bohemian beatnik lp

new lp from japenese artist bugseed is essentially a beat tape combining mellow rhodes piano and melancholy horns with those dusty drum breaks we love so much.

beat bbq

"on may 23rd we celebrated the art of beatmaking at friedenspark, cologne together with 700 likeminded music lovers. upmyalley and MPM say thank you with a free tape with unreleased beats from suff daddy, dexter, powell, twit one, adlib, moo, hubert daviz and tobrock. download the tape for free and check robert's photos."

maker vs. now again

the latest beatsmith to delve into the funk and soul of the now-again records catalog is maker from the chicago area. previous effort from oh no was a resounding success, up there with some of my favourite instrumental hip-hop albums, so the next instalment in the 'music-library' series had been eagerly awaited. maker definitely puts his own stamp on these samples with golden-era dusty drum breaks and two-bar loops. there is more of an old school hip-hop feel to this release in the series, perhaps even a more normative framework in which the producer builds around. those of you residing in the U.S. have the opportunity to grab yourself one of the CDs which were limited to 1000 copies here.


maker - the love we have

secondhand sureshots

"secondhand sureshots is a filmed experiment in creative sound recycling. dublab directors bryan “morpho” younce & mark "frosty" mcneill sent beatmakers daedelus, nobody, j.rocc and ras g on safari into L.A. thrift stores with orders to make new music out of five finds while the cameras filmed the whole process. the result is a mini-documentary about putting new life into old vinyl. over 2 hours of footage, music & bonus material.

the deluxe super set is a true sound and vision experiment. dublab scoured southern california and rescued 500 gatefold LP covers from dusty thrift store bin obscurity. our graphic friends at hit+run took the covers and screen-printed them by hand, making new visual masterpieces to house the first public release of secondhand sureshots. stuffed in this package is all-exclusive material sampled and shredded into new forms fine-tuned to blow your mind. we hope it inspires you to make your own creative gems and jams!"

full details/buy/podcast

the gin diaries

latest release from german beat-maker suff daddy, 'the gin diaries', is a real treat for fans of soulful hip-hop. collaborations with the likes of miles bonny, fleur earth, mariama, and jim dunloop produce a similar neo-soul feel to that created by erykah badu's latest record. 'the gin diaries' has been described as a beat novel consisting of 13 musical short stories providing snapshots of the producer's life.


listen...

suff daddy - konnopke

suff daddy - feelin' fly (feat. mariama)

the album can be bought here

how it should sound

washington dc's soulful beatmaker damu the fudgemunk has a new album out entitled 'how it should sound vol.1 & 2', and as damu himself states in the first track - 'interpret the title how you will'. this is a great instrumental hip-hop record made with little more than an MPC 2000 and a large record collection which harks back to the '90s era of jazz-rap. most of the footage in this promo video was shot by damu's younger brother while 'how it should sound' was being recorded...



more info/buy

traveling man

info and on the new instrumental hip-hop album from oddisee...

"as a musician, life is often lived on the road. each city leaves its imprint on the artist as they develop their craft. touring, recording, and keeping up with friends and family took oddisee beyond his hometown of washington dc to australia, europe, asia, africa, and south america. from cities like east africa’s khartoum in sudan, to cosmopolitan jaunts like paris & tokyo. the influence of these travels can be heard on every one of the 24 tracks included on “traveling man"

each track was produced while oddisee stayed in the city it was titled after. the result is a 24 city sonic tour of the world. listen as oddisee guides you throught his instrumental journed around the globe. visit the lonely winter streets of detroit, festive san francisco, hynotic khartoum - or let your swagger loose with the theme music of chicago or the bounces of south central. oddisee sees the world, so that you can hear it."

listen...

oddisee - san fran

buy on cd/vinyl

hi-hat club vol. 3 the jazz files

this album comes from german dj & producer dexter and provides some great jazz samples arranged around a contemporary hip-hop beat. this dusty sounding record retains a modern element and even looks forward to the future of the relationship between jazz & hip-hop. quotes and samples are interspersed from interviews and tv shows adding to the narrative of the album.

dr. no's ethiopium

hip-hop instrumentalist oh no is the younger brother of madlib and is seriously rivaling his sibling's beat-making abilities. as a follow-up to his album 'dr. no's oxperiment', created with turkish and lebanese-psych samples, 'dr. no's ethiopium' is another region-based beat album created using strictly 60's and 70's ethiopium samples.


listen...


oh no - melody mix

download...

oh no - dr. no's ethiopium [mediafire]

beat konducta in africa

here are a couple of tracks from madlib's 'medicine show no. 3: beat konducta in africa' which is out this month from stonesthrow. the album features samples from african funk, pych-rock, soul, and afro-beat.


listen...


madlib - warrior's theme


madlib - mtima

smoking buddha

onra is a french beat-maker who uses predominantly asian samples. his first album 'chinoiseries', which features this track 'smoking buddha', uses mainly chinese and vietnamese samples which gives it a really unique feel.


listen...



download...

onra - smoking buddha [mediafire]

cold beats

this is a track by producer koushik and underground hip-hop artist percee p that features on stones throw's 'science class: heavy funk & raw disco soul' compilation. the song samples the deep funk classic 'cold heat' by lil' lavair & the fabulous jades which can be heard in its original form here.


listen...


download...

koushik - cold beats (featuring percee p) [mediafire]

do-over vol. 1

this two track vinyl is released courtesy of stones throw, each volume in this series is limited to 1,000 copies and the artwork/packaging features different graphic designers. the first track is by house shoes, which can be heard below, and the second is by flying lotus.


listen here...



download...

house shoes - the making [mediafire]

fancy clown

this is a track from the critically acclaimed 'madvillainy' album, a collaboration between mablib and mf doom. sampling zz hill's 'that ain't the way you make love', this song has the interesting dimension of coming from the point of view of mf doom's pseudonym viktor vaughn, seemingly pretty livid with his girlfriend sleping with mf doom (the same person)...

"that's you, if you want a dude who wear a mask all day"



download...

madvillain - fancy clown (feat. viktor vaughn) [mediafire]

j dilla

j dilla was a hip-hop producer from detroit, michigan. having only discovered his work recently, i was instantly intrigued by his use of sampling and the misty, almost nostalgic atmosphere his music creates.




download

j dilla - stop [mediafire]

when it wobbles

a track from RJD2's new EP, 'the tin foil hat'



RJD2 - when it wobbles [mediafire]