songwriter Rick actually was. "Now come and smoke with your boy Rick James - the stickiest of the icky." -Nick Catchdubs
The first volume of DJ Alex From Tokyo's Time Warp mix achieved Lab's Truly Underground Cult Status (sells more copies through the stores than the website). Alex, whose also in the production group Tokyo Black Star, is in the Rong...
expand review / Bogman style of playing obscure records no matter the genre (although you get a loose cosmic vibe from his selections). For this sequel, he revisits his crates for a seamless, one hour and twenty minute mix. He switches through rare disco, downtempo, house, and techno effortlessly. In addition, the mix comes untracked, which I think he did on purpose to give it that cassette mixtape effect. Alex brought these straight to shop from Tokyo, so I doubt you'll find these elsewhere. Classy tri-fold digi-pack packaging too. -the mgmnt
For those who've followed the mixtape game for a while, you know that Staple was one of the early companies to adopt the mixtape series as a marketing tool, releasing cassettes from 5th Platoon and Ken Sport amongst others. For their tenth...
expand review anniversary, they've come very heavy with Japan's record king Muro and ridiculous cover photography by Yasumasa Yonehara (aka the T. Richardson of Japan). For the selection itself, Muro once again flexes his record crate with a deep selection of soul, funk and disco. However, the kicker is that all these tracks were meant to be played at 33rpm, but Muro flips it to 45rpm in the production tradition of RZA, Jus Blaze, Kanye, and others. It's quite a ear-opening experience, and much more enjoyable than the Chipmunks. 27 tracks in all. -the mgmnt
#5 in Mochilla's CD series comes courtesy of Keepintime / Brasilintime affiliate DJ Nuts, who gave us the ultra popular Brazil-centric "Disco e Cultura" series of mixes a few years back. Once again there's no info, no tracklist here - just 68...
expand review minutes of dusty tropical gems that run the gamut from bossa and samba to rock and jazz, all with that unmistakable Brazilian flavor. Anybody got the key to the roof? Definitely recommended. -Chris Lemon-Red
Our old homie O-Dub back at it again! Mr. Wang keeps rolling with his "covers" obsession (see also: Deep Cover #1, Soul Sides V.2: The Covers) but this time he's taken it international with versions of everyone from Iron Butterfly to Fatback...
expand review Band, from just about every corner of the planet. Can you imagine what a Polish cover of Bill Withers' "Use Me" sounds like? Or a Peruvian stab at Ballin' Jack? How about a Guyanese reggae band doing "Sweet Caroline?" If, like me, your answer to all the above is "no, but I'd like to," you need this mix in your life. O-Dub keeps it simple, tasteful and on-point with the mixing, no need for fancy wicky-wicky. (Though there is a Colombian cover of "Wicky Wacky.") 20 track mix, plus three bonus tracks from some fallen idols (Jimmy McGriff, Bo Diddley, James Brown). 71 minutes. Recommended. -Van Hammersly
After the death of James Brown, I was expecting a lot more tributes coming from our part of the underworld. Where are the mixes, the remixes, the t-shirt designs... the reissue of the James Brown Is Dead 12"? This is what...
expand review I'm talking about... Premier had enough time in between cutting platinum pop hits to sit down a make a good old-fashioned mixtape to commemorate The Godfather. Did I mention it's a double disc, two hour mix? On the first disc, Primo goes through over 30 JB classics, complete with voice-overs and some old-school scratches. On the second disc Primo switches it up, and goes through 32 old-school tracks that prominently sample JB tracks. Do I need to say anymore? Recommended. -the mgmnt
During a trip to India in summer of 2007, Arjuna Sayyed (aka DJ Smokestack) spent three days in Kolkata digging through thousands of moldy and forgotten records in a dark, vermin-infested backroom. The fruits of his labor are much more pleasant than...
expand review the work itself, as Sayyed has assembled an upbeat Bollywood breaks blockbuster of a mix in Shitala (ironically, the name of a Hindu deity who hates dirt). The focus is on soundtrack disco and funk tracks of 70s and 80s Bollywood with "an emphasis on Indian breaks... compiled with the dancefloor in mind." Needless to say, unless you're real up on your Bollywood, you've probably never heard any of this before. Read the whole story of Smokestack's undertaking on Wax Poetics' website - http://waxpoetics.com/content/?article=India. 20 tracks/segments; 58 minutes. -Van Hammersly
Back after a short absence -- diggin's hard work! -- DJ Soul Punk returns to his roots with a follow-up to his first unmixed breaks comp. Just like Volume 1, this disc contains 16 rare hard rock tracks filled with nasty breaks,...
expand review some of which you'll recognize and some you'll just want to chop up and keep for yourself. Features songs from Nazareth, Deep Purple (not "Smoke On The Water"), Montrose, Sorcery, Pentagram, Zipper, Free, Hard Stuff, Dog Soldier, Humble Pie, Captain Beyond and more. 77 minutes total. -Larri Byrd
DJ Soul Punk follows up his surprise hit rock breaks CD with a new, never done before, glam rock breaks compilation. You heard right! But before you start digging through your old Poison tapes, Soul Punk is talking about the real glam...
expand review rock from the seventies from artists like T.Rex, Bowie, Brian Eno, Bryan Ferry, John Cale, Alice Cooper, Silverhead, Ian Hunter, Slade, and others. Like his first release, this CD works both well as a record nerd compilation, as well as a high quality sample source for the producers. 17 tracks in all. -the mgmnt
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"Reminted" cause each track is remixed by Fort Knox Five, and then continuously mixed into an hour of that ass-giggling DC midtempo. Most of these tracks were 12" only releases, and feature some lab heavy hitters including Nickodemus, Dynamo Productions, Kraak &...
expand review Smaak, Skeewif, and other names you see in our midtempo section. Also check out FK5's modern renditions of latin masters Tito Puente and Joe Bataan. 12 tracks in all. -the mgmnt
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These Gilles comps on Ether are damn popular, and for good reason, these are the finest comps available. For his second excursion into Brazilian music, Gilles starts off with Brazilian classics from the 60s and 70s. Wilson Das Neves' cover(1) of...
expand review "California Soul" is pretty badass, the accented vocals add a new angle to the Marlena Shaw favorite. Orquestra St. Moritz's "Procura se Uma Virgem(2)" is one the most striking Brazilian jazz instrumentals I've heard, it's crisp and refreshing with a stronger than usual funk influence. You might fall in love with Evinha's "Que Bandeira(3)," it just oozes cute sexpot. Like previous Ether comps, the second half of the comp features modern tracks, and here's where it starts to get real interesting. Gilles flies all across the board from Baile with Solid Groove's remix of Edu K(4), hip-hop with Jay Dee's "Ritmo Suave Bossa Nova" interlude(5), nujazz with Mark De Clive's mix(6) of Ed Motta's "E Muita Gig Vei," and even into Brazilian drum and bass with Drumagick's "Baby(7)." This two disc set more than doubles the number of tracks on vinyl version with a whopping 28 tracks. Deluxe packaging. Recommended.
-the mgmnt
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Sometimes you're really not sure with these rare groove gurus, when they're trying to sell you on some 1962 Doc Severinson b-side or something you've never heard of. You kind of have to take their word for it, but you wonder, you...
expand review know? If that shit really is so good, how come nobody but you's ever heard of it? Anyway, you can forget all that with this comp, cuz as much fun as it would've been to slag the perpetually boyish tastemaker supreme in the baggy turtleneck, this collection is really tight. Kicking things off with the tremendous wall of afrofunk that is Oscar Sulley's "Bukom Mashie(1)" (last seen on the essential Ghana Soundz LP) and including MAW's timeless Fela tribute "MAW Expensive(2)" is pretty good move, setting the tone for the two records (one covers vintage Afro cuts, the other contemporary facsimiles). Things stay on solid ground with two cuts from the superb Ethiopian vibist Mulatu and his cohort Feqadu Amde-Mesqel ("Mulatu(3)" and "Asmarina") and Peter King's longtime DJ/breakbeat fave "Ajo(4)." Thievery Corp's recent "Heart Is a Lonely Hunter(5)" gains some cachet rubbing shoulders with a typically wicked IG Culture remix of the Lekan Babalola (me neither) tune "Aso Kere(6)." The optimized levels on this crisp pressing will endear this to DJ folk, as will the diverse and powerful selection of 9 useful tracks. -Bartleby Hisamoto
Oldies lowrider radio on lock! Johnny Paycheck (owner of NYC's Good Records store) has put together this 79 minute mix of slow soul, doo wop, latin soul and whatever else Smokey, Lil Sad Eyes, Big Joker, Lil Joker, and Joker From Around...
expand review The Way ride to. Shit is just plain awesome: The Originals, Brenton Wood, The Young Rascals, Malo, Ocho, War, The Intruders, Delfonics, Impressions, etc etc, and if you are not feeling it you need to die right now. Please. The cd is put together like a live radio show, complete with announcer voice, call-ins and shout outs, and the tracks just play straight through, as they should- scratching or mixing these would not only be sacrelige, it would ruin the vibe completely. Get in the cruisemobile. -the mgmnt
It is always a pleasure when we get in a new J-Rocc mix. Dude is the undisputed king of the always on-point, turntablist-friendly mix. For "Cooking Ingredients," the World Famous Beat Junkies representer drops serious knowledge on rare and obscure soul and...
expand review funk with tons of killer breaks and jazzy, smoked-out grooves doubled up, cut and mixed flawlessly as you would expect. I can't stress how tasty his selections are (and I love that he has enough respect for the OG's to let 'em play through for awhile). Wish I could drop some names of artists or tracks, but there's no tracklist and this thing goes deep! Just trust that you will not be disappointed. Seriously. About 45 minutes long. Highly Recommended. -snackmaster
J-Rocc has always destroyed James Brown records with his mix tricks, now we get a whole CD of it. Never heard JB mixed this smoothly or cohesively. This is really a no-brainer purchase. I'm gonna have to borrow a Woodman tag for...
expand review this one: Pure Hot Fire. 27 tracks. RECOMMENDED. -the mgmnt
Do I really gotta sell you on this one? Second volume of what J-Rocc does best - mixing up James! You already know how J-Rocc gets down on the turntables so I'm not gonna go into too much detail, but this is...
expand review basically 75 minutes of the Godfather (plus some tracks from his other projects and groups) mixed and cut to perfection in funky-ass Beat Junkies style. The end result is nothing short of amazing. No tracklist included, but you'll defintitely recognize most of these classics. Recommended. -snackmaster
Deluxe reissue in digi-pack! Soul Strutters and cassette heads, this will flash you back to the good ol' days. Sequel to the original Syndromes mix, where J-Rocc gets all record nerdy, applying his mix skills to a rare, sampled tracklist that includes:...
expand review Phil Ranelin, Archie Whitewater, Junior Mance, Bill Withers, Electric Prunes, Lou Donaldson, Monk Higgins, Les McCann, Ramsey Lewis, Ahmad Jamal, and others digger catch phrases. And when applicable, he throws in bits of the modern sample-using track; but in a really creative manner (like scratching "Alchoholic Vibes"; into "Vibes From the Tribe"). People just don't make crafted, finessed mixes like thi
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