[ aquarius records

IMPORTANT (Please read to avoid confusion): Some items below may be tagged with a bold, red, all-caps OUT OF PRINT/UNAVAILABLE notice. This does NOT mean that all other items not so tagged are, in fact, in stock — or for that matter, in print and available, though there's a good chance they are. Some folks get confused on this point, and we can see why, so please read this for further clarification and other important before-you-order information. Unlike some mailorder websites, we don't have an electronic inventory system linked to our site, so you can't be sure of what we actually have or don't have in stock at any given moment without asking us — please email our mailorder department for availability status — or better yet, just go ahead and place your order using our shopping cart function and we'll get back to you with the status of each item. If you have general non-mailorder questions, email the store.

Showing results 551 through 600 of 1265.

Still nasty. And pretty good. Sisqo, Cee-Lo, Redman, Lil' Cease, Puff Daddy, Mary J. Blige and a host of others guest.

San Francisco's fantastic live improv hiphop/jazz/turntablism trio, featuring the skills of DJ Quest of the Space Travellers/Bullet Proof Scratch Hamsters, as well drum kit and double bass. Everybody loved their FatCat/Hip Hop Slam record "Monostereosis", and this is more of the same. Kinda like a more advanced version of the instrumental tracks on the last few Beastie Boys records, actually. Good stuff.

Live Human's previous albums never really did it for me, so this great album is a revelation. Here the groundbreaking trio of standup bass, drums, and turntables is *live*, recorded right here in their hometown of San Francisco at the Great American Music Live Human mixes warmly organic bass lines that are funky but not overly so, with percussion that is as breakbeat "funky drummer" style as it is carefully shuffling, staccato and delicate. The third equal element is hiphop DJ Quest's visionary turntablist style. While he does his fair share of athletic, textural scratching here (he even plays with the tense sound of a skipping cd, of all things), it isn't overdone, nor boring, nor predictable. He brings in just enough outside elements like women's voices, snippets of old hip hop classics, James Brown's "heuh!", etc., to prevent the "jazz" from imploding self-indulgently into itself, yet not so much that it becomes a sample-heavy smorgasbord. It is incredible how perfect Quest's instincts are for what is too much and/or not enough. I have to say that the turntablist skills demonstrated here are so seamlessly integrated with the bass and the drums that I can't help but think this is one of THE FINEST examples of turntablism I have ever heard -- he knows that the way to us listeners' hearts is not to showboat his virtuosic skills, but instead to bow to the demands of the music itself. This is an awesome record that is completely worth your money. As if that wasn't enough, it is purposely being sold directly from the label to retailers for the express purpose of keeping the price down and, according to the liner notes, "cutting out many of the redundant music-industry middle-men that traditionally add nothing to the art but are happy to pocket more than their fair share of the profit (biiiiaaaatch!)."

RealAudio clip: Fr-Fre-Fre-Fresshhhhhhh!
RealAudio clip: Breakbeat
RealAudio clip: Human til Inifinity

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. These popular local artists' album was previously only available as an import, now finally it's available as a domestic release! What we had to say about the import still applies: San Franciscans Kushin, Mathias, and Quest (DJ that is) come up with a kick ass 'new jazz'/turntablism/hip hop hybrid for their debut album. A couple of the tracks from their previous singles on Fat Cat pop up on the album which is loaded with wykked scratching, sikk beats, and phhat bass. Excellent!

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. The second single on Fat Cat from Live Human, a San Francisco trio with turntablist DJ Quest scratching over a mellow funk of skittering jazzy percussion and stand up bass. A really good American version of Red Snapper!

More major-label price gouging. But, not a bad LL record.

You might wonder why we're listing this, already the second album of 2006 from Harlem rapper Loon (who first broke through in '02 with a cameo on P. Diddy's "I Need A Girl", and went on to be one of Mase's Harlem World MCs, a project which apparently didn't work out too well, judging by the Mase dis track found on this disc...). Well, we happened to hear it, and it rules! Unlike a lot of hiphop albums, this isn't just one or two good tracks and then a bunch of skits and filler. Ok, there are a couple skits. But enough, um, "bomb tracks" to make it tough to chose when it came time to make sound samples. We feel like we're hearing some hits here, or should-be-hits. Like "You Told Me", with its Dr. Dre-like funk beats and Outkast-ish vocals, and (for some guys) easy-to-relate-to relationship lyrics. Or the adrenalized thrills of gangsta tale "Blap Blap". Plus you've gotta love a good dis track, and the condescendingly caustic, knife-twisting "Jimmy" here sure fits the bill. And that ain't even the one about Mase. The lyrics aren't all the usual stale stuff, not just about bling n' things, and we totally dig Loon's low-key, laid-back flow (he sounds maybe a bit like Cam'ron) and the spare production. For some of our customers the likes of Loon might be old news, but for others, Loon is a lot MORE obscure than the latest limited to 50 copies Finnish heavy drone psych folk new weird cd-r in the highlights section... which means you might want to check it out!!

MPEG stream: Blap Blap ft. I-Rocc/Smigg Dirtee
MPEG stream: Jimmy (Jim Jones DISS)

Ahh, the Body. One of our favorite crushing sludge behemoths. Purveyors of pulverizing brutality. Khanate, Moss, Corrupted, all sonic brethren of the mighty metallic monsters known as the Body. So what might you think if you heard that two of the guys from The body had a side project called Lorna Doom? Well, you'd probably be thinking the same thing we were. Fuck yeah! The Body, Lorna DOOM. How could we not be psyched?! Okay, well what if we told you Lorna Doom was in fact The Body's HIP-HOP side project? Then what? Run screaming? Or would you still be intrigued? Maybe more than intrigued, maybe kind of excited? Well we were, and we still are, cuz this is pretty fucking dope. Woven together from simple drum machine beats, weird post rock guitar lines, jazzy horns, bizarre samples, and AWESOME loops (the first track is made from a loop of Rob Base's ("it Takes Two"!) and of course some bad ass white boy rapping. At first we were sort of thrown for a loop. But the more we listened to this, the more we dug it. Not hard to see these guys rocking the mic and holding their own alongside the big boys. Funky and funny, but not joke-y at all. This disc had us reimagining Eminem's movie 8 Mile, but recast with these two bearded indie rock metal dudes in the part of Rabbit (or Rabbits I guess), how fucking awesome would that be? Anyway, not necessarily for fans of the Body, although we are and we dig this a lot. Regardless, some seriously solid, funky, outsider, homemade hip hop. Cool stuff for sure.

MPEG stream: Doom Is In The Room
MPEG stream: Clash Of The Titans

Three veteran SF DJs B-Love, Doc Fu and Romanowski deliver one solid mix a piece. Doesn't Doc Fu's description pique yer interest and yer appetite!? "A Lumpia, Menudo, Irish stew megamix throwndown" Yo, check it!

Actually stumbled on upon this one by happy accident. We were trying desperately to figure out who did this one song that we kept hearing on the radio, but they never said who it was, since it was always in the middle of some sort of megamix. Finally figured it out, only to realize, that the same guy also did an even more amazing song that we had practically given up on finding. So, the guy is Ludacris, the sound is southern-fried gangster rap ala No Limit, but with way better / commercial radio production. and the song in question (that you've probably heard) is 'What's Your Fantasy', a nasty boy vs. girl duet with a catchy (and funny) stick in your head chorus: ' I wanna lick lick lick lick lick you from your head to your toes...'

Still more hip hop bubbles up from the dirty south, from the underground, and spills out all over MTV and hiphop radio. Ludacris has been kicking around for a while, mix tapes etc... But last years's 'Fantasy' track blew up BIG and made Ludacris a household

RealAudio clip: Rollout
RealAudio clip: Coming To America
RealAudio clip: Cold Outside

MPEG stream: Bad Dreams
MPEG stream: Rise And Shine

This is some slick sunbathed California-style hip hop, folks. From start to finish, inclusive of its warm illustrative artwork, this album never loses its composure. Seven of the 15 songs are brilliantly remade/remixed from previously released tracks. They fit in like perfect pieces to a remarkably pleasant puzzle. Awesome!

MPEG stream: track four
MPEG stream: track five

Holy shit this record is amazing!!! What a charged and dynamic follow up to one of the hottest debuts of the decade. It doesn't surprise us though, as we knew from the first time we heard M.I.A. that she had some special power inside of her. She is that rare world voice in music that we desperately need so much right now. It's incredible how she crosses lines and borders like very few other artists seem able to. Kala is one of the few records that we sell to every kind of person and taste. Metalheads, indie rockers, pop kids, dance-heads, hip-hop aficionados, experimental music lovers.... they're all going crazy for the new M.I.A. and for great reason. It's one of the most kick ass, colorful and fully realized albums to come out in a long time. She was denied entry to the States repeated times when making this record, so her initial plans to record the record with Timbaland were thrown out the window. But this countries' insane border policies ended up being a blessing in disguise, as it forced M.I.A. to look elsewhere for producers, so she traveled throughout Africa and India where she did lots of raw field recordings which all come to life in such exciting ways on Kala. In fact Kala is kind of like what we imagine might happen if Konono No.1 were transported to Bollywood. While we've recently been swept up by the mystical power and strength of some fierce women of the past like Selda and Betty Davis, we can't think of anyone in the modern day who better conjures up that kind of unique energy and spirit than M.I.A. This is a record meant to be blasted LOUD. So next time you have folks over, no matter what sort of music they dig, don't worry it won't be awkward just throw on M.I.A. and every single one of them will dig it like crazy. Guaranteed. Without a doubt a contender for record of the year!

MPEG stream: Bird Flu
MPEG stream: World Town
MPEG stream: Paper Planes

For all that's made of M.I.A.'s politics and persona, it's important not to forget that what makes her music so fucking special is how it taps into such a purely physical sensation. Her last album Kala was an absolute game changer. The kind of record that reshaped everything around it. You could almost use her name as a genre, as so many folks were inspired by it and after her debut, we began hearing so many people try their hand at the M.I.A. sound. From Santogold, Gang Gang Dance, Rainbow Arabia, Rye Rye, Bonde Do Role, Thunderheist, Buraka Som Sistema, and on and on. Her influence crossed so many cultural lines and on so many fronts, not just her sound but also her fashion, imagery and overall aesthetic. And it's easy to see why, there is something so dynamic, urgent, spirited and alive about what M.I.A. is doing. It's so hard to follow up a record that was as close to perfect as we think an album can be, but god damn she has found a way to maybe do it. Maya blasts right out of the gate and makes it clear its going to be an uncompromising, visceral and frenetic ride. With great collaborating producers like Diplo, Switch and Blaqstarr back on board as well as bringing in dubstep sensation Rusko as well as Sleigh Bells guitar shredder Derek E. Miller. But much like Bjork, M.I.A. is a master of curating and surrounding herself with super talented producers and players, yet taking all the pieces of those elements and crafting them into something much bigger and more fully realized. The record is paced so perfectly, after an onslaught of charged, dirty and sweaty tracks she offers fresh breaths through some catchier pop minded jams and then its right back into the line of fire. Maya, is both the most angry and tender of the albums she is made so far. Because while its filled with so many unrelenting politically fueled anthems it also finds M.I.A. singing about the courage of falling in love and getting weighed down by gravity, which shows us the range she is capable of and will continue to explore. It seems certain folks love to build people up only to knock them down. In recent months M.I.A was torn to pieces in a tacky/petty feature in the New York Times and many of the same blogs and online music critic establishments who championed her in the first place, and who are now taking cheap shots at her, personally and musically. But all that is meaningless. Truth is, M.I.A. continues to be an absolute force of nature. Creating music that really can and does unite so many different kinds of people and makes you sweat in ways that feels empowering and full of purpose. She has taken the spirit of punk, hip-hop and dance music to make a sound that is so singular and spectacular. Maya is another striking achievement from one of the most important, outspoken and brave artists of our generation.

MPEG stream: Born Free
MPEG stream: Steppin Up
MPEG stream: Lovalot
MPEG stream: It Takes A Muscle

If you are anything like some of us, you probably still haven't stopped playing M.I.A's latest album Kala. One of those records that we have listened to hundreds of times by now and it still gives us that charge of strength, splash of color and push towards fun like almost no other record can. While we love every song on the record there is no denying that Paper Planes became a runaway hit with its infectious rifle shots and perfect sampling of "Straight to Hell" by The Clash. So it makes sense that lots of folks wanted to try their hand at remixing that song, and these Homeland Security Remixes finds five very capable and varied hands doing the original justice and breathing even more life into that great song. DFA turn it into a vintage sounding disco jam, Adrock uses little kids with glorious results and Scottie B. cranks up the adrenaline even more for a B'more slammer. Diplo and Blaqstarr also turn in super good remixes of their own making this one a keeper and instant party starter!

MPEG stream: Paper Planes (Remix for the children by Adrock)
MPEG stream: Paper Planes (Scottie B. Remix)

We dig Macromantics! She's one supa cool hiphop gal from Australia. Trouble is, there's seemingly never enough of her music to go around! She's got a scant two self-released cds out thus far (the more recent of the two being Hyperbolic Logic from late 2004), and they're not the easiest things to get a hold of. Fortunately though, we get at least a quick fix by way of those fine Quaketrap Collective folks from down the block who've offered up this short'n'sweet 7". One side has the lady bustin' out with her beat conspirator Shaggy Manatee (formerly of Pancake Circus) on her new track "Four Facets" while the flipside has a sharply chiselled remix of the Hyperbolic Logic album track "Conspiracy" by their pal Yoko Solo. Ah, leave 'em wantin' more! Pressed on white vinyl.

MPEG stream: Four Facets
MPEG stream: Conspiracy Remix

Macromantics is a lone lady ass-kickin' hip hop machine from Down Under. While we were admittedly charmed initially by her accent that pokes through when she utters certain words, her music had proven to have an impact of its own. There's no hyperbole involved when we say that Ms Romy Hoffman not only crafts rad atmospheric hip hop tracks but has quite a way with words too -- expounding on the power of love, truth, beauty and chaos. This is her second self-released album and it simply confirms that she's just getting better and better. Here's hoping she doesn't continue to be such a well-kept Aussie secret.

MPEG stream: Conspiracy
MPEG stream: Where Is Yr God?

Listen up! We heart Macromantics (aka Australian hip hop gal Romy Hoffman). She rocks! We've carried her releases (Four Facets / Conspiracy Remix 7" and Hyperbolic Logic cd) for a few years now, and we're really happy to hear that more folks stateside have been gettin' hip to her hop. Case in point, the Kill Rock Stars label have jumped aboard and released her first domestic cd. Yay! Yay! Admittedly what initially charmed us about Ms Romy was her distinct vocal delivery, but there's acres more to her than an Aussie accent. She crafts tight, infectious tracks with an overriding super posi vibe. Lotsa punchy energy! On Moments In Movements though we've noticed a step or two towards considerably darker, edgier territory than that which she's traversed on her previous releases. it's an effective direction to take, broadening her scope while sharpening her attack. Guests include Ground Components and Sage Francis.

MPEG stream: Eerily Spookily
MPEG stream: Love Thyself

Madlib, the beat conductor of the title, has produced records for Lootpack, Quasimoto etc and here he issues four sides of funky breakbeats, heavy dub beats, and hip hop tracks. Instrumental. Useful for DJs, surely! On Stones Throw, Peanut Butter Wolf's label.

As everyone must know by now, we're huge suckers for Bollywood music. Just when we think we've had enough, another Sitar Funk or Bombay Beat comp comes in and we're madly in love all over again. Even if some of those comps revisit the same songs that were on other comps, we don't seem to mind too much, because there is always some new groove that we haven't been turned on to yet, or in the case of this record, hasn't been re-edited yet. Madlib's Beat Konducta series has fast become our favorite side-project from this uber-prolific producer. Vols. 1 and 2 were like short unrealized film scores culled from the unlikeliest of musical places such as Van Dyke Parks. On Vols. 3 and 4, Madlib concentrates solely on Indian film music, painstakingly editing and reworking 34 newly unique and beat-heavy nuggets out of what is by now a classic and well-trafficked genre. But our guess is you won't be able to recognize much of the original sources, making it extra fresh listening for fans of Bollywood funk and instrumental hip hop alike. Recommended!

MPEG stream: Dancing Girls Theme
MPEG stream: Piano Garden
MPEG stream: Sitar Ride
MPEG stream: More Rice
MPEG stream: Duel

Vol. 4 Now on Vinyl. Here is what we said about the Vol. 3 and Vol. 4 CD: As everyone must know by now, we're huge suckers for Bollywood music. Just when we think we've had enough, another Sitar Funk or Bombay Beat comp comes in and we're madly in love all over again. Even if some of those comps revisit the same songs that were on other comps, we don't seem to mind too much, because there is always some new groove that we haven't been turned on to yet, or in the case of this record, hasn't been re-edited yet. Madlib's Beat Konducta series has fast become our favorite side-project from this uber-prolific producer. Vols. 1 and 2 were like short unrealized film scores culled from the unlikeliest of musical places such as Van Dyke Parks. On Vols. 3 and 4, Madlib concentrates solely on Indian film music, painstakingly editing and reworking 34 newly unique and beat-heavy nuggets out of what is by now a classic and well-trafficked genre. But our guess is you won't be able to recognize much of the original sources, making it extra fresh listening for fans of Bollywood funk and instrumental hip hop alike. Recommended!

MPEG stream: More Rice
MPEG stream: Duel

Madlib's and J-Rocc's tribute suite to the late great J Dilla offers 42 instrumental hip-hop tracks of stony, wobbly and loping tape edits. It's testimony to the power of J Dilla's uncanny ability to wring the golden essence of perhaps an inessential soul side, that even the best hip hop producer in the biz can't quite capture the same magic as the incomparable Donuts. But this wasn't done to outshine the master, only to make his star shine brighter, and with a new Dilla anthology on the way, we're realizing more and more what a huge talent we lost. Still worthy to burn a tree or two to, and be fully satisfied!!

MPEG stream: J's Day Theme #3
MPEG stream: The String
MPEG stream: Infinity Sound
MPEG stream: The Main Inspiration
MPEG stream: Smoked Out
MPEG stream: Dillalade Ride

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. I'll try to not be a cynical bastard and talk about the fact that the last two critically acclaimed Madlib records have been nothing but mixtapes. Partially because they just happen to seriously kick ass mixtapes. This time around, Madlib plunders the Trojan catalog and comes up with a dangerously wicked 65 minute mega mix. Byram was less than impressed, but I'm way more of a neophyte when it comes to reggae, and find myself listening to this all the time. Features David Isaacs, King Stitt, I-Roy, Lee Perry, Dillinger, King Tubby, Gregory Isaacs, Barrington Levy, the Aggrovators, the Ethiopians, Mikey Dread, the Upsetters, the Skatalites, Roland Alphonso, Prince Jazzbo and loads more. Mixing and scratching is kept to a minimum letting these classic tracks speak for themselves.

MPEG stream: Blunted Mix One

We're up to number 6 in Madlib's 12 part Medicine Show series, all of them great, but THIS is the one we've been waiting for, a dizzying megamix of "global psychedelic, progressive and hard rock & funk circa 1968-1976", hell yeah, we were already way into Madlib, but the thought of him spinning a crazy selection of mysterious and amazing heavy funky jams, well shit, we were pretty much sold before we heard it. And it's pretty much just how you'd imagine, crazy fuzzy psych rock covers, buzzy guitars, fluttering flutes, exotic ballads, skittery rhythms, wild progged out organs, frenzied drumming, woozy grooves, lysergic jams, all chopped up and looped and woven together, laced with really funny spoken word bits, girls talking about all the drugs they've taken, Pee Wee Herman, comedy records, commercials, plenty of thrift store weirdness and tripped out effects peppering the otherwise heavy rocking proceedings. Separated into smaller mini mixes, each track is jammed with buzz and fuzz, howl and shimmy, tracks skipping and slowing down, voices sped up, garage rock colliding with surf rock, hard rock giving way to dreamy soul giving way to wah wah drenched acid rock, flutes and organs and jawharps and animal calls, wild crowd sounds, drum solos, totally drugged out musical meltdowns, this is definitely not a straight mix, or a selection of classic jams, instead it's a classic hip hop style mix, just sourced from prog and psych and hard rock records, and it's fucking awesome.

MPEG stream: World Leaders Plan Centralized Power & Remote Brain Control
MPEG stream: It Has Widespread Support
MPEG stream: Predicted 2000 Years Ago
MPEG stream: It's Almost Here

Listening to all these great mixes Madlib has been self releasing lately is sort of like the audio equivalent of reading Wax Poetics, one of our favorite magazines. You pretty much just get totally schooled in different eras of soul, funk, and jazz. This time out Madlib takes us on an upbeat adventure in the early '80s landscape of post-disco, boogie delights. Sounds that really bridged the gap between the disco era and electro-funk. In fact we could see folks like Dam-Funk and Hot Chip blasting this backstage at their shows and at after-hours parties 'til the break of dawn. All kinds of fun!

MPEG stream: To Promote Illogical Thinking
MPEG stream: To Withstand Privation, Torture And Coercion

Madlib's last Medicine Show compilation, High Jazz, was a collection of recordings by Lib's modern jazz outfits, doing their best to simulate classic jazz, and as we mentioned in that review, had we not known better, we definitely might have been fooled. But THIS is the one we've been waiting for. ADVANCED jazz, as in REAL jazz records from the past 40 years, funky, soulful, hard bop, free, big band, all stripes and flavors, woven into an insanely kick ass DJ mix, and separated into movements, titled appropriately enough: Miles, Ornette, Pharoah, Herbie, Mingus, Ra, Dolphy, Ranelin, Deodato and Coltrane. The cover art too has been jazz-ed up, the painting of Washington and crew crossing the Delaware, updated to include various jazz greats, even Herbie Hancock's Headhunter can be seen across the water in another boat. And that's the vibe of the whole record, a definite reverence for the music and the artists, but mixed playfully, all sorts of random snippets interspersed between killer jazz jams, interviews and recording of various jazz greats, hilarious impressions of Miles Davis, spoken word jazz poetry, a stretch of wacky drug conversations and what sounds like an anti marijuana PSA, blaxploitation trailers, commercials, a hilarious Herbie Hancock anti-drug PSA (specifically "skag and downers"!), and while those segues are pretty funny, they're just interludes between some of the most amazing jazz ever, c'mon, a DJ like Madlib with a handful of classic jazz lps? Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out it's gonna rule, and RULE it does, although some folks here found the snippets and samples a bit distracting, but taken as a whole, Advanced Jazz, is a dizzying trip back in time, not just music, but sounds, voices, vibe, it's like strapping on some sort of temporal time travel helmet, and having 40 years of jazz and jazz-related culture flash by in 70 minutes. So awesome. Maybe the best Medicine Show yet!

MPEG stream: Miles
MPEG stream: Mingus
MPEG stream: Dolphy

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

We're often a little wary when hip-hop producers and DJs make mixes that seem all about showing off what an awesome record collection they have. But on the other hand, we've always been fans of Madlib's many productions and we are of course rabid fans of Brasilian music in all forms, so there's plenty to love about this latest mix. Collected during the same trip to Recife documented on the dvd Brasilintime: Batucada Com Discos we reviewed a while back, this is the first in a series of six mixes of the most obscure corners of Musica Popular Brasileira: Folkloric Chants, Samba, Bossa, and Tropicalia. There are only a couple of songs we recognize, but we've been playing this non-stop since we got it as it's a mind-melting hour long trip that unveils one solid gem after another.

MPEG stream: Speto Da Rua 1
MPEG stream: Speto Da Rua 2
MPEG stream: Speto Da Rua 3

Madlib is a man of so many musical hats and so far we gotta say that no matter which one he is wearing we eat up whatever it is he's serving. A few months ago it was his live band Sound Directions and their spot on take on 70's funk & soul. This release finds him back behind his turntables with crates full of old great soul records, and his sampler and drum machines all fired up. The end result is 35 hip-hop instrumentals that are short, sweet and keep intact the raw analog quality of their source material. Madlib doesn't use computers in his music making process and maybe that's partly why he's always able to keep such a nice raw sound in everything he does. While his love of 70's soul & funk runs deep, he also throws in some great surprising samples along the way. Hearing Madlib drop the needle on Van Dyke Parks pretty much made our day. Like J Dilla's (R.I.P.) swan song, this is sonic collage done right, with skill and soul.

MPEG stream: Left On Silverlake
MPEG stream: West Zone

This new release from hip hop's hardest working man in show business showcases two of his musical personas coming together: the hip hop producer and the master of the sound sample. Collaged together like a stony late-nite radio set, with snippets of loops and breaks abruptly breaking into full guest MC-led or laid back R&B productions. The highlights are definitely all the Beat Konducta tracks - amazing! Madlib has the ear (and the extensive vinyl collection) to select and isolate just the right sample. Among the many delights that surround the listener are cat meows, raunchy casual conversations, scratches, psychedelic meanderings, and countless layers of recorded sound. And the women represented on this are all fantastic - from the spaced out visions of Georgia Anne Muldrow to the cool R&B grooves of Stacey Epps and Frezna, whose "Yo Yo Affair" recalls a cognac dipped Roy Ayers sea cruise. Unfortunately the duds come from most of the guest rappers. Is that a cultural thing to say you like the music without the vocals? We wish we liked the raps more but we've just about had enough of dated aggressive braggadocio and homophobic rhymes. But we can't dismiss the solid music that backs all of these tracks.

MPEG stream: The Plan Pt. 1
MPEG stream: Gambe On Ya Boy
MPEG stream: Parklight
MPEG stream: Yo Yo Affair Pt. 1 & 2

Two excellent DJs offer side-long excursions of cut up voices, breakbeats, wonky scratching and tons of groove. Very very fun, along the lines of Z-trip, DJ Quest, and of course Cut Chemist's other solo work. For Future Primitive Soundsession regulars and

I know, we were just raving about that Jaylib record (Madlib and Jay Dee from Slum Village) from a few months back. I think we even pulled out the ol' hip hop record of the year championship belt thinking the contest was OVER. But here it is a matter of weeks later and Madlib is back and dang if he hasn't outdone himself again! Doesn't hurt that he decided to team up with MF Doom (Viktor Vaughn, KMD, etc) and the combo is unbeatable. Madlib is in full effect, pulling out all the sonic stops. Of course, there's fat lazy beats, throbbing basslines and groovy jazzy samples, but that ain't all! Madlib's hip hopscapes are so dense and multilayered it's almost overwhelming. Hawaiian slide guitars slip and slide over syrupy funk bass lines, clipped bouncy funk glitched out and fuzzed up, human beat box butted up to jangly wah guitar, string sections soar and James Bond horns blare in the background, warbly movie theater pipe organs over disintegrating loops of old soundtracks, chopped up calypsos, groovy acid jazz electric piano, regular funk loops cut and snipped and rearranged into stuttery spastic alien funk, fluttering flutes, percussive pounding piano low end, all the while. clips from old B movies, sound effects and found sounds careen from ear to ear in a serious display of extreme stereo panning. And that's just the music. MF Doom (formerly of the godlike KMD and about a million other nom de plumes) is all over the record too, adding his laconic, idosyncratic flow to the mix, spitting rhymes that sound lazy and off the cuff, delivered in a just-woken-up mouthful-of-marbles mumble, but are just way too clever and funny and biting to be freestyled. His smooth, raspy delivery perfectly compliments Madlib's scratchy, muffled and mysterious groovescapes. And to add to the chaos, there are loads of guest MC's (a bunch of which just happen to be MF Doom alteregos!), Viktor Vaughn, Quasimoto (rhyming in his helium/chipmunks sped-up falsetto), Wildchild, and M.E.D. Also, the cd contains possibly the best video we've ever seen, done old Marvel comics style, but so cleverly edited and so perfectly synced to the song and with all sorts of clever animations and weird special effects. It like being a kid and being able to walk right into a comic book, travelling not just through the story, but the ads for selling seeds and magazines as well. So cool! And so weird. Definitely hip hop record of the year! Barring of course any sort of Madlib / MF Doom / Jay Dee / Doseone / Jay-Z / Ludacris / Method Man supergroup match-up! In that case we'll happily reconsider our vote! But for now, BUY THIS RECORD!

MPEG stream: The Illest Villains
MPEG stream: Accordian
MPEG stream: Meat Grinder
MPEG stream: All Caps

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. Ahhh, here we go. The instrumental version of one of the best hip hop records of the last year. Vocals stripped away so you can observe Madlib's insane production skillz in full effect, pulling out all the sonic stops. Of course, there's fat lazy beats, throbbing basslines and groovy jazzy samples, but that ain't all! Madlib's hip hopscapes are so dense and multilayered it's almost overwhelming. Hawaiian slide guitars slip and slide over syrupy funk bass lines, clipped bouncy funk glitched out and fuzzed up, human beat box butted up to jangly wah guitar, string sections soar and James Bond horns blare in the background, warbly movie theater pipe organs over disintegrating loops of old soundtracks, chopped up calypsos, groovy acid jazz electric piano, regular funk loops cut and snipped and rearranged into stuttery spastic alien funk, fluttering flutes, percussive pounding piano low end, all the while clips from old B movies, sound effects and found sounds careen from ear to ear in a serious display of extreme stereo panning. Amazing.

Not sure why this record is so appealing, but it just is. It's big and dumb and fun and crazy and silly. Fairly sure it's a send up of the current MTV party hip hop sound, from bumping big beats, to slow jams to Mariah Carey sort of stuff. But it's so perfect it could easily fool fans of the real thing. Which I suppose is the point. Reminds me a lot of the N.E.R.D. record, all relentless driving beats and buzzing synth lines with goofy singing/rapping. Kind of lo-fi but you can tell it would sound bumpin' in your boomin' system. A big wild party, a big messy sloppy mix of all sorts of sounds: Missy Elliot, L'Trimm, Miami bass, two step garage, Vanity 6, and all sorts of crap. There's even a sort-of-cover of the Pet Shop Boy's 'Opportunity'. Weird. And the lyrics are so goddamn funny. The slow jams do get a bit much as the record progresses, but there's a couple wicked tracks that make the whole thing pretty worth while. I'm functioning completely under the assumption that this is all a perfectly calculated/executed joke, but if it's not a joke, it's almost even funnier. MPEG Download: "Piranha Party (Gentrification Party)" [/audio/majesticonspiranha.mp3] MPEG Stream: "Piranha Party (Gentrification Party)" [/audio/majesticonspiranha.m3u]

MPEG stream: Piranha Party (Gentrification Party)
MPEG stream: Fader Party

We love dancehall, the beat, the rhythms, the toasting especially, the lurching hypnotic groove of it, but what we, and lots of other folks have always had trouble with, was the lyrical content, the whole scene in fact, rife with violence, and homophobia and misogyny, much like American hip hop, but even more fucked up and seriously unpalatable. So much so that plenty of folks around aQ land who might otherwise dig dancehall big time, have sworn off it completely. UNTIL NOW. Diplo and Switch, bring their twisted and tweaked approach to beats and grooves, and whip up one the wildest, craziest dancehall records EVER. And what better way to thumb their noses at traditional dancehall than by getting a whole gaggle of female rappers and toasters to team up with the more well know male Jamaican dancehall vocalists, often verbally sparring back and forth in the same song. The sound is supercharged, electrifying, the beats banging, the samples bizarre but perfect, a tangled technicolor musical backdrop over which the vocalists do their THANG. Morricone-esque guitars, the clip clop of horse hooves, ringing cell phones, horse whinnies, dizzying looped rhythms, a killer stuttery beat, tons of woozy low end, everything chopped and hiccuppy, an awesome deep growly bit of toasting, and some cool looped Santigold vox, before she gets to spit her own bad ass verse, and that's just the first song. The whole disc destroys though, relentless non stop hip shaking head bobbing sweaty sexy speaker destroying musical magic, some tracks bliss out into some sunshiney reggae grooviness, all laid back, infused with some awesome smoky sultry vox, other tracks get raw and rough, with buzzing guitars and fuzzed out bass lines, plenty of clatter and crunch, others are fizzly and festive, with vocodered vocals and skittery beats, and still others are dense tightly wound jams, drenched in effects and tangled up with rollicking block rocking beats and squiggly melodies. Even as an instrumental record, this would kill, but the vocalists push it over the top, tongue twisting flows all over the place, lightning fast sputters, growly drawls, head spinning back and forth and of course plenty of whoops and whooooooos... Summer dancehall party record of the year for sure, with awesome Major Lazer cartoon cover art, very reminiscent of the classic old Scientist albums!! So recommended. Every time we play this in the store, someone comes up to see what the heck it is!

MPEG stream: Hold The Line
MPEG stream: When You Hear The Bassline
MPEG stream: Can't Stop Now

Most of us were big fans of the Major Lazer full length from last year, but even those of us who didn't totally fall in love with with it are going crazy about this new ep of remixes especially the banging new track with M.I.A. that leads it all off. Major Lazer is the blasting, dance inducing, dancehall influenced project of master producers Diplo and Switch and with folks like Buraka Som Sistema and Thom Yorke giving them the remix treatment this is start to finish adrenaline pumping, body moving blasts of ecstasy. If we were hired as party planners for someone looking to put on a rager that we would want to lose our minds at we would urge them to blast this so loud loud followed by other smoking new releases from M.I.A., Omar Souleyman, and maybe that Shangaan Electro compilation of killer new South African dance jams. Maybe part of the magic is that it's an ep which makes this so perfect, there is no overkill or filler or duds. Every single second hits so damn right. And as cheap as it's priced this one is a no brainer!

MPEG stream: Sound Of Siren (Feat. M.I.A. & Busy Signal)
MPEG stream: Jump Up (Thom Yorke Remix)
MPEG stream: Bruk Out (Buraka Som Sistema Mix)

[ aquarius records — Hiphop ]