Since the late 80s Londoner Marc Mac has been converting audiences with his sophisticated take on urban soul. A hybrid concoction of house, broken beat, nu-jazz, neo soul, drum and bass, and breakbeat, its a polished sound plugged directly into the emotional highway of 21st century city living. Working under a variety of guises, his prodigious output includes his work as one half of 4hero (alongside Dennis “Dego” McFarlane) – their Creating Patterns LP is a rare piece of beauty - Visioneers, Natures Plan and Nu Era.
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Filed under: DJ/Turntablism, Mixes by J.G.
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Matt Ford, aka DJ Format, first came to attention at the start of the noughties with a series of sharp 12 inches featuring guest vocalists Chali 2na and Canadian rapper Abdominal, who later became a regular collaborator.
For anyone at university in the UK during this period, with even just a passing interest in hip-hop, Ford’s debut album Music For The Mature B-Boy would have been a lifestyle staple alongside broken bongs, baked beans and cheap lager. Although unashamedly nostalgic for the first golden era of rap it was never derivative – a sentiment perhaps best expressed in the albums title. …Read More.
Filed under: DJ/Turntablism, Free Downloads, Funk, Hip-hop, Mixes by D.K.
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During an interview last year UK DJ/beatmaker The Last Skeptik compared his music to a Wes Anderson film. Anderson’s movies are populated with eccentric and dysfunctional characters and filled with surreal plots. Think Jason Schwartzman’s random club fanatic in Rushmore, or The Royal Tenebaum’s skewed take on life. Likewise with tracks such as his own No Train! – peep its glorious DIY video, a visualisation of everything I’ve ever had to put up with on Network Rail – and his stoat farm, it’s clear The Last Skeptik doesn’t see things the way most people do. …Read More.
Filed under: Mixes, UK hip-hop, Uncategorized by J.G.
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Whutzhapnin dudes and dudettes? Bonafide Beats #25 (aka Whutzhapnin?) is a mixtape defrosted from the vaults of KidKanevil’s former bedroom. Found under a piles of 12″s, dog eared copies of discontinued rap magazines (an omen?!) and discarded Gangster’s of Headingley pizza boxes, this installment of Bonafide Beats provides an insight into the development of Bonafide’s favourite ex-Leeds residing DJ/producer/all round bawse.
As KidKanevil tells the story:
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Filed under: Free Downloads, Mixes, Uncategorized by J.G.
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Much is made of the East Coast/ West Coast rivalry in the hip-hop world, with Southern rap coming into its own in recent years.
The same cannot really be said for the UK. Aside from London, Bristol and maybe Birmingham, hip-hop hotbeds are few and far between. Which makes the rise of beat maker Handbook all the more extraordinary. …Read More.
Filed under: DJ/Turntablism, Free Downloads, Hip-hop, Jazz, Mixes by D.K.
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PUTTING IN ‘WERK
When hip-hop’s beats became untethered from the vocals in 1996, few could have predicted the implications. It levelled the playing field for producers from all over the world to concentrate on sonic rather than geographical landscapes. Beats became dislocated from the semantics of words and formed a new language as producers from Tokyo to Leeds set about crafting beats on MPCs and SPs or using their parents’ computers. Nowadays, a neck-snapper is as likely to come from Singapore or Melbourne as it is from one of the five boroughs. Freeing the producer from beats that work for MCs has also let it incorporate more disparate influences and evolve more quickly. …Read More.
Filed under: Electronic, Hip-hop, Mixes, Uncategorized by P.A.
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Stay+ are something of an enigma, and by all accounts they’re very keen to keep it that way, adopting a meme like course of action to do so…
Here’s what little we do know about the collective; this summer they were forced to change their name from the ludicrously funny Christian AIDS after the charity name-sake issued them with a rather uncharitable ‘trademark infringement notice’, they come from Manchester and released only their second physical release this week, the bewitching Fever, via a 12″ on Ramp. …Read More.
Filed under: Bass, Electronic, Mixes, Video by D.K.
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In preparation for the release of Ugly Duckling’s fifth full length album, Moving at Breakneck Speed, the group have embarked on an extensive UK tour and have been good enough to deliver an exclusive mix for our Bonafide Beats series. …Read More.
Filed under: DJ/Turntablism, Free Downloads, Funk, Hip-hop, Mixes by D.K.
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A tropical hip-hop track (we’re struggling to place the rapper, any ideas?) opens proceedings on Benji Boko’s exclusive Bonafide Beats mix. And its funky opening starts as it means to go on. …Read More.
Filed under: Artists, Electronic, Funk, Hip-hop, Mixes by Lev
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Ok, this mix has been with us for a couple of weeks now and it’s been on heavy rotation. The man behind the wheels of steel is Keor Meteor, the 26 year old Parisian beatmaker who is gaining a steady following due to his generous output on Soundcloud and Bandcamp. Making beats since 2005, the funky Frenchman has not only adopted some of the soul-slicing style of Madlib, Dilla and Premo but also their prolific release rate. Encompassing seven free EP releases this year, he has also found time to produce the Classique album with Yamio263 and Dennis Dove as well as winning a national remix competition for French MC Youssoupha. …Read More.
Filed under: DJ/Turntablism, Free Downloads, Hip-hop, Mixes, Rap by P.A.
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