Seriously dope downtempo soul cut with beats from the Swedish superproducer and sultry vocals from COCO ROUZIER (an up and coming jazz singer from DC) b/w the more uptempo, feel good 60s styled "REACHING OUT TO YOU". Big hole 7" single. Sold out since 2017 now (finally) being repressed. More

Beatsmith RED ASTAIRE (AKA FREDDIE CRUGER) drops some crucial instrumental cuts from the 3 volumes of the "NUGGETS FOR THE NEEDY" series. Features 12 instrumental cuts including "FOLLOW ME","MOVE YO ASS","GHETTO HELL" and "HAZLO CORRECTO". Album artwork from MARLEYDIDIT. Dope downtempo beats. Full picture sleeve with artwork from BASTARD JAZZ's JJ MARLEY.

A1. Move Yo Ass
A2. It's Going Down
A3. The Wildstyle
B1. Follow Me
B2. We Only BS
C1. Come Down
C2. Hazlo Correcto
C3. U Know How we Do
D1. B-Boy
D2. Ghetto Hell
D3. Cop That Red More

Swedish super producer RED ASTAIRE (FREDDIE CRUGER) teams up with NICE & SMOOTH's GREG NICE for what is sure to be a
future rap anthem. A serious head nodder in 4 mixes: MAIN MIX, INSTRUMENTAL, D-FROST STRIPPED MIX & INSTRUMENTAL.
Dope artwork by JJ MARLEY. Full pic sleeve. Don't sleep. More

NEW RED ASTAIRE (AKA FREDDIE CRUGER) drops the 12 more dope tracks influenced by classic reggae, hip hop, R&B, downtempo and dub vibes. Includes several hard to find/out of print gems including "GHETTO HELL", "MAMBO EL KINGSTON" and a previously
unreleased version of his classic "FOLLOW ME". Full pic sleeve (with some dope artwork from BASTARD JAZZ’s JJ MARLEY). Don't miss! More

Seriously dope downtempo soul cut with beats from the Swedish superproducer and sultry vocals from COCO ROUZIER (an up and coming jazz singer from DC) b/w the more uptempo, feel good 60s styled "REACHING OUT TO YOU". Big hole 7" single. Sold out since 2017 now (finally) being repressed. More

RED ASTAIRE & ANTHONY MILLS aka WILDCOOKIE offers a special 7" release of the classic "HEROINE" & "SOMETHING ABOUT THOSE DAYS". Both are super funky downtempo head nodding jams with floating vocal sonics. Get it today! Big hole 45. More

Swedish super producer RED ASTAIRE (FREDDIE CRUGER) teams up with NICE & SMOOTH's GREG NICE for what is sure to be a
future rap anthem. A serious head nodder in 4 mixes: MAIN MIX, INSTRUMENTAL, D-FROST STRIPPED MIX & INSTRUMENTAL.
Dope artwork by JJ MARLEY. Full pic sleeve. Don't sleep. More

Featuring 24 restored and remastered tracks stretched across two volumes, including a handful of previously unreleased tracks and mixes, and accompanied by detailed sleeve notes by Anniss, Notes From The Underground 1986-1994 is a joyful celebration of one of British dance music's most under-appreciated artists. The full breadth and depth of Boninsegna's rave-ready catalogue is explored in detail across the two-part compilation.


TRACKLISTING

A1. Lab Technicians - We Gave U Life
A2. Aural Exciter - U = Euphoria
A3. Original Clique - "F" (Whistle Mix)
B1. Pierrepoint - Tonnerre
B2. A.E.K. - Lick It
B3. Zubbizerretta - Wake The Town (Somnabulist Mix)

C1. Estudiantes - Let The Music Into Your Mind
C2. Zeco - The Witch Trials
C3. Big Showdown - They're Here
D1. The Rhythm Squad - Animal House (Original Mix)
D2. The Rhythm Squad - Manhunt (Instrumental)
D3. Nine-L - Islands, Part 2


INFO

Tony Boninsegna: Notes From The Underground 1986-1994 (Volumes 1 and 2) Cold Blow / Musique Pour La Danse

The story of dance music is littered with hidden heroes and underground activists whose immense contributions have been overlooked, ignored and under-documented. Tony Boninsegna, a producer who made and released countless classic cuts and forgotten gems during the acid house and rave era, is one such example.

Melding elements of all that was popular in underground clubs at the time to create his own dancefloor-friendly sound worlds, Boninsegna amassed a huge catalogue between 1986 and '94, while hiding his involvement via an array of oddball aliases and opaque pseudonyms. Boninsegna's story first came to light four years ago when he appeared in Join The Future: Bleep Techno and the Birth of British Bass Music, Matt Anniss's critically acclaimed alternative history of UK dance music in the rave era. Now Cold Blow has joined forces with Musique Pour La Danse to deliver a much-needed anthology of his greatest productions and
co-productions - many rare or hard-to-find - for the first time.
Featuring 24 restored and remastered tracks stretched across two volumes on vinyl and digital, including a handful of previously unreleased tracks and mixes, and accompanied by detailed sleeve notes by Anniss, Notes From The Underground 1986-1994 is a joyful celebration of one of British dance music's most under-appreciated artists. The full breadth and depth of Boninsegna's rave-ready catalogue, as well as an indication of
the sheer volume of aliases he utilised during the period, is explored in detail across the two-part compilation.

Fittingly, volume one features two previously unreleased recordings that mark his earliest explorations of the emerging house sound (both as The Rhythm Squad, with Richard Compton), alongside touchstone releases such as Zeco's 'The Witch Trials' (a 1989 production that marked his first outing on vinyl), celebrated workouts recorded with regular collaborator Mykey Tee (Lab Technicians' bleep-inspired 'We Gave U Life', Big Showdown's epic 'They're Here' and AEK's mind-mangling, bleep & breaks number 'Lick It'), and genuinely overlooked gems (the proto-tribal house of Pierrepoint's acid-smothered 'Tonnerre' and saucer-eyed rush of Estudiantes' 'Let The Music Into Your Mind').

It all adds up to the definitive musical retrospective of a genuine underground, rave-era hero whose time in the spotlight may finally have arrived. More

PHANTOM OF THE AFTERS is the 3rd album from Irish rapper Kojaque, out on his very own Soft Boy Records. With landmark projects Deli Daydreams and Town’s Dead, that saw him 2x nominated for Choice Music Prize, receive support from Radio 1, 1xtra, 6Music, support Loyle Carner & Lana Del Rey and headline festivals across Ireland, Kojaque changed the rap landscape (and Irish culture) for good. Collaborations on his latest project include Biig Piig, Wiki, Charlotte Dos Santos and Gotts Street Park. The album traces blurred outlines of childhood trauma, depression, grief and love, interweaving the physical and emotional journey of central character Jackie Dandelion with bigger questions about immigrant identity, homesickness, cultural stereotypes and ultimately the reconciliation of self. Kojaque has created a cinematic-universe that is bigger in scope but also more tender and intimate in approach than ever before. It’s this willingness to be vulnerable - grotesque, even - that’s captured in the album’s iconic artwork, which subverts the bigoted depictions of Irish caricatures in 19th and 20th century Punch Magazine cartoons and sees this particular Phantom of the Opera remove not just those distorted masks, but also his own.

With songs that are cocksure and contemplative, brutally honest but also refreshingly myth-making, PHANTOM OF THE AFTERS marks a new era from Kojaque: one of his generation’s most unique talents. In suitably audio-visual style, the album traces blurred outlines of childhood trauma, depression, grief and love. It interweaves the journey of central character Jackie Dandelion from Dublin to London with bigger questions about immigrant identity, homesickness, cultural stereotypes and ultimately the reconciliation of self. It’s this willingness to be vulnerable - grotesque, even - that’s captured in the iconic artwork, which subverts the bigoted depictions of Irish caricatures in 19th and 20th century Punch Magazine cartoons and sees this particular Phantom of the Opera remove not just those distorted masks, but also his own.

The record drops alongside one of its more brooding moments, ‘WHAT IF?’: a soulful ode to anxiety, and the crippling impact of fear in moving forward in life or your relationships. “I’ve been obsessed with Charlotte Dos Santos ever since I heard her project Cleo,” Kojaque comments. “She’s just got such a distinct voice and sound. I sent the track over hoping she’d be into it and she sent me back a near perfect hook.” A fully independent artist, Kojaque has brought a stellar lineup of guests together on his latest work: from Biig Piig, Charlotte Dos Santos and NY rapper Wiki (who featured on ‘JOHNNY MCENROE’) to Gotts Street Park (‘BAMBI’) plus production credits such as Calvin Valentine (Ryan Beaty), Tony Seltzer (Eartheater, Freddie Gibbs) and Karma Kid (Hak Baker, Shygirl).

PHANTOM OF THE AFTERS will see Kojaque continue to blaze a trail around the world. He first came to prominence with the genre-bending concept record Deli Daydreams: it became the first mixtape to ever be nominated for the Choice Music Prize, and demonstrated his prowess not only as a polymathic artist, but DIY label-head (co-founding Soft Boy Records, which was subject to a Boiler Room documentary) and visual artist (Kojaque has received a prestigious Royal Hibernian Academy Award for his film-making). Even as the rest of the world sat up and paid Irish Art some long-overdue attention, Kojaque’s creative output has remained thrillingly uncompromising. Tour-de-force debut album Town’s Dead examined everything from gentrification, masculinity and mental health to a gnarly love-triangle unfolding on New Year’s Eve, held together by a multi-hyphenate attitude. Once again nominated for the Choice Prize, Kojaque played a sold-out UK & European headline tour around the restrictive local lockdowns, with the album landing additional support across the likes of Radio 1, 1xtra, 6Music, plus shows with Lana Del Rey and Loyle Carner (who also sampled Kojaque on hugo). With his landmark projects to date, Kojaque changed the rap landscape (and Irish culture) for good. On PHANTOM OF THE AFTERS, you sense he’s just getting started.

Praise for debut album, Town’s Dead
“A brilliant, personal, urgent record that confirms Kojaque as one of the leaders in the current wave of great musicians emerging from Ireland” - NME ****
“Sharp, poetic...few albums this year can be as potent as this - Loud & Quiet, 9/10
“Dripping with humour, personality and cinematic storytelling, Town's Dead is all you could ever want in a debut" - DIY ****
“The raw reality of sex, violence and depression” - The Face
“A dizzying debut…so many ideas, influences, moods, mates, silly scenarios and gritty social politics that you’ll need a lie down” - Sunday Times Culture
“Channels Kanye and Kendrick…Kojaque’s time is now” The Observer

More

Before MF DOOM donned his mask and became one of the most prolific MC-producers of modern Hip-Hop, he was a member of KMD, an early `90s rap group whose work still goes criminally under-appreciated to this day. Following their 1991 debut album, Mr. Hood, the former trio shed one member leaving only two remaining - Subroc and his brother, Zev Love X (better known today as MF DOOM). Originally scheduled for release in 1994, their sophomore album Black Bastards showed clear progression from their debut. It was a truly amazing record, both sonically and lyrically, full of youthful creativity and tinged with the stresses of growing up as Black men in urban America. Songs like the lead single "What A N*gga Know", the slippery, bass-driven "Get U Now", and the album's title track explore Black consciousness viewed through young-but-experienced eyes. Musically alternating between bouncy and raw - many times both, concurrently - the tracks gave the MC's the springboard they needed to express themselves clearly. Sadly, Subroc would face a sudden and untimely death in 1993, just as the duo were finishing the album. Grief-stricken, his brother Zev Love X - now the sole remaining member of the group - was determined to carry the legacy of KMD onward, but Elektra Records unceremoniously shelved the project in the eleventh hour, due to controversy surrounding the album's provocative cover art. Following the fallout with Elektra, Zev tried for years to release the album on other labels, but he was continually met with dead ends. Struggling through the pain of losing his brother, coupled with the inability to release their final project together, a discouraged Zev Love X quietly withdrew from the scene and began quietly plotting his revenge on an industry that had broken him spiritually. Thus, in order to understand the true origin story of the super-villain, MF DOOM, one must recognize and appreciate the evolution of his former group, KMD, and the backstory of their pivotal album, Black Bastards.

Tracklist
1.1GARBAGE DAY #3
1.2GET-U-NOW
1.3WHAT A N*GGA KNOW?
1.4SWEET PREMIUM WINE
1.5PLUMSKINZZ (LOOSE HOE, GOD & CUPID)
1.6SMOKIN' THAT S*#%
1.7CONTACT BLITT
1.8GIMME
1.9BLACK BASTARDS!
1.10IT SOUNDED LIKE A ROC
1.11PLUMSKINZZ (OH NO I DON'T BELIEVE IT!)
1.12CONSTIPATED MONKEY
1.13F*#@ WIT' YA HEAD
1.14SUSPENDED ANIMATION More

Featuring 24 restored and remastered tracks stretched across two volumes, including a handful of previously unreleased tracks and mixes, and accompanied by detailed sleeve notes by Anniss, Notes From The Underground 1986-1994 is a joyful celebration of one of British dance music's most under-appreciated artists. The full breadth and depth of Boninsegna's rave-ready catalogue is explored in detail across the two-part compilation.


TRACKLISTING


A1. Lab Technicians - We Gave You Life (Original Version)
A2. Nine-L - Untitled (Houston, We Have A Problem B2)
A3. Sykosis 451 - Monsoon
B1. Original Clique - U = Underground
B2. Original Clique - Now Hear Me Now
B3. MI7 - Show I

C1. Napoleon - Fortuna
C2. Napoleon - La Chaux Du Fonds
C3. Ragga Head - Give The People What They Want
D1. Return Of The Living Acid - Big Dipper
D2. Ministry Of Fear - Original Cliché
D3. Nine-L - Untitled (Houston, We Have A Problem A2)


INFO

Tony Boninsegna: Notes From The Underground 1986-1994 (Volumes 1 and 2) Cold Blow / Musique Pour La Danse

The story of dance music is littered with hidden heroes and underground activists whose immense contributions have been overlooked, ignored and under-documented. Tony Boninsegna, a producer who made and released countless classic cuts and forgotten gems during the acid house and rave era, is one such example.

Melding elements of all that was popular in underground clubs at the time to create his own dancefloor-friendly sound worlds, Boninsegna amassed a huge catalogue between 1986 and '94, while hiding his involvement via an array of oddball aliases and opaque pseudonyms. Boninsegna's story first came to light four years ago when he appeared in Join The Future: Bleep Techno and the Birth of British Bass Music, Matt Anniss's critically acclaimed alternative history of UK dance music in the rave era. Now Cold Blow has joined forces with Musique Pour La Danse to deliver a much-needed anthology of his greatest productions and
co-productions - many rare or hard-to-find - for the first time.
Featuring 24 restored and remastered tracks stretched across two volumes on vinyl and digital, including a handful of previously unreleased tracks and mixes, and accompanied by detailed sleeve notes by Anniss, Notes From The Underground 1986-1994 is a joyful celebration of one of British dance music's most under-appreciated artists. The full breadth and depth of Boninsegna's rave-ready catalogue, as well as an indication of
the sheer volume of aliases he utilised during the period, is explored in detail across the two-part compilation.

Volume two continues in a similar vein while devoting more disc space to Boninsegna's breakbeat-driven productions of the early 1990s. So, alongside more must-have tracks from the producer's Chill-released projects (Return of The Living Acid's surging acid thumper 'Big Dipper', MI7's twisted bleep and breaks monster 'Show I', and a couple of killer cuts alongside Mykey Tee as Original Clique), Cold Blow & Musique Pour La Danse have also made room for the proto-jungle brilliance of Ragga Head's 'Give The People Junglis', the tongue-in-cheek excellence of Ministry of Fear's 'Original Cliché', two top tracks as Napoleon, and the wild, acid breaks breathlessness of 'Monsoon' by Sykosis 451.

It all adds up to the definitive musical retrospective of a genuine underground, rave-era hero whose time in the spotlight may finally have arrived. More

"Blackmarket Seminar", an album by Kazi and it's entirely produced by Madlib. Guest features by Madlib, MED, Wildchild, Declaime (Dudley Perkins) and Oh No. The album was recorded in 1996, remastered in 2016 and now available on CD and all digital platforms. Message from Kazi: "We recorded this album in the wee hours at CDP studios back in '96. It was pretty much me, Madlib and Declaime in the lab when this album was recorded. I learned so much from Lib cadence, rhyme patterns, timing and how to dig for records. What some people don't know is this cat actually took the time to show me how to make beats. I must say working with Lib was an amazing experience. The "Blackmarket Seminar" is a very raw and dark album. We came up with "Black Market" because at the time we were doing Hip Hop that nobody else was doing and to us you could only get it on the "Black Market". When you first play the album you'll hear characters on a skit in search of the black market seminar. We really tried to make it seem like the characters were outside walking around looking for it." We recorded a new video for the song "To Be Lost" as it is about MCs selling out to remain in the game and still makes perfect sense in the present day. More

Los Angeles wordsmith Pawz One teams up with German producer DJ Dister on the collaborative album "Watch & Learn" via Below System Records. "Watch & Learn" captures scenarios of street life, hustling and paranoia all painted over well-crafted production. Pawz One has come off a string of recent releases that have sharpened his song writing ability while Dister has produced various projects expanding his diverse sound. For Pawz One "Watch & Learn" has given him a chance to speak on topics that were close to heart having lost friends and family to the streets and prison as well as serving time himself. DJ Dister showcases a wide range of production that combines a classic sound with progressive elements. The first single "World Champion" moves listeners with the energetic track fused with a dash of reggae and Pawz's combination of punchlines and wordplay. On the follow up single "Out Here", Pawz One and Guilty Simpson lay out the often ignored rules of the streets over a sinister soundtrack. "No Contest" is the last single pitting Akrobatik and Pawz One against all challengers. Next to Guilty Simpson and Akrobatik, other guest appearances by Napoleon Da Legend and Space Honey. "Watch & Learn" provides a blend of vivid storytelling and melodic beats giving audiences of Hip-Hop something to add to of their collections. More

Repress!

A: 93 ‘Til Infinity (Vocal) / B: 93 ‘Til Infinity (Instrumental)

While the Souls of Mischief never sold the kind of numbers that would elevate them to a huge audience, for the hip-hop cognoscenti their 1993 album 93 'Til Infinity and the singles it spawned are nothing but classic.

Showcasing a fluent, loose-limbed rhyme style as Tajai, Opio, A-Plus and Phesto combined and bounced off each other, the Souls were part of the wider eclectic hip-hop collective Hieroglyphics, where they were joined by Del tha Funkee Homosapien and Casual, among others. All of them proved to be compelling, unique MC’s with a light touch, and both this single and the same year’s ‘That’s When Ya Lost’ were fan favourites from the off.

It’s built around a handful of different samples from Billy Cobham’s ‘Heather’, which are cleverly connected together and underpinned by a Graham Central Station drum break made indelible by everyone from the Geto Boys to Bizmarkie on ‘Pickin’ Boogers’. As a result it stands in contrast to much of the grimy, headnod hip-hop of the time, providing a melodic, lightly jazzy counterpoint that draws you in to the sinuous lyrics.

There’s no great message in the music, just four MC’s elevating the art of bragging to show you how the west coast rocks it. This is the first time the original album version has been available on 7”, with the instrumental on the flip a must if you’re practicing this for hip-hop karaoke… More