DANIEL MERRIWEATHER: Water & A Flame (feat. Adele) - 2009 - Single review + Video

DANIEL MERRIWEATHER: Water & A Flame – 2009 – Single review
RATING: 0.5/5
More smug and puke-inducing than one of those middle class couples who don’t have the bollocks to admit they’re Tories, this will doubtless play on said couples car stereo as they take little Poppy and Jasper to pony club. Listening to it, my life-force started to…VID LINK/ READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

FORGE YOUR OWN CHAINS: Heavy Psychedelic Ballads & Dirges 1968-74

FORGE YOUR OWN CHAINS: Heavy Psychedelic Ballads & Dirges 1968-74
Is it me? Or has there just been an underwhelming amount of promo for this? I sometimes wonder if people want to sell stuff at all. Egon and Now Again records dig deep in the funky psychedelia...…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

SLUT clothing

SLUT Clothing
The name alone should indicate that Slut is not a company to compromise, so I’m sure that they will have no problem at all agreeing with me when I say that their style is in your face like a money shot. Don’t believe me? Check the pics below. It should come as no surprise to you that they are also a clothing company who know how to get down. Their launch party in 2006 was so impressively debauched they had another one the next week and then
…VIEW PICS/ READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

MANMADE: Feature Funk Vol. 3

MANMADE: Feature Funk Vol. 3
The next instalment of mental mash-up mayhem from Manmade with Javier Morillas, Slynk and D*Funk all taking a disco-influenced approach this time around - although it all sounds suspiciously like they’re trying to ‘house’ you. This means it’s up to label bosses CMC & Silenta to wheel out the heavy artillery with…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

APATHY: Wanna Snuggle – 2009 – Album review

APATHY: Wanna Snuggle – 2009 – Album review
HIGHLIGHTS: On And Off The Mic (feat. Blacastan) – Shoot First (feat. B-Real – Anyday (feat. King Magnetic) – No Sad Tomorrow (feat. Holly Brook) – Victim (feat. Holly Brook)
SOUNDBITE: “Biting imitator, you ain’t even fly you’s a flight simulator”
RATING: 4/5
What a shame there wasn’t a nice old-fashioned interfering record company around to trim the fat off Wanna Snuggle’s twenty-odd track length into the lean mean fourteen track hip-hop machine that I created on iTunes. Still, that’s what it’s all about these days isn’t it? The digital age has brought the power to the people. Apathy no longer needs a record company (this is self-released) and I have the power of an executive producer. On the other hand…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

BLAKROC: Dollaz & Sense feat. RZA & Pharoahe Monch

BLAKROC: Dollaz & Sense feat. RZA & Pharoahe Monch
Rap rock – get it right and everyone will walk your way. Get it wrong and your biscuit will be limper than a soggy krackawheat and less appetising. Enter the Blackroc project a.k.a The Black Keys who (as everybody knows) are the world’s best rock band and all your favourite rappers’ favourite rappers including Mos Def, RZA, Raekwon, Q-Tip, Pharoahe Monch…HEAR AUDIO/ READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

BREAKESTRA: Dusk Till Dawn – 2009 – Album review

BREAKESTRA: Dusk Till Dawn – 2009 – Album review
HIGHLIGHTS: Come On Over (feat Afrodyete) – You’ll Never Know – Joyful Noise – Posed To Be (feat. Chali 2Na, Mixmaster Wolf & DJ Dusk)
SOUNDBITE: "Dedicated to the fallen soldiers, and all the true blue MCs/ So let DJ Dusk show you where it's at and where it's really supposed to be"
RATING: 3.5/5
L.A.s. funk ‘orchestra’ return with their difficult third LP and prove once again that they should never be in charge of their own vocals. I don’t mean that Miles and Wolf can’t sing, it’s just that when Miles is on mic duty he sounds a bit like that bloke from early 90s jazz funk bastards Freak Power while Wolf has got the growl but not (apparently) the range and ends up doing more of a jazzy scatman thing. With the breaks the ‘Stra are dropping
…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

PUMA Suede: October + November 09 Colourways

PUMA: Suede – October + November 09 Colourways
I don’t really need to say anything about these do I? Oh go on then. Once upon a time there were two brothers Adolf and Rudolf who are at the root of a story which (despite the fact that it sounds like it’s going to be about Nazi reindeer) is about shoes. Dope shoes. After a misunderstanding…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

SMOOTHE MOOSE: Mixtape 2 Fall 2009 - Free download

SMOOTHE MOOSE: Mixtape 2 Fall 2009
The way things have been going the last few years, the mash-up has been giving the cover version a bit of a spanking in terms of being everyone’s favourite means of reinterpreting the work of others. Undeterred, the ridiculously named Smoothe Moose collective have a crack at the covers game and manage it so successfully nearly everyone else just got owned. Nobody will believe me if I say, for example, that …DOWNLOAD/ READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

RALPH RIP SHIT & STOPHE: OCDC Vol. 1 – Free download

RALPH RIP SHIT & STOPHE: OCDC Vol. 1 – Free download
You have to wonder about the music business when quality shit like this is being given away. And what of the artists who are doing the giving? Or, (to put it another way) as like Lee Dorsey once sang, “Who’s Gonna Help A Brother Get Further?” The answer ain’t blowing in the wind my friends – it lies with you…DOWNLOAD/ READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

FOREIGN BEGGARS: United Colours Of Beggatron – 2009 – Album review

FOREIGN BEGGARS: United Colours Of Beggatron – 2009 – Album review
HIGHLIGHTS: Seven Figure Swagger – Contact – Shake It – Keeping The Line Fat
SOUNDBITE: “Seven figarrr….seven figarr swagarrr”
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this autumn has had a mad crazy release schedule as labels everywhere make up for the fact that they could barely be arsed to release anything in the spring. As a consequence, review turnaround times have been shorter than an old-schooler's come back. Given that the UK hip-hop underground’s ‘most-likely-to’ (that’ll be the FBs) have new album United Colours Of Beggatron out on Monday that left only one option. That’s right – it’s time for a ‘byron’. You must know the drill……READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS: Carried Away – 2009 – Album review

PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS: Carried Away – 2009 – Album review
HIGHLIGHTS: Trippin At The Disco – 80 Blocks From Silverlake - DQMOT
SOUNDBITE: “They say I do my thing at the disco and keep the groove real slick like ‘Frisco”
RATING: 3/5
The album artwork for this is a bloody great big number just to emphasise the fact that this is People Under The Stairs’ seventh album. To be honest that kind of surprised me as I’d thought they’d just been re-releasing third LP O.S.T. every so often but changing the title and track names for a laugh. Mind you I should have known they hadn’t actually been re-releasing O.S.T. as at least that had one banger on it - the super-retro party-bomb Hang Loose complete with cheesy rising and falling Sugar Hill Gang-style rapping whereas albums four to six were blander than a Sunday afternoon at Snow Patrol’s house. Anyway back to the matter in hand and it’s soon clear that Carried Away breaks with the last few albums in
…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

SWAY: ‘Mercedes Benz’ free download + Video

SWAY: ‘Mercedes Benz’ free download + Video
“Oh Lord won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz,” Janis Joplin once sang. No need to request divine intervention now though as you can cop Sway’s Mercedes Benzfor nowt…DOWNLOAD/ WATCH VID./ READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

NOUVELLAS: ‘Nouvellas’ LP – Details + tracklist

NOUVELLAS: ‘Nouvellas’ LP – Details + tracklist
Man, I’ve been gagging for this to come out since I first heard the band’s debut single Satisfied. They’ve been described as ‘Dusty Springfield backed by The Yardbirds’ and ‘The Rolling Stones fronted by a woman’ though neither of these analogies convey the fact that there are two female lead singers nor the fact that there’s a heavy soul/ funk influence in the band’s syncopated rhythms which neither The Yardbirds or The Stones ever possessed. If you imagine a sixties garage rock band with two girl singers that performs sixties funk/ soul you’re ballpark.

When the Nouvellas played their first show in late 2007…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

ESOTERIC: Saving Seamus Ryan – 2009 – Album review

ESOTERIC: Saving Seamus Ryan – 2009 – Album review
HIGHLIGHTS: I Rap Too Much – Modern Love (In Boston) – The King Is The Dog – The Audition – The Good Fight
SOUNDBITE: “Fuck your attitude, I’ve got a chip on my shoulder/ Plus I’m in a bad mood”
RATING: 4/5
Esoteric interrupted the progressively dull first part of his career with partner 7L (which even they were getting bored of) to drop A New Dope in 2006 upon which he promised, “Saving Seamus Ryan coming soon.” That LP really was a breath of fresh air and (even if you don’t like Esotoeric’s nasal rapping style) you had to admit that it’s concoction of fresh beats and samples influenced by everything from new wave to drum n bass offered a fresh ladder out of the late-nineties rut into which they had fallen and which…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

MANMADE: Feature Funk Vol. 2

MANMADE: Feature Funk Vol. 2
The second in today’s brace of mash-up science 12"s, in truth this has been out a short minute already as swift glance at the MB chart for October will reveal with the Slynk track at number ten. And in hindsight that’s languishing way too low. It is the jewel in the crown of this EP and with it Brisbane's Slynk takes sixties-diva Mavis Staples’ soul torch song slowy You’re The Fool, drops in a bit of the ‘Stones, some dialogue from what I think is Beat Street then – as if you hadn’t already guessed – ups the bpms and adds a rather large breakbeat. The other tracks don’t fuck around either.
…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

THE BREAKBEAT JUNKIE & DJP: Goodgroove Artist Series no. 10

THE BREAKBEAT JUNKIE & DJP: Goodgroove Artist Series no. 10
Bath’s Goodgroove label lives up to it’s name once more and shows hip-hop producers the way back to the dancefloor. The recipe is simple, take one old school hip-hop acapella circa 1985, take one old funk loop circa 1967-1975, forgo the tired ‘dusty breaks’-re-creation-of-1992-approach and instead apply muscular 21st century club vibe instead. Retaining the breakbeat (correctly) it also chucks in a few house-production flourishes. Not the shit vocoder-vocals, cheesy electro synths of…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

STEVEN WILSON: NSRGNTS RMXS Details + Tracklist

STEVEN WILSON: NSRGNTS RMXS Details + Tracklist
Insurgentes, the debut album from Steven Wilson, was released earlier this year on Kscope. The album immediately received a rapturous reception from not just fans and critics but also from fellow artists. Several of these artists have remixed tracks from the album and NSRGNTS RMXS is a collection of some of these remixes.

NSRGNTS RMXS opens with a mix of Harmony Korine by David A. Sitek, currently enjoying massive critical acclaim for the new TV On The Radio album. Underground hip-hop pioneers Dälek have created a dark, brooding mix of Get All You Deserve (think Massive Attack meets UNKLE). Engineers, who return on July 6th with their new album Three Fact Fader, have brought their widescreen sound to Abandoner while Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson, XTC) has created a sprawling mix of Salvaging and drone act Fear Falls Burning have also reworked…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

FOREIGN BEGGARS: ‘Contact’ video

FOREIGN BEGGARS: ‘Contact’ video
More dutty-ness, this time from the dirty south in the shape of the video for recent Foreign Beggars/ Noisia collabo single. And you know what? As I predicted in my own review of this the other week, it’s still improving with every listen. Quite possibly the most convincing bid for homegrown-UK hiphop crossover success since…WATCH VIDEO/ READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

DIZRAELI: Bomb Tesco – Free download

DIZRAELI: Bomb Tesco – Free download
Bomb Tesco? It’s hard to disagree with the sentiment. I don’t know about you, but round my way they want to build a new Tesco superstore despite the fact that there’s already a Sainsbury an Asda, two Tesco Metros and a Tesco Homeplus within a three mile radius. Apparently they’ll only get the go ahead if ten thousand homes are built (on green belt) to provide the customers. Consequently, I’d give this props for it’s title alone even if it was the latest piece of diet-Kanye housey-keyboard-crap. Which it isn’t. What you do get is
…LISTEN/ DOWNLOAD/ READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

CHOPPS DERBY: Very Dutty Manz - Video

Once again, underrated ‘poet of the people’ Derby sensitively explores issues of working class crime in his home metropolis - Manchester. Does he bollocks. Ripping the piss out of violent, ignorant fuck knuckles, posturing all the while as one of them is way more his style. Unless he’s not
…WATCH VID/ READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

DJ MOAR: Award Tour mix - free download

DJ MOAR: Award Tour mix - free download
The second rad mix (yes, I did just say ‘rad’ – I was just checking Streets On Fire) I’ve heard in the last two days, this one from DJ Moar. I was going to say that the funky Frenchman drops a boom-bap-inflected fifty-odd minutes to whet your appetite for...
…DOWNLOAD LINK/ READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

SMOOVE & TURRELL: DJ Smoove Moscow Mix – Free download

SMOOVE & TURRELL: DJ Smoove Moscow Mix – Free download
The ever generous man from ‘Get Carter country’ (TM.), (that’ll be Smoove of Smoove & Turrell fame) has put together a fresh bunch of funk breaks and grooves for
…DOWNLOAD LINK/ READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM