GETTING CAUGHT UP

09.27.09

Yeah, its been a while. Here are a few recent purchases I've been feeling good about.

1.  Mr. Scruff - Music Takes Me Up (feat. Alice Russell) [Ninja Tuna] Nicely chugging hip-hop soul--complete with grooving organ--featuring Ms. Russell on lead vocals.

2.  Quantic & His Combo Barbaro - Linda Morena [Tru Thoughts] Lead single off the absolutely wonderful Tradition in Transition album. Colombian soul as interpreted & redefined by Mr. Will Quantic.

3.  Trammps - Whatever Happened to the Music (Dub) [BBE Records] Early 80s dubbed out disco from the brand-new Nightdubbin' collection, brilliantly selected and compiled by the always on-point Dimitri From Paris.

4.  Quantic Presenta Flowering Inferno - Cuidad Del Swing [Tru Thoughts] A wonderfully twisted fusion of latin sounds and reggae is the goal of this Quantic studio project from earlier this year. One of three singles packaged in an appealing powder blue die cut sleeve.

5.  Erykah Badu - Clever [BSTRD Boots] Captain Planet gives Erykah Badu a grooving Brazilian twist on this BSTRD Boots installment. Greenwood Rhythm Coalition present a dubbed out version of Honey on the flip side.

6.  Chancha via Circuito - Calzada Riddim [ZZK Records] Totally dope, heavily percussive hip-hop cumbia from Argentina's Pedro Canale. Jazzy bassline and a surprising Ramones sample. Killer.

7.  El Remolon - Cola Lex (Dub Version) [ZZK Records] Tweaked-out electronic cumbia from Bolivia. From the Pibe Cosmo EP. I'm going to be watching the ZZK label closely from now on.

8.  Rocktakon & Eli - Stand Back (Drumapella) [Money Studies] Stevie Nicks gets the heavy drums treatment on this all-too-brief cut from the Money Lotion, vol. 7 EP.

9.  Greg Wilson - I Was A Teenage DJ Part 1 [white label] Brilliant and detailed re-edit of KC & The Sunshine Band's disco classic, "I'm Your Boogie Man." Greg Wilson takes a maximalist redux approach, retaining the distinctive guitar riff and layers on loads of samples & effects. From the Reactivate EP.

10.  DJ DRM - Blinger On [Bastard Jazz Recordings] This skanking disco cut is an easy highlight from The BhunaBeats EP. Chico Mann's remix of Vidambana comes in a very close second.