[ aquarius records

Cool, playful sort of goofy hip hop, like KMD or De La Soul, except that the main rapper's vocals have been sped up giving Quasimoto the opposite dynamic of Public Enemy: a whiney, helium voiced chipmunk rapper, backed up by an assortment of gruff baritones. Weird and funny and pretty great.

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

SORRY. "Yo quiero DJ Quest!" Space Travelers DJ breaks out with a very cool new tape. Wild scratching and imaginative samples make this perfect for the car (it's been in Windy's car deck since we got it last week and shows no sign of being usurped except when I get in a Kid Koala mood). Recommended.

SF's own DJ Quest has been winning solo scratching competitions worldwide since the early '90s, while also making music with first the Bulletproof Scratch Hamsters (later to become the Space Travellers) and then with the groundbreaking jazz/scratch outfit Live

RealAudio clip: Bulletproof Traveller (Treble Lord)
RealAudio clip: Moments (Part II)
RealAudio clip: Shout (Hip Hop Mix)

MPEG stream: Flawless Crowns
MPEG stream: Rakim Tribute
MPEG stream: Rap Killers

We first heard UK duo The Ragga Twins on the amazing Rumble In The Jungle compilation which we made our Record Of The Week back in early 2007. One of the first bands, in the early '90s, to combine the grooves and the toasting of reggae and dancehall with hip hop breakbeats, and essentially creating jungle, which as any avid reader of the aQ list knows, we absolutely LOVE. The Ragga Twins began life right in the midst of the blossoming rave scene which makes it a bit surprising that folks got so it. But get into it they did. Along with a handful of other underground groups, the Ragga Twins helped launch a British music movement that continues to this day, as Jungle would spawn drum and bass, which would mutate into garage, techstep, 2step, and eventually grime and dubstep. Even at its very genesis, this stuff was practically perfect, funky, and loose, groovy and aggressive, totally irresistible, big beats, loping hip hop rhythms, sped up breakbeats, the music skeletal, simple loops, all about the vocals, a rapid fire dancehall toasting, delivered in a raw bark, while the beat pounded away beneath. Some of the tracks definitely display some of the surrounding rave culture, fuzzy synths, sweeping strings, bits of techno, but for the most part, this stuff is fierce and funky dancehall jungle, the sort of stuff that The Bug is giving a modern spin. Take "Ragga Trip" with its seventies cop show groove, and squelchy synths, the toasting is incredible, rough and raw, and impossibly catchy. Or "Illegal Gunshot", with it's playful marimba melody, and skittery beat. And again, incredible vocals. Then "Spliffhead", with a reggae croon that ends up making it sound almost like Bad Brains at their most reggae. "Rudeboy" wraps techno synths and wailing sirens around a rolling breakbeat, the toasting and crooned vocals, and reggae guitar reeling it back in and keeping it from getting too ravey, while "Juggling" totally evokes eighties hip hop (especially Black Sheep) but it could just be THAT breakbeat. The second disc features older tracks, including a couple from the pre-Ragga Twins Deman Rockers, the older tracks are a bit ravier, or a bit more reggae sounding, but even then, the tracks are still pretty kick ass. Definitely essential listening for folks into jungle and drum and bass, who loved that Rumble In The Jungle comp, and who dig all that Bug stuff, this is where it all started! Like all Soul Jazz stuff, gorgeous packaging, tons of vintage photos and of course extensive liner notes.

MPEG stream: Ragga Trip
MPEG stream: Illegal Gunshot
MPEG stream: Rudeboy

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

SORRY. We first heard UK duo The Ragga Twins on the amazing Rumble In The Jungle compilation which we made our Record Of The Week back in early 2007. One of the first bands, in the early '90s, to combine the grooves and the toasting of reggae and dancehall with hip hop breakbeats, and essentially creating jungle, which as any avid reader of the aQ list knows, we absolutely LOVE. The Ragga Twins began life right in the midst of the blossoming rave scene which makes it a bit surprising that folks got so it. But get into it they did. Along with a handful of other underground groups, the Ragga Twins helped launch a British music movement that continues to this day, as Jungle would spawn drum and bass, which would mutate into garage, techstep, 2step, and eventually grime and dubstep. Even at its very genesis, this stuff was practically perfect, funky, and loose, groovy and aggressive, totally irresistible, big beats, loping hip hop rhythms, sped up breakbeats, the music skeletal, simple loops, all about the vocals, a rapid fire dancehall toasting, delivered in a raw bark, while the beat pounded away beneath. Some of the tracks definitely display some of the surrounding rave culture, fuzzy synths, sweeping strings, bits of techno, but for the most part, this stuff is fierce and funky dancehall jungle, the sort of stuff that The Bug is giving a modern spin. Take "Ragga Trip" with its seventies cop show groove, and squelchy synths, the toasting is incredible, rough and raw, and impossibly catchy. Or "Illegal Gunshot", with it's playful marimba melody, and skittery beat. And again, incredible vocals. Then "Spliffhead", with a reggae croon that ends up making it sound almost like Bad Brains at their most reggae. "Rudeboy" wraps techno synths and wailing sirens around a rolling breakbeat, the toasting and crooned vocals, and reggae guitar reeling it back in and keeping it from getting too ravey, while "Juggling" totally evokes eighties hip hop (especially Black Sheep) but it could just be THAT breakbeat. The second disc features older tracks, including a couple from the pre-Ragga Twins Deman Rockers, the older tracks are a bit ravier, or a bit more reggae sounding, but even then, the tracks are still pretty kick ass. Definitely essential listening for folks into jungle and drum and bass, who loved that Rumble In The Jungle comp, and who dig all that Bug stuff, this is where it all started! Like all Soul Jazz stuff, gorgeous packaging, tons of vintage photos and of course extensive liner notes.

MPEG stream: Ragga Trip
MPEG stream: Illegal Gunshot
MPEG stream: Rudeboy

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

SORRY. We first heard UK duo The Ragga Twins on the amazing Rumble In The Jungle compilation which we made our Record Of The Week back in early 2007. One of the first bands, in the early '90s, to combine the grooves and the toasting of reggae and dancehall with hip hop breakbeats, and essentially creating jungle, which as any avid reader of the aQ list knows, we absolutely LOVE. The Ragga Twins began life right in the midst of the blossoming rave scene which makes it a bit surprising that folks got so it. But get into it they did. Along with a handful of other underground groups, the Ragga Twins helped launch a British music movement that continues to this day, as Jungle would spawn drum and bass, which would mutate into garage, techstep, 2step, and eventually grime and dubstep. Even at its very genesis, this stuff was practically perfect, funky, and loose, groovy and aggressive, totally irresistible, big beats, loping hip hop rhythms, sped up breakbeats, the music skeletal, simple loops, all about the vocals, a rapid fire dancehall toasting, delivered in a raw bark, while the beat pounded away beneath. Some of the tracks definitely display some of the surrounding rave culture, fuzzy synths, sweeping strings, bits of techno, but for the most part, this stuff is fierce and funky dancehall jungle, the sort of stuff that The Bug is giving a modern spin. Take "Ragga Trip" with its seventies cop show groove, and squelchy synths, the toasting is incredible, rough and raw, and impossibly catchy. Or "Illegal Gunshot", with it's playful marimba melody, and skittery beat. And again, incredible vocals. Then "Spliffhead", with a reggae croon that ends up making it sound almost like Bad Brains at their most reggae. "Rudeboy" wraps techno synths and wailing sirens around a rolling breakbeat, the toasting and crooned vocals, and reggae guitar reeling it back in and keeping it from getting too ravey, while "Juggling" totally evokes eighties hip hop (especially Black Sheep) but it could just be THAT breakbeat. The second disc features older tracks, including a couple from the pre-Ragga Twins Deman Rockers, the older tracks are a bit ravier, or a bit more reggae sounding, but even then, the tracks are still pretty kick ass. Definitely essential listening for folks into jungle and drum and bass, who loved that Rumble In The Jungle comp, and who dig all that Bug stuff, this is where it all started! Like all Soul Jazz stuff, gorgeous packaging, tons of vintage photos and of course extensive liner notes.

MPEG stream: Ragga Trip
MPEG stream: Illegal Gunshot
MPEG stream: Rudeboy

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

SORRY. DJ Roc Raida (of NYC's X-Ecutioners crew) spinning and scratching live on pirate radio. In the mix: The Arsonists, Q-Bert & D-Styles, Common, The Beatnuts, The X-Ecutioners, and others...plus "Caller Trying To Win Tickets" and other interludes.

Some of you may remember the Rammellzee track from the recent Anti NY compilation where he teamed up with NY legends Death Komet Krew. A dark and creepy slice of hip hop weirdness. And some of you may even remember the classic track "Beat Bop" recorded with Jean Michael Basquiat and K-Rob. One of the all time old school classics. Rammellzee was a serious player in the NYC B-boy / hip hop / graffiti scene. He was featured in the movie Wildstyle, worked with tons of folks (Fab 5 Freddie, Futura 2000, Phase 2 and more) and was one of the first graffiti artists to be taken seriously by the art world. But beyond his legendary status and past accomplishments, this is some really, really weird shit. Existing in his own universe, Gothic Futurism, along with life size muppets made out of trash, fur, junk and computers, and of course there's his futuristic skateboards, Rammellzee has taken his shit to the next level. Raw and wacked out, electo beats collide with classic hip hop, instantly recognizable samples are twisted into new shapes, found sound snippets are collaged with all sorts of squelches and drones and whirs, while Rammellzee delives his damaged demented lyrical flow in a gruff cookie monster / Oscar the Grouch growl, that occasionally morphs into an Anticon style whine. This craziness may sound classic, but it was all recorded over the last few years with help from the Death Komet Krew and a handful of likeminded hip-hop weirdos. So weird and so amazing. Everyone into Mush and Anticon and all that stuff needs to check this stuff out. My favorite new (old) hip hop record this year!

MPEG stream: Do We Have To Show A Resume?
MPEG stream: The Rammellzee Vs. K-Rob: Beat Bop Part 2
MPEG stream: Cheesy Lipstick

Ras G is a member of the LA based Flying Lotus crew, having contributed jams to FL's records, as well as releasing a ton of limited releases on his own label. So we were interested to hear this... Trafficking in a J Dilla instrumental hip hop style, Ras G has crafted what is essentially his own Donuts, an instrumental beats and breaks record, most of the tracks hovering at about the one or two minute mark, and while the obvious hip hop headz probably already dig this stuff, or soon will, it seems to us like everyone who's been going nuts for stuff like Clams Casino, How To Dress Well, Balam Acab, Shlohmo and that sort of post-witch house slo-mo-soul might dig this too. Although it's definitely a bit more ADD than the usual WH blissed out atmospheric sprawl. But within these brief blasts, there's so much shit going on, video game sounds, clipped and looped vocal samples, dubbed out rhythms, so many cool unlikely samples, funky horns, lots of record crackle and warped and warbly melodies, he also seems to be strangely obsessed with that horn, the one that you always hear at sporting events (and was recently featured in a Drake / Eminem radio hit), all arranged meticulously into micro soul classics, bumpin' hip hop could have been hits, and throughout, there are some seriously sick beats, the vibe sorta groovy and laid back, like some old dusty record, discovered while crate digging in some alternate universe, and played back on some strange contraption that spins lps in your chopped and lowered ride. So rad!

MPEG stream: D2E Intro
MPEG stream: Hey Baby!!!!
MPEG stream: Diiirrrtttty
MPEG stream: (((Shrooms)))

Local underground rapper's long-awaited full length with guest appearances by Dilated Peoples, DJ Babu of the Beat Junkies turntablists, etc. Produced and released by the Peanut Butter Wolf.

Now available on vinyl! We love dancehall. A lot! Makes perfect sense too, a grinding, pounding, throbbing mix of hip hop and dub, with that totally repetitive, hypnotic, instantly recognizable dancehall beat, you know: BOMP..BOMP.........BOMP..BOMP.........BOMP..BOMP. With tongue twisting toasting over the top. Very similar to grime (which is probably why we love grime so much too). Hard really to improve on dancehall, you could maybe, rough it up a little, and, which gives us ragga of course, but then, you could also make the beats even thicker and crunchier and WAY more distorted, you could have the vocalists toast through a tin can and twine run through a fuzzbox and plugged into a battered old blown out loudspeaker, you could take all that stuff and supercharge it, send it coursing through your speakers as if your stereo was struck by lightning, the resulting sounds coming out of your speaker a hard and heavy, fierce and fucked up, super aggressive and distorted but still totally wild and danceable digital hardcore ragga. Whoowee!! Fuck yeah! Similar to the way Alec Empire and other folks took drum 'n' bass and jungle and turned it into superdistorted hardcore brutality, a few likeminded noiseniks have been doing the same with ragga, giving it a DHR makeover, turning already pretty aggressive ragga music into a brain melting blast of buzzing and blown out dancehall. One of those folks is the UK's Kevin Martin, who after years of lurking on the fringes of the noise underground, running the Pathological label and playing in God, Ice and a handfull of other fucked up dubbed out noise outfits (maybe hinting at what was to come), renamed himself the Bug, and started making dark and dense dubby dancehall, the new sound owing as much to classic dub and dancehall as it did to his time spent playing weird fucked up noisiness. A few years back the Bug hooked up with Rootsman and formed Razor X Production, a dynamic duo that began to whip up all sorts of brutal distorted ragga classics, all big beats, blown out production and toasting by some of the world's best reggae / dub / ragga vocalists: Cutty Ranks, He-Man, Daddy Freddy, Tony Tuff, Mexican, El Feco and more. This double disc collects some of the best singles, beats are jagged and sharp, distorted stabs, rumbling rib cage rattling low end, synths are massive thick smears of speaker shredding fuzz, each track a pulsing, throbbing dubbed out groove as hard and pummeling as it is groovy and funky. If all "dance music" was this fucked up and firece and fun even us wallflowers would be forced to spend all our evenings sweating and slithering all over the dance floor.

MPEG stream: Killer
MPEG stream: WWW
MPEG stream: Slew Dem

Why? and Odd Nosdam from Anticon/Mush mainstays cLOUDEAD and Greenthink demonstrate that they do nothing but record 24 hours a day by releasing their 500th record under as many different names. And again cries of quality control are quashed by just how fucking great EVERYTHING they do is! Reaching Quiet is sort of more song based, with totally tweaked (but amazingly creative) production, bizarre samples, low-fi beats, hammond organs, -and- the kitchen sink all crafted into demented little pop song/hip hop tidbits with lots of strange vocalising, rapping, spoken word, melodic warbling and flat out wailing. Sometimes haunting and otherworldy, sometimes dark and dreary sometimes goofy and silly, but always really, really good.

RealAudio clip: Your Fish
RealAudio clip: Mother You're Long Gone
RealAudio clip: She Ain't Gonna Call You Back

Music for smoking weed and making graffiti to. REQ is a Brighton-based graffiti artist and music / beatmaker signed to Warp after his debut for Skint (Fatboy Slim label). The downtempo breakbeat stuff here is very stripped down, no lush layers to obstruct, the sound mainly defined by slightly interesting percussive loops made out of various acoustic elements (shakers, thumb piano,

RealAudio clip: Dolby C
RealAudio clip: Colours

Not directly related to the Anticon crew as far as we can tell (although they give shout outs to Dose One, Sole etc.) but they sure sound like it. Fucked up, malfunctioning hip hop weirdness, with whiny tongue twisting white boy flows, bizarre samples and

RealAudio clip: Teleprompter

Awesome old school-influenced female hip-hop. Rita J has a flow and style that feels both confident, strong and full of soul. Guest spots from folks like Guilty Simpson, Black Spade and Cap D. Solid!

MPEG stream: Body Rock
MPEG stream: Listen
MPEG stream: The Warm Up

If you're anything like me (Andee), you absolutely -loved- Quicksand and shed quite a few tears when they called it quits. Rarely had there been such an aggressive, almost-metal band that managed to be melodic and catchy as fuck without sounding cheesy or

RealAudio clip: Undercovers On
RealAudio clip: Travel By Telephone

You know anything on Def Jux is gonna -sound- good. Obviously, with El-P producing, you're guatanteed ultra clever samples, big + weirdly funky beats and just overall awesome and completely original production. So what do we get with a record on Def Jux produced by someone else? Thankfully it seems that RJD2 is a faithful disciple of the mighty El-P, taking all his tricks, but giving them some personal flavor and using them to craft actual songs instead of looping tracks for rappers to flow over. A lot less hip hop and a little more R+B. DJ Shadow comes to mind. An now that I think about it, 'Deadringer' sounds like the record Shadow should have made instead of the disappointing 'The Private Press'. Track one is a James Bond interplanetary chase scene theme, with swinging sixties horns and big bursts of brass. Why the hell didn't they get RJD2 for the new Bond movie instead of Madonna. Ugh. Anyway, after a brief intro, track three comes in with swelling strings and minor key piano, under a slowed down soul classic, again recalling Shadow at his best. Melancholy piano break downs, all moody and sultry, smoky and funky as hell. Track four is another transformed Northern soul tune turned into a funky big beat epic. And it goes on and on from there. There are occasional guests, vocalising or rapping, but overall, the music stands on its own. Totally great. Fans of DJ Shadow, Cannibal Ox, U.N.K.L.E., DJ Vadim and the like NEED this.

RealAudio clip: smoke & mirrors
RealAudio clip: the horror
RealAudio clip: good times roll pt.2

Some of the other folks here at Aquarius consider this new RJD2 to be a bit of a disappointment, in comparision with his excellent previous effort Deadringer, but I (Allan) think it's pretty good -- as long as you realize it's a totally different thing. It certainly has its moments, among 'em the opening couple of tracks wherein RJD2 invents some sort of heavy duty, off kilter prog-soul. Hard-hitting, choppy funk that I can't help but like. The thing is though, that Since Last We Spoke isn't really a rap record. I mean, Deadringer was less about the flow of the guest rappers than RJD2's DJ Shadow-esque sample-scape production, but here he really gets outside of the genre. There's no rapping in fact. Parts of this don't sound hip-hoppy at all (although he'll drop in some boom-bap and wicky wicky wak just to remind you). RJD2 is spinning the dial all through this disc, from the aforementioned almost hard-rock tracks to mellow electronic indie-pop with Beatlesy vocals to Latin-inflected Dating Game style theme music (which is what began to lose some of my co-workers I guess). And it sounds like he's been listening to a lot of Giorgio Moroder's film soundtrack music. I'm not entirely happy when he gets into some smooth jazz territory with breathy soul diva vocals over top, though I'm sure lots of people will like that too. But even if not every track is killer, I think it's an impressively eclectic mixture. Maybe it suffers from that too. But the sheer verve of some of this puts the likeability factor high enough (on my meter anyway) to give this a recommendation.

MPEG stream: Since We Last Spoke
MPEG stream: Ring Finger
MPEG stream: Making Days Longer

One of the best hip hop records of last year had to be RJD2's Dead Ringer, a wicked mix of gritty beats, seamless sonic collages, and epic cinematic soundscapes. And the track 'The Horror' was the one that set the whole thing off, a dark and soulful, horrific musical trip through seedy streets and back alleys, a noirish epic that rivaled DJ Shadow at his best. So to hold us over until the next record comes this deluxe double cd compilation of different mixes and video footage. Disc one starts off with the original track, 'The Horror' and it just reaffirms what a fucking amazing track it is. Hasn't lost any of its impact. The rest of the disc expands the sonic pallete of RJD2's nightmarish funk / soul hiphopscapes, with some minimal female vocals and tense cinematic strings, serious soulful grit and fierce funk, and loose ramshackle rhythms and dark drony dreaminess. Even if you don't have the Dead Ringer album, this disc of mixes is good enough to function on its own, no throw away remix/filler crap here. Disc 2 is a cd rom that has two live performances (as well as some interviews), one from the Bowery Ballroom in New York, the other from our very own Beta Lounge here in SF. And proves beyond any sort of doubt that RJD2's got some serious skill on the decks as well as the sampler. Also included is a 'making of' documentary chronicling the filming of 'The Horror" video (which we unfortunately don't get to see) and an animated video for "The Horror" that is really amazing looking, a fuzzed out noirish nightmare, claustrophobic and grainy. Like a cartoon gone bad! Definitely recommended, as is of course the Dead Ringer full length. MPEG Download: "Bus Stop Bitties" [/audio/rjd2busstopbitties.mp3] MPEG Stream: "Bus Stop Bitties" [/audio/rjd2busstopbitties.m3u]

MPEG stream: Bus Stop Bitties
MPEG stream: Ghostwriter Remix
RealAudio clip: The Horror

DJ RJD2 sampled his way to notoriety with 2002's Dead Ringer and garnered comparisons to Moby and DJ Shadow with his subsequent release Since We Last Spoke. Now it seems he's put all of that behind him in a display of versatility with the very different The Third Hand. The samples and synths that gained the aforementioned praise are present in his current work, but are much more subdued, perhaps to not overshadow another first for the artist - his own vocals. The album slips smoothly from electro pop to electro funk/hop on it's most noteworthy tracks "Beyond" and "Sweet Piece." The promo for this record boldly declares the works to be "genre transcending." We're not so sure the album transcends as much as gently combines and modernizes what we love most about particularly notable genres (Brian Wilson and Stevie Wonder are also mentioned in the promo), but still pretty dang cool.

MPEG stream: Beyond
MPEG stream: Sweet Piece

The Third Hand saw RJD2 (Ramble John Krohn) stray a bit from the samples and scratching that gained him notoriety as a DJ. Third Hand was the first record Krohn produced all on his lonesome and the first to feature his own vocals. The result was an album that slipped smoothly from electro pop to electro funk/hop and impressed many critics as a display of his versatility and songwriting abilities rather than his DJ skills. Therefore, we were surprised to see an instrumental version. It makes sense that one might want instrumentals of songs from Deadringer or Since We Last Spoke to weed out the sampled vocals and rapping that lay atop some pretty impressive scratching and mixing, but none of that is present on The Third Hand and the result without vocals is alarmingly a lot like telephone hold music. Frankly, it's a bit boring. That said, we wondered why he didn't spice it up a bit and remix his own instrumental tracks? But after all, he's already produced and arranged the music over his own vocals to create a distinct sound, and maybe it's hard to go back when you've gone so far. Perhaps Krohn's intentions are to see what others can do with the record, because while the music is less than exciting on it's own, it might be a good sample for someone else to work into their own music...

MPEG stream: You Never Had It So Good
MPEG stream: Sweet Piece

Roc Raida of NYC turntablists The X-Ecutioners (formerly X-Men) with a solo disc.

We've gone kind of nuts for Chicago 'juke' music, the soundtrack for a distinctly Chicago dance style called footwurking, a frantic frenetic sort of dancing, that required an appropriately frantic and frenetic soundtrack, and this is most definitely it. We recently listed a record by another juke/footwurk legend, DJ Nate, and described the sound like this: "Looped, sped up soul samples, stuttery 808 drum machines, and short snippets of vocals, chopped up and looped into rapid fire weirdly hypnotic mantras. Like the backing tracks to some lost Kanye West record, looped and then rapped over, but the rapping is just the same phrase repeated ad infinitum." Which most definitely could describe this collection of footwurking jams from Chicago's DJ Roc, but if anything, Roc takes that sound even further, makes it darker, less reliant on soul samples, and moves it into more of an almost DJ Screw sounding bit of ominous stuttery groove. The samples grim and minor key, the soul samples set amidst groaning synth swells, modulated choral samples and low slung bass lines, and those looped mantra like sampled vocals, way more angry and bad ass "You ain't gonna do shit", "Fuck Dat", "They Can't Fuck With Me". Already maddeningly repetitive, to the point that folks are pretty much split right down the middle on this stuff, most of us can't get enough, but lots of people we know are driven crazy within minutes. Give the samples a listen, you'll know right away if this is your cup of tea. Roc definitely nails it here, his production and arrangements are pretty fantastic, if he applied the same methods to dubstep or some other 'hip' style, he'd be HUGE. "One Blood" sounds like a sped up way more manic Burial, "Let's Get It Started" is all wrapped around a killer creepy Twilight Zone sample, "They Can't Fuck Wit Me" is the perfect mix of haunting murderous creep and sped-up-soul, "Gun Smoke" takes a chunk of horns and tangles 'em all up with some dizzying rhythmic skitter, we could go on, track by track, but by now you get the picture. So funky, and frenzied, and frenetic, dark and sinister, and like that DJ Nate record, total ADD hip hop trip out. WAY recommended.

MPEG stream: Let's Get It Started
MPEG stream: They Can't Fuck Wit Me
MPEG stream: Phantom Call
MPEG stream: DJ Roc Symphony
MPEG stream: Gun Smoke

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

SORRY.

The tireless SF DJ Romanowski brings good tidings with his brand new festive mix, Holidays With Romanowski! His turntable boughs are weighed heavily with old soul and hip hop classics. Nice.

Local DJ Romanowski and Greg "P-Nut" Galinsky put together an art show featuring sixteen pairs of plain white Adidas shell toes. each decorated to within an inch of its life by sixteen artists. Some of them look pretty cool, like Romanowski's which he bronzed and be-winged. The show opened in SF and will travel to LA, Tokyo, Berlin, Paris, and finally NYC. Romanoski mixed this cd as a special soundtrack to accompany the show, and in addition to several of his own previously-unreleased tracks, there are contributions from Latyrx, Poets of Rhythm, Rad, Exotic Pets, Viva Brazil, etc. Fine mood music for an ultra hip event such as this. Made specially for the art show and limited to only a few stores. Nice photos of the shoes too.

RealAudio clip: My Adidas Intro
RealAudio clip: Skindo-Le-Le
RealAudio clip: Say That

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

SORRY. Many songs on this rad 3-cd collection are from a time when The Roots wrote, practiced and partied on a rooftop in Old City (Philadelphia). Occasionally coming down through a skylight into the kitchen of a friend of mine to drink all her beer, they were totally nice and cool although they did drink quite a bit of beer! Do This Well contains 45 awesome remixes and rarities from 1994-1999. Not sure what else to say about this except that all Roots fans must must must own this and anyone who's ever had their interest piqued by this Philly hip hop group will enjoy this as a hefty introduction to their amazing rapping delights.

MPEG stream: Proceed III (Feat. Bahamadia)
MPEG stream: The Good The Bad And The Desolate

When it comes to musical prowess, bands don't get more well rounded, well versed and sickly skilled than The Roots. While they are ambassadors of the hip-hop community their musical arsenal and appreciation runs through just about every genre and style of music of the last half-century. They are true students and scholars of music but what makes them special is that they also have their own deep running soul that takes all that knowledge and appreciation and transforms it into such rich sounding music, helping to create a wide musical community that they are endlessly collaborating, producing and playing with. None of here think Jimmy Fallon is all that funny but damn do we watch his late night show so much now as the Roots are his house band, and its so amazing to watch them play and back bands that perform on the show like Erykah Badu, Hot Chip, Herbie Hancock, Ludacris, etc. The best part of the show is when Jimmy interacts with ?uestlove and the rest of the band, challenging them to come up with songs in every kind of style at the drop of a hot and they always pull it off spot on with such suave style. How I Got Over, shows that their network TV gig hasn't tainted their musical vision one bit, in fact getting to play every night like that has probably only made them an even tighter unit. There is something so assured and unforced about the Roots, it all flows so pure and naturally. While the record is filled with guests it doesn't feel uneven as the Roots are so masterful at bringing different people together yet maintaining their own groove underneath it all. They even do an awesome track with Joanna Newsom that takes her track "The Book Of Right On" and turns it simply into "Right On" with her vocals and harp merged with their beats and raps with totally stunning results. There is not a single miss on this album, we kind of forgot how damn good the Roots can be on record as we always think of them as a live band these days, but wow they continue to show they can do it all! And do it so well!!

MPEG stream: Walk Alone (Feat. Truck North, P.O.R.N. & Dice Raw)
MPEG stream: Right On (Feat. Joanna Newsom)
MPEG stream: Doin' It Again

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

SORRY. The popular Philly hip hop band does the double live thing, and they really are a band so it makes sense. This two-disc set (with "enhanced cd" video footage) is a limited edition, I guess there's also a single disc version but we only got the double, of course.

How can you not love the Roots? A live hip hop band. Why that remains an anomaly is beyond us. But it is, and it makes the Roots stand out even more than they would otherwise. Besides a tight-as-fuck band, their emcees can not be beat. The Roots are one of those rare hip hop groups that are hard enough that the thugs still dig em, but not so thuggish that they don't appeal to everybody else. They even lampoon thug life and the hip hop industry in a video and everybody still eats it up. Why? Because the Roots are amazing. Funky and soulful and a little bit hard, pure organic hip hop. This time around, the most noticable change is that a handful of the songs totally sound like they were produced by Timbaland, all stuttery and sort-of-unfunky, but since we're assuming they're still doing this stuff live, it makes it even more amazing. We used to fantasize about there being a live jungle band with a live drummer (or drummers) but it never really happened. At least not how we envisioned it. But here the Roots seem to be pulling off a similar trick with a rock band playing as tight and funky as the MTV / Timbaland sound du jour, but even better because you know they can rock that shit live! Just like all the other Roots records, this is dense, provacative, funky, funny, dark, politically charged and deeply personal hip hop. And of course, highly recommended.

MPEG stream: I Don't Care
MPEG stream: Don't Say Nuthin'

Philadelphia's Roots return with what may be their finest record yet. Dark and intense. And still a real live band. One of the few groups that's still about the music and the message as opposed to the hype and the 'legend' (Wu-tang anyone?)

?uestlove, the drummer and band leader of The Roots has been in the news a lot lately for the musicial prank he pulled on Michelle Bachmann during her appearance on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, the show for which The Roots are the house band. But we really hope that incident doesn't overshadow what amazing musical visionaries he and his Roots crew are. They close the end of the year with a bang releasing not only this great new album, but a collaboration with legendary soul vocalist Betty Wright (reviewed elsewhere on this week's list). Undun is a concept record of sorts based on the life of a fictional character representing the struggle and realities of inner city life. The album melds hip-hop with R&B, all fueled by such superb playing and guest spots by Bilal, Greg Porn, Dice Raw, and Big K.R.I.T. The record comes to a climax with its two closing songs, "I Remember" and "Tip The Scale" and then segues into a majestic closing suite complete with cello, violin, and viola. In a hip-hop world dominated by bravado and flashy antics, The Roots always keep substance at the front of their game, making music in the process that transcends genre and leaves a deep and lasting impact.

MPEG stream: Sleep
MPEG stream: Kool On
MPEG stream: I Remember

[ aquarius records — Hiphop ]