When one of our friends who works at Vice is emailing us raving about a CD, you know it's gotta be be good. (Those guys hate everything!) Boyd Pro comes out swinging on this new album/mixtape, featuring 27 instrumentals that range from...
expand review hip-hop to downtempo to psych to dance. To be honest, I'd never heard of Boyd before we got this CD, but after ONE listen I was like "Why isn't this dude on Stones Throw??" The whole vibe is very similar to Madlib's quick beat sketch albums or Dilla's Donuts. Take a chance on this one. Recommended. -Larri Byrd
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LAB US EXCLUSIVO. New album from French rap supastar Dabaaz featuring production from some of Disque Primeur / Institubes' most trusted names. A-Trak scratches all over an obscure Clipse sample for "Regardes Les(1)," Drixxxe tinkles the ivories on the jaunty, piano-driven "En...
expand review Plein Effet(2)," and Para One puts down a nasty, squelchy beat on "Le Da(3)." If you slept on Dabaaz's "Open Bar" single last year, you get the remix(4), just another of many dope Drixxxe productions here. (Feeling the "Whisper Song" update on "La Plus Belle Ce Soir(5)" - pretty sure I heard him say "Durex.") I can't understand a word this dude is saying and I still dig this album. Check the samples. 12 tracks; 46 minutes. -Chris Lemon-Red
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LAB EXCLUSIVO! 300 copies only! Holy chit, could this be any more perfect for the Lab? Not only is it wall-to-wall juke, but it's also totally unmixed and Serato-ready, plus the title is a pun on an office favorite (Jock Jams megamix...
expand review anyone?) and the artwork's got plenty of curves. DJ Benzi has this shit down to a science - this time, he brings us 18 DJ-friendly juke edits from his Chi-town cousins, Chi Boogie and DJ Rashad, aka the Ghetto Teknitianz. You can tell these guys are Chicago natives 'cause the juke is strong within them, and it's no problem for them to flip any track large or small into some hype shit for the dancefloor - all at exactly 160bpm. The remix of Kanye West's "Flashing Lights(1)" is especially sick, putting those jacking house keys back into context and double-timing that hazy female vocal sample. Gucci Mane's "Pillz(2)' was always awesome, but I could never find the right time to drop it in a set - Rashad and Chi solve that problem with their sick edit. I could really footnote every track here, but just check these for yourself: T.I.'s "Top Back(3)," Soulja Boy's "Crank Dat(4)," Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls(5)," Project Pat's "Good Googly Moogly(6)," Lloyd's "Get It Shawty(7)" and "Yo Hips, Yo Thighs(8)," a nasty remix of 50 and Justin Timberlake's "Ayo Technology." 19 tracks; over 1 hour total. Highly recommended. -Larri Byrd
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LAB EXCLUSIVO! You'll be hearing the name Fortune a lot in 2008, but for now just start with this: four new tracks from France's latest rock prodigy (DP sez: "Ratatat and Phoenix just had a baby!") plus remixes from fellow countrymen M83...
expand review and Tepr, and the Lab's own Snack & C'mish. "Bully(1)" is my pick for best track, a stompy mod rocker with just a twist of pop and e** that only gets better on Snack & C'mish's sick funk / boogie / electro remix(2). M83's dense shoegaze style is in full effect, though they get a little dancier than I've ever heard them on their remix of "Mission(3)." Tepr's mix of "Shadow(4)" should satisfy the house and techo lovers, but for more rock skip to the original mixes of "Target(5)" or "Mission." 7 tracks total. Recommended. -Larri Byrd
San Fran's Hopper & Spinnerty follow up their impressive funk/soul mix I Feel An Urge with more of the same... but this time there's a twist. While round one focused on obscure late 60s bands that never quite made it, this volume...
expand review features contemporary funk and soul composers who are keeping the vibe alive today. Includes some nice nugs like the Quantic Soul Orchestra remix of Sunshine Anderson, TM Juke remixing Kelis, El Michels Affair covering Bacharach, plus guys who were around then AND now, like Joe Bataan and Banda Unaio Black. Also appearing: The Bamboos, Binky Griptite, Lee Fields, Nicole Willis, Sharon Jones, Breakout, Recloose, Naomi Davis and a bunch more. Fans of labels like Truth & Soul, Melting Pot, Daptone and Ubiquity / Luv N Haight, pay attention! 19 tracks total. -Larri Byrd
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French electronic music / musique concrete legend Jean-Jacques Perrey was one of the earliest musicians to utilize Moog synthesizers in his work, including the classic In Sound From Way Out album he created with Gershon Kingsley. Luke Vibert (aka Kerrier District, Spac...
expand review Hand Luke, Wagon Christ, etc.) is the genre-jumping artist who, along with fellow twitchoids like Aphex Twin and Squarepusher, helped shape electronic music into what it is today. It's safe to say that, as collaborations go, this is something major. Perrey laid down the initial sounds here, then handed them over to Vibert for chopping, looping and whatever other means of editing Vibert saw fit. The result is a mash of every imaginable electronic style - from literal acid to d'n'b - infused with the warm analogue tones of Perrey's vintage Moogs, and you really just need to hear it. Put it this way: what other artists could put dubstep style sub-bass under a plinking, hokey take of "Frere Jacques(1)" and make it sound good? Also check: "Analogue Generique(2)," "White Knight(3)," "JJPLVDNB(4)" and "You Moog Me(5)." 11 tracks; 46 minutes. -Larri Byrd
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Album numero dos from the multi-talented Brooklyn-born producer/MC Ohmega Watts, and this time he's brought some friends along to spice up his already eclectic boom bappery. Check his collabs with Jneiro Jarel on "Eyes & Ears(1)," Shawn Lee and Brazilian vocalist Tita...
expand review Lima on "Adaptacao(2)," and especially Sugarpie Desanto on "Are You Satisfied(3)." That's not to say he can't do it on his own, either, as he wrecks it solo on joints like the chill "Model Citizen(4)," the hype "Saywhayusay(5)" and the in-between "Found(6)." Also includes a 2nd disc with the full instrumentals from the album. -Larri Byrd
Single Life is the dynamic DJ duo of Lefty and the Lab's own T-Kat reppin' the feel-good dance side of things. This is their debut mix, and though it was a little over a year in the making (the boys put in...
expand review work), it was well worth the wait as they made sure to include only the juiciest, most choice tracks (old and new funk, soul, hip-hop, and electronic music - all filed under "good") and mixed them together to sweet perfection. The timing is great, plus there are some well thought out blends throughout that will catch you off guard (like they said - watch for the hook!). Here's just a few - Ms. Tyree "Sugar" Jones sexily crooning over Ratatat's "Wildcat," Blaqstarr's "Supastarr" under slept-on oldies (Richard Berry and the Pharoahs), Daft over Hashim, Mary Jane Girls over Herve, Jay-Z and Justice, and my favorite - Edwyn Collins with Alex Gopher's "Motorcycle." Also includes tracks from the likes of Prince, George Krantz, Sparkle, Surkin, Franki Valli, Busta Rhymes, Armand Van Helden, and a LOT more. Tasty stuff throughout reminiscent of the Second Cousins Mix. Hell, this is just as good (if not better) than some of the past Fabric Live joints. Jam packed action for about 75 minutes. Bravo dudes! -snackmaster
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Remember UNKLE's genre blending debut full length Psyence Fiction, which had the mind blowing roster of DJ Shadow, Thom Yorke, Kool G Rap, The Beastie Boys, DJ Q-bert, etc.? That shit was truly ahead of its time, preceding the whole mash-up craze...
expand review and other crafted supergroups like Gorillaz and The Good, The Bad & The Queen. Leave it to modern day Renaissance man James Lavelle to be the master mind behind the whole thing. Well Mr. Lavelle is back at it again and has put together the third full length album by the ever-evolving entity known as UNKLE, the aptly titled War Stories. It's a lot more rock-ish then the group's previous efforts (probably due to Shadow leaving and the addition of Josh Homme and Chris Goss from Queens of the Stone Age), which might throw some old fans off, but for those with open ears, there's something kind of soothing to these new sounds. Checkout the very suitable opener "Chemistry(1)" which kind of sets the tone for the whole shebang, the Radiohead-like "Burn My Shadow(2)" with Ian Astbury, the driving sound of "May Day(3)" with The Duke Spirit, and the very alt-rock "Broken(4)" with Gavin Clark. Also give a listen to "Restless(5)" with Josh Homme, the uptempo "Persons & Machinery(6)" with Autolux, and the epic "Morning Rage(7)." Obviously, War Stories is not be as visionary as their previous releases, but it's worth a listen, especially for those with an affinity for the rock side of things. Packaged with a thick booklet featuring specially commissioned art by Massive Attack's 3D. -snackmaster
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