[ 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 251 through 300 of 1265.

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One gets the sense that grime needs a serious shot in the arm. The genre's inception was so vastly novel, it seems it's almost fated to an awkward or even boring adolescence. What is surprising about Maths + English, is that while it's great, it's still oddly significant of this transformation, by virtue of the fact that it excels, but also relies, on the grime formulas without really pushing the boundaries consistently. It having been over half a year since any of the grime elders made a contribution to our racks, things have been pretty sleepy, and no young upstarts have capitalized on the vacant spotlight. However, for a time, Dizzee will be America's grime darling again, because despite the groaning above, the record is pretty irresistible. At its worst its totally riveting pump-up music, with Dizzee's foul mouth regaling us with sexual escapades, and dissing imitators amusingly. At its best it wonders into some genre-bending, borrowing more heavily from dub-step, punk, and even no wave. The record's opening has gorgeously icy and murky synths evocative of recent favorites M83 and Brenda Ray's intoxicating Walatta, juxtaposed with some very Skull Disco beats that we assume are the sounds of knives being sharpened. The records best track "Wanna Be," features female backing vocals immediately evocative of X-Ray Spex or the Slits, while the instrumentation is a totally buoyant and throbbing synth line that would have been found on a mid-nineties grime video game, had we been that lucky. At least there's Wu Tang. There's also plenty of crunchy, gritty, and totally rabid tracks to satisfy the grime classicist, and most retain their urgency, with only a few misses. The record is a qualified classic, given the short history of the style, though we think someone needs to come along soon to turn grime upside down, otherwise the conventions may begin to pall.

MPEG stream: World Outside
MPEG stream: Wanna Be
MPEG stream: U Can't Tell Me Nuffin'

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So here we are, round two. And it may actually be official that the UK "Grime" scene is dead. What Grime scene you ask? Exactly. And needless to say, said Grime scene didn't really explode in America either, although by all rights it should have. If you heard the last Dizzee Rascal record or the recent Wiley album you know why we dig this stuff so much. Here's how we described Grime in a past review: "UK garage (pronounced GAIR-ij, we're not talking White Stripes here, ya know), a bastardized (and super simplified) varient of drum 'n bass, with pounding two step rhythms, fat distorted synths, and huge rolling bass lines, but all super spare and stripped down. Very similar (to our ears at least) to ragga/dancehall. Super repetitive and ultra danceable (in a robotic head banging hip shaking sort of way) each song is basically one or two parts, drilled maniacally into your skull, pounding and bouncing, hiccupping and stuttering." But then there are the vocals which totally kick ass. Dizzee spits rhymes in a rapid fire, high pitched flow, sounding like a weird mix of smooth Slick Rick style rapping and boisterous Dancehall toasting. While this record isn't immediately as catchy as the debut, and there don't seem to be any obvious hits like the first time around, the more we listen to it, the more it sinks in and grows and grows. And the world would be a way better place if dance clubs spun nothing but Dizzee and Wiley. Might ever get Andee the wallflower out on the floor. But probably not.

MPEG stream: Showtime
MPEG stream: Stand Up Tall

The latest from DJ Female Convict Scorpion comes in the form of this SUPER limited cassette, one that requires some work on the part of the listener to truly enjoy, or at least enjoy as the artist intended. That artist being Josh Pollock, member of psychedelic space rockers 3 Leafs and weirdo noisescapers White Pee, among others, but as DJ Female Convict Scorpion, he concocts lush landscapes of cinematic sound, purloining various bits from other songs, and movies, playing some bits himself, a lo-fi DJ Shadow of sorts, whose past outings have blown our minds and been hugely popular around here. This new one looks to be no different, the rub this time around being, that BOTH sides of the cassette are meant to be played simultaneously, a la Zaireeka or something. So you have several options, the first of course means buying two tapes, and playing them on two tape players, the second is buying just one tape, and using the link that comes with the tape to play the other side on your computer, while you play the first side on your tape player. Phew! A third option, is to attend the upcoming debut performance of Los Balls Del Norte, happening across the street at Lost Weekend, during which, both sides will be played, accompanied by a special film created just for the occasion. More info can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/147509788771228/?fref=ts And finally, one last option, one that isn't mutually exclusive, which is to listen to each side of the tape on its own. We did, and both sides sound great, killer breakbeats, shifting textures, mysterious voices, movie samples, vocal snippets, dizzying sonic collages that unwind like psychedelic krautrock grooves and funky heavy soul breakdowns, dreamy lullabies sung in other languages, banging gongs, shimmering FX, woozy slowed down basslines, soft symphonic swirls, muted ambient murk, loose free jazz drum freakouts, squiggly theremin like melodies, rumbling crumbling distorted low end, new wave-y electronics, swirling cosmic synths, and more more more more more! But what does it sound like all together? A seriously warped psychedelic sonic headtrip. Check out the sample, that's a little snippet of the two sides in perfect sync, which ultimately they never will be, which is part of the joy, every listen the sounds will shift, and interact differently, a perpetually unique recording, in fact, essentially MULTIPLE recordings, all of them super cool, one side, both sides, one side started 5 minutes in, 10 minutes, hell, play one backwards, every variation is its own special warped lysergic soundworld to get lost in, over and over and over and over... LIMITED TO 100 COPIES!!!

MPEG stream: Los Balls Del Norte (Mixed / Excerpt)

You know DJ Frenchbloke from that "Best Bootlegs" comp -- he spliced together Destiny's Child "Jumping Jumping" with the Dead Kennedys' "California Uber Alles" to amazing perfection. Well, here's a whole lp's worth, though nothing here matches the catchiness and shock value of combining those polar opposite cultural icons, save for maybe Kraftwerk and Tag Team's "Whoop De France" (!) So in an attempt to decipher all originating sources of the rest of the tracks, here goes: Miss Jane's "It's A Fine Day" takes an acid trip (via Opus 3?). Perry & Kingsley get sticky with Sisqo's "Thong Song". Destiny's Child goes gabba courtesy of Chicks On Speed's "Turn Of The Century". Britney, Spongebob Squarepants, Anthony Roter's Little Computer People, "Ring Of Fire", and many others get worked as well. Fun for a few listens and laughs, surely an important novelty item, DJs should spin it for a minute, but ultimately not living up to all the hype.

The Wild Bunch was Bristol, England's legendary sound system some of who's members went on to form the now both legendary and hugely successful Massive Attack. While Mushroom and Daddy G. both went on to become the core members of Massive attack, it was Milo and Nellee who started and were the bedrock of The Wild Bunch. The group moved quickly from packing house parties with their primitive DJ setup, to becoming one of the most popular sound systems in the country. The crew took cues from Jamaican sound systems and insured their competitive edge by hunting down and spinning the rarest of the rarest tracks for their exclusive use -- one of their earliest conquests was an ultra rare copy of "Wild Style Breaks", an instrumental collection from the hip hop movie Wild Style. Their efforts were greatly enhanced by Daddy G. who, while working in a record store, would hide the hottest new 12"s behind the counter and not sell them to anyone else he thought might be a DJ. This disc is, in a sense, an attempt to recreate a Wild Bunch set. The tracks -- Thelma Houston's "You Used To Hold Me So Tight", Spoonie Gee's "Love Rap", Knights of the Turntables' "Techno Scratch", Cameo's "It's Serious" for starters -- were all picked and mixed by Milo who, despite the fact that his name has faded into obscurity, is generally considered to have been not only the heart and soul of The Wild Bunch, but a catalyst for the eventual formation of Massive Attack. The nicest thing about the collection is that, as segues between many tracks, Milo has included live snippets of between song ambience (lots of whistles and air horns!) from actual Wild Bunch performances, so the set almost sounds like the real deal.

RealAudio clip: Love Rap
RealAudio clip: Jam On Revenge
RealAudio clip: Look of Love, the

"Six Days" is that really cool song from DJ Shadow's Private Press album, the song with the Shirley-Bassey-voiced woman singing "Tomorrow never comes until it's too late..." Here's the single. We got four tracks: an excellent remix featuring Mos Def, an instrumental version, a non-album track "100 Metre Dash", and a radio edit. Also featured is the "Six Days" video which you can play on your computer, and which was directed by WONG KAR WAI and stars Chang Chen the wild young guy from Crouching Tiger. Pretty average video, the only thing pushing it over the top being cinematographer Chris Doyle's stunning photography that fans of Wong Kar Wai's films swoon over.

RealAudio clip: Six Days (Remix) featuring Mos Def

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SORRY. DJ Eddie Def (Space Travellers, El Stew, Bullet Proof Scratch Hamsters, etc.) cuts it up on the turntables (and drum machines). The first in a series, the next to feature DJ Cue.

I used to think Ice Cube had the most evil voice in hip hop. The voice I picture the devil having or some evil beast that returns to reign terror on the earth. But DMX may have finally outdone Cube. I mean his voice was always gravelly and deep and completely

RealAudio clip: School Street
RealAudio clip: Who We Be

It's been a few years since we'd heard from MF Doom, but he's finally back and has apparently dropped the MF part of his moniker. Thankfully, he still sounds as charged and bumpin' as ever. Featuring production by Madlib and even some by the late great J Dilla this should please fans of sample heavy beat driven hip-hop. No doubt, Doom has seriously great taste as the sample list on this record reads like an AQ favorites collection (ESG, Raymond Scott, Charles Bukowski, Giorgio Moroder). Born Like This won't let down fans of past Doom joints and once again, Doom continues to be a musical force to be reckoned with!

MPEG stream: Gazzillion Ear
MPEG stream: Yessir!

MPEG stream: Ha
MPEG stream: The Tale Of The Private mind
MPEG stream: The Universe In 6 Jumps

Dose One, of underground hip hop phenomenon the Anticon collective, here reissues his 1997 debut and it's a doozy. Filled with hiccupping beats and incredibly deft rhyming. Not doom-laden, like some other hip hop we've been enjoying (ClouDdead, Zion I), this is more fresh and not as heavy but still bass-thumping. Mr Dibbs, Mr Len (Company Flow), J Rawls, etc on the decks and behind

RealAudio clip: Bronchial Cleansing
RealAudio clip: Civilization
RealAudio clip: Spitfire

We were so psyched when we first saw this new release from Dose One, one of our favorite Anticons. A big book of poetry, stream on conciousness prose, lyrics, notebook doodling and slapdash collage with a cd of all new material. And while we have loved almost everything Anticon have done in the past, this one is definitely for completists only. The book is definitely pretty nice, but the cd is a collection of ultra personal spoken word that veers WAY too close to poetry slam territory, recorded on a what sounds like a crappy boom box, complete with the 'klunk' of the record and stop buttons. Dose One's impossible lyrical acuity and agile flow falls apart and sounds way too forced when stripped of it's usual dense sonic backdrops. But like we said, the book is pretty nice.

MPEG stream: The Unravelling Arm Of An Emotional Boy

Dr. D is a New York DJ best known to us for mashing up obscure '60 psych with current, crunken hiphop hitz. This limited edition cd-r mix, however, is pretty much all '60s and '70s grooves as far as we know -- no hiphop anyway. And it's got our number, 'cause so much of what he's spinning is that Turkish psych stuff we love, mixed in with some old and new Afrofunk a la Ethiopiques and Tinariwen, along with some further exotic flavors that fit. Some names we know/tracks we recognize: Selda, Bunalim, Edip Akbayram, Les Mogol, Erkin Koray, Baris Manco... and of course there's a bunch more we don't, all of it pretty cool though. It's a bit like that Trap Door mix, in a romantic mood. Plus this is a true turntablist mix, featuring 31 short selections (mostly 1-2 minute edits), flowing quite nicely, occasionally enhanced with some scratchy-scratch whip-whip-whap. The discs we have are from the first numbered 250 copy edition, in screenprinted cardboard sleeves.

MPEG stream: Nenni
MPEG stream: Crazy Heart

Dr. Octagon is DEAD...murdered on the first track of Kool Keith's new record. However, his killer/replacement, Dr. Dooom, is (not surprisingly) just as sick and silly a rapper as the other Dr. All of the millions and zillions of folks who liked Doc Oc, and especially Keith's Sex Styles album (same producer), won't be disappointed. We also have the INSTRUMENTAL version of this record, $14.98 for double vinyl.

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SORRY. Sounds like Ozzy Osbourne screeching over tinny, lo-fi jungle, and it totally works.

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SORRY. We thought we'd mention this again cos our pal the Automator says once he runs out then it is out of print forever. This 12" is the only way to get Prince Paul's remix of "Blue Flowers, and the "Halfsharkalligator" piece. Of all the Doc Oc releases, this is also the Automator's personal favorite!

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SORRY. The best hip hop record of 1996. On-the-edge weirdo outer space hip hop from West Coast luminaries, including Kool Keith, D Nakamura, DJ Shadow, Qbert, etc. Already licensed in England by Mo'Wax. Highly Recommended.

The best hip hop record of 1996. On-the-edge weirdo outer space hip hop from West Coast luminaries, including Kool Keith, D Nakamura, DJ Shadow, Qbert, etc. Already licensed in England by Mo'Wax. Highly Recommended.

Nowhere near as brilliant as the original Dr. Octagon but it's got some moments of its own.

The venerable Bay Area independent hip hop / electronic collective Entartete Kunst keep the socio/politically charged sounds comin' as they welcome the debut full length from Drowning Dog into their fold (you might recall her from a split 7" with The Deletist released back in 2003). Her sample-heavy music comes in short uncompromising agitated and empassioned lunges. Much like many of her labelmates (such as Malatesta and Phantom Patient) there's a heady dankness that seeps into every nook and cranny fusing her vocals, collaged dialogue shards and angular rhythm tracks into solid masses of grit both in word and texture.

We could easily imagine the odd school children in the film The Wicker Man as being the tailor-made audience/participants for this 1969 educational record from the BBC Drama Workshop, the educational arm of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. These recordings were designed for creative movement and improvisation exercises for young school children, though it would be surprising to see a record for kids quite like this today. With poetry written and recited by Robert Duncan and electronic music by David Cain, this is one of those Arcadian British recordings that are so often referenced audibly and visually by the hauntological Ghost Box label and the filmstrip nostalgia of Boards of Canada. Duncan's classically-trained oration evokes a romantic yet visceral natural imagery of slightly sinister undertones, while Cain's score is both alien and lilting, its robotic sing-song melodies sometimes wistful yet bracingly warped. For this recording a piece was done for each month and each season with the final track an instrumental culmination of all the musical themes simply called "The Year". Though we can see children of the time easily getting into the odd melodies to convey visual pantomimes of leaves and wind, we can only assume that some of the spoken imagery must have gone over their heads. "Falling leaves like Severed Hands", in "October" for instance; or descriptions of nightfall where the night is characterized as a predator and the day "as a fallow deer is bled"; or the lurid connotations of the poem, "March" where Duncan speaks of the Earth as a woman, and in a series of harvest ritual descriptions, to be woken, washed, dressed and then taken???? But what is admirable about the educational side of this recording is that it doesn't talk down to children or Disney-fy nature with anthropomorphic happy/sad emotions, but rather it emphasizes a more complex set of emotional tropes to act out like awakening, longing, fearfulness, loneliness, and indifference that points to a more mature and frank attitude toward the cycle of nature and the passing of time. Though we're not sure what kids today would make of its strange antiquated quaintness, for adults its perhaps a nostalgic trip back to a bygone era where there was government funded organizations that were allowed to produce such cool shit for kids, or at the very least plenty of cool interlude fodder here for DJs and mixtapes.

MPEG stream: March
MPEG stream: August
MPEG stream: October
MPEG stream: Winter

***Mississippi Alert! Mississippi Alert! Mississippi Alert! Mississippi Alert!*** Originally released on Smithsonian Folkways in 1969, Ghetto Reality features songwriter and educator Nancy Dupree as she works with a group of inner-city elementary school kids from Rochester, New York. When she was initially met with resistance to participate by the kids, she dropped the state standardized music curriculum and began to write songs that were more relatable to the keenly aware and grown-up lives the young students were living as well as the various contemporary social issues they were facing. Using piano and tambourine in groovy and soulful numbers, the songs take the form of spirituals and rhyming games, but the content is more modernized as they sing songs about James Brown, civil rights, and building their own self-esteem. This method proved highly successful as the more relatable the song, the better the participation by the kids, and the more they participated, the more the kids realized their natural talents for performing, offering a critical lesson in empowerment. This is an amazing record full of charm (especially cute are the kids imitating James Brown's grunts!) and with really great songs. Fans of Langley Schools Music Project, or that proto-hiphop lp on Smithsonian Folkways, Street And Gangland Rhythms, we listed awhile back, will find lots to love here.

MPEG stream: James Brown
MPEG stream: Cold
MPEG stream: Call Baby Jesus

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SORRY. Twelve variations on a blunted hip hop theme. Funkstorung has had the golden touch recently for the remix with superb remixes of Bjork and Wu-Tang, their warbling breaks and delicate re-interpretation on the original melody out-Autechres Autechre (whose remix here is somewhat disappointing). Other standouts are the jazz fusion monolith from Squarepusher, the alien downtempo breakbeats from Trapazoid and Freeform, and Herbaliser's tried and true noirish beats.

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SORRY.

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SORRY. From the label responsible for those Invisible Skratch Piklz Shiggar Fraggar show discs, comes this cd (no vinyl) by local SF turntablist DJ Eddie Def (of Space Travellers, El Stew, and Bullet Proof Scratch Hamsters). It's compiled from Eddie's Hemp Lords mix tape series, and features "an extremely hardcore mix of '90s turntablism acrobatics and '80s megamix styles."

This could be a risky proposition: a live band interpreting instrumental versions of songs by one of the most iconic hip-hop groups ever, The Wu-Tang Clan. But the risk pays off, because this band is not only super tight, but they approach the material with an economy of touch, keeping the arrangements minimal and the grooves mean but still highly cinematic. Led by Brooklyn organist and drummer, Leon Michels (who also co-runs, the Truth and Soul label), the El Michels Affair really know how to tap into the sounds of hip-hop source material, the rare groove of '60s and '70s soul, jazz and deep funk, without it being pastiche. Their 2005 debut, Sounding Out The City, proved this was the soul-jazz group to watch, having previously released a single on the Daptone label. It was Raekwon, from The Wu-Tang Clan that tapped El Michels Affair to instrumentally rework Wu-Tang beats for a series of 12"s called The Shaolin Series which led to this full record. Peppered with samples from martial arts movies, the group even venture into some of the Wu-Tang offshoots, including an amazing version of Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" with a chorus sung by kids. Also be sure to lookout for the hidden 37th track! This kills!

MPEG stream: C.R.E.A.M.
MPEG stream: Protect Ya Neck
MPEG stream: Shimmy Shimmy Ya

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SORRY.

You know how crazy we are for all things Def Jux. Cannibal Ox, RJD2, Aesop Rock and of course El-P. This is a super limited compilation (never to repressed once it is gone) collecting a whole mess of instrumentals, b-sides, remixes and unreleased tracks. All the El-P / Def Jux shit you love is present, throbbing, head-nodding beats, random samples and bizarre loops, funky bass and fuzzed out synths, crackling record static and stuttering shuffling drumming all melded into blissed out druggy hip hop weirdness. So fucking good! Highlights include the hip hop / free jazz hybrid of "Intrigue In The House Of India" featuring Matthew Shipp from Thirsty Ear's Blue Series, the stone cold classic "The Day After Yesterday", and...well, hell it's all good!! Once again. SUPER LIMITED. Once these are gone, they're gone for good!

MPEG stream: Jukie Skate Rock
MPEG stream: Intrigue In The House Of India

The instrumental version of El-P's solo debut sounds exactly like you think it would -- good! Layered, experimental, unrpedictable and super interesting in its own right without the vocals, eminently spinnable for DJs, aspiring rappers, or instrumental hip hop lovers. If you're buying the cd version, the second disc contains 3 remixes, including excellent one by Def Jux rising star RJD2, and for your computer there the "Deep Space 9mm" video, a live set, and lyrics.

RealAudio clip: Lazerface's Warning (RJD2 remix)

What to say about this one? Heads have been waitng for the new El-P like is was the second coming. Or the first coming, which I suppose it technically is. You may know El-P from his stint fronting underground hip hop phenoms Company Flow, or for his Definitive Jux label that has been releasing wickedly damaged hip hop from Cannibal Ox, Aesop Rock, Mr. Lif, RJD2 and others. He also spent the last little while producing former Rage Against The Machine frontman Zack De La Rocha's solo record. So this here is El-P's first proper solo record and it's a doozy. Windy and Allan were both surprised (slash dismayed) to find out Mr. Def Jux was white [thanks to his appearance in this month's Wire, taking part (not so successfully we might add) in the Invisible Jukebox], but sonically it always seemed sort of obvious, this record, and his production in general has way more in common with Anticon, Them, and cLOUDEAD than Eric B and Rakim, EPMD, Public Enemy or whatever, and before that he (with Company Flow) sounded like nothing we had ever heard . El-P eschews traditional hip hop beats and comfortable funk for a patchwork of stumbling clutter, loping hiccupping beats, and a thick wash of soulful background vocals and buzzing guitars, murky turntable grit and primitive scratching. And over the whole thing is El-P's shouted, almost sung staccato flow, sounding not at all unlike 3rd Bass's MC Serch (NOT a dis, check out 3rd Bass's 'The Cactus Album'!) But the sound is (and has always been) El-P's bread and butter, and he doesn't disappoint, beat heavy soundscapes, cluttered and mayhemic, but in a good way, super dynamic, with big bursts of beat/guitar and big wide open spaces with mad flow skittering wildly through the wasteland. Fetaures the ususal suspects: Aesop Rock, Ill Bill (Non Phixion), Vast Aire (Cannibal Ox), Mr. Lif, Rob Sonic, Steven Segal (not that one) and more.

RealAudio clip: Fantastic Damage
RealAudio clip: Squeegee Man Shooting
RealAudio clip: Deep Space 9mm
RealAudio clip: Tuned Mass Damper

Latest in Thirsty Ear's Blue series, discs where jazz players are matched up with non-jazz performers (electronic, hip hop, etc.) for some cross genre explorations. The results have been mosly great, with past participants including the Antipop Consortium and Spring Heel Jack. This long awaited volume matches up the usual jazz suspects: Matthew Shipp, William Parker, Daniel Carter, Guillermo Brown, and Steve Swell with Definitive Jux head honcho El-P. Thankfully El-P shows an amazing amount of restraint here, and instead of dropping beats everywhere, and scratching and rapping all over the place, he lets the band just go. And in fact, the band goes in all sorts of new directions, some seriously dark and gritty, like on the opening track turning their avant bop into a creepy crawly cinematic jazzscape of pounding piano, wailing horns and slamming propulsive drumming. Sounds like the darkest scariest sample Shadow never dug out of a musty old crate. And things continue on in that vein, dark and boppish soundscapes, and it's not really until the end of track five where El-P makes his presence known, subtley, with a shuffling hip hop beat over muted trumpet and simple piano chords. For the second half of the record, El-P adds more and more beats, nothing bombastic or booming, just simple and groovy, totally complimenting the groups jazzy explorations. Track seven features some raspy jazz vocals over a creeping, minor key dirge, that is so intensely dark and moving. Once again, DJ Shadow would kill to come up with a track like this. So while there are beats and occasional hip-hop-isms, this is basically at heart a jazz record, albeit a dark and funky and creepy one. Maybe the best in the series so far!

MPEG stream: Get Your Hand Off My Shoulder, Pig
MPEG stream: Intrigue In The House Of India

EL-P's highly anticipated I'll Sleep When You're Dead may be one of the best produced hip-hop records thus far in the new millennium. Produced by EL-P himself, the record could stand alone on it's carefully arranged beats and backgrounds and samples but offers so much more, with killer rhymes that are equal parts political, dark and personal, and seriously humorous. EL-P spits lyrics that toe the line of a fucked up paranoid world in such a way that by the end of the record you too may find it hard not to imagine a bleak droidian future. The album features a slew of interesting guests including Trent Reznor, Aesop Rock, and in case you were wondering how Cat Power's Chan Marshall would fare hip-hoppified, the final track may leave you with yet another wonder -- did she miss her calling? Or, it may be just another testament to the El-P's deft production and incredible vision, you decide. Trust us, I'll Sleep When You're Dead is a must even the most casual of hip-hop headz.

MPEG stream: EMG
MPEG stream: Habeas Corpses (Draconian Love)

Nice and different outing by El-P. Almost sounds like Ratatat going way more hip-hop.

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SORRY. The a capella version of Miss E's new single "Lick Shots" is so so so so good. That single track, certainly not the bad house remixes also included here, is the reason to buy this 12". Andee's going to try mixing this vocal track with, like, Circle underneath it. Adventurous DJs should really do something cool with this. And then burn a copy and send it to us.

More of that Timbaland style 'unfunky funk' that we've all grown to love. Lots of huge beats, lots of strings, lots of swearing, and lots of guests (Lil' Kim, Eminem, Aaliyah, Redman, Outkast, and more).

These are some crappy two-step "remixes" of Missy Elliott's ever so popular "Get Ur Freak On". Apparently someone wants us to believe that they could shit a Timbaland beat on a 12" and people will buy it. These remixes have got nothing on the spartan "Bounce A Gal" (the Special Remix 7" of Lexxus plopped onto the GUFO rhythm), and the Capleton "Mi Food" single which uses the

For those of you who don't have MTV, avoid mainstream hip hop radio, and thus may not ever have heard Missy Elliott before, take our advice and get this record. It's pretty damn worthwhile. Missy is a big and curvaceous hip hop diva (unlike the rail thin waifs we've become accustomed to seeing) whose cool 'n husky vocal delivery is here augmented by the manly talents of Ludacris, Redman, Ginuwine, Busta Rhymes, Jay Z, and Method Man, plus the divas-in-training lady vocalists Eve, Da Brat, Jade, etc. Girlfriend wrote or co-wrote almost all the songs with Timbaland, uh huh. But the production chops are what shines here -- with Timbaland behind the board you know that there are choppy melodies and stutttering, rumbling bass along with the all-important lurching rhythms and Timbaland's signature beats that are left OUT of the track, forcing YOUR ears to fill them in -- brilliant!

RealAudio clip: Lick Shots
RealAudio clip: Get Ur Freak On
RealAudio clip: One Minute Man (featuring Ludacris)

Whoah, man. Missy keeps bringing us hiphop gems. And this just might be the shiniest yet. We dig this album so much more than her last one (which was good too). Joined by Slick Rick, M.I.A., Neptunes, Mary J. Blige and Grand Puba, ME blends several different production and hiphop styles into one completely amazing album. Wird and wonderful, fun and funky. The songs sound fresh and interesting, mostly because they don't seem overly mixed or fussed with. Her big hit on this one, "Lose Control", features a Kraftwerk sample(!) and is thus pretty minimal and mesmerizing. Highly recommended.

MPEG stream: Lose Control featuring Ciara & Fat Man Scoop
MPEG stream: Bad Man featuring Vybez Cartel & M.I.A.

[ aquarius records — Hiphop ]