BBC 6 to close?

BBC 6 to close?
The fate of the home of Craig Charles’ Funk & Soul Show and many other quality niche music shows hangs in the balance. Always eager to put their (jack)boot into the BBC, the Conservative party has been making bullying noises about what they’ll do to the Beeb if they win the general election. Instead of saying, ‘Ya Mama’ and telling Cameron to get on his bike however, the BBC have…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

DJ KRUSH live @ The Electric Ballroom 29 April 2010 - WIN FREE ENTRY for 2

DJ KRUSH live @ The Electric Ballroom 29 April 2010 - WIN FREE ENTRY for 2
Ever watched the first (and only decent) Blade movie and wondered who did the minimal beats that fit so well with Wesley Snipes driving round round a moonlit city in a black Ford Mustang? Step up DJ Krush, a man who, along with DJ Shadow, was responsible for Mo Wax being such an entity in the mid nineties. Anyway, there’s a new LP on the way and Krush is dropping by the UK. If you fancy winning free entry for yourself and a friend for his show at London’s Electric Ballroom (where he’ll be supported by Mr Thing & Anchorsong) on 29 April:
1. Riddle me this…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

THE HAWK feat. Little Hannah Collins: Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover – 2010 – Single review + Video

THE HAWK feat. Little Hannah Collins: Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover – 2010 – Single review + Video
RATING: 5/5
What with the current vogue for all things soul, Big Boss Man bassist the Hawk and former The Heavy/ The Snugs songstress ‘Little’ Hannah Collins head north on Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover. Obviously judging a book by its cover is the act of a crazed-impulsive though were you tempted in this case to stray from the path of measured consideration - you might be forgiven for thinking this was something that got a good airing down at the Wigan Casino back in the day. High praise indeed in some circles, including (of late) this one. The facts, however, are simply this:…WATCH VID/ READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

HEALER SELECTA: Let’s Get It Started – Album release details

HEALER SELECTA: Let’s Get It Started – Album release details
Healer Selecta do a kind of roots-y, funky fusion. It contains elements of original rnb (and I’m thinking Link Wray not Pariah Carey’s first LP there), new Orleans funk – particularly the ‘second line’ swampy stuff plus elements of Soho mod rock, world music, rocksteady and surf guitar. I bet if you went to one of their gigs it would be variously populated by a range of European students, unwashed white dreads and a couple of exotic but strangely attractive beautiful people who you’ve never seen before and will never see again. All enjoying themselves. The bastards. In other words, here is a band who probably inspire a joyous fervour in their following and create a massively feel good vibe at their live shows in much the same way as Ozomatli and Manu Chao. I've never seen them live, of course, and so have effectively ‘imagineered’ a whole perception of Healer Selecta which any sane person will…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

GOODGROOVE: Regrooved Series 10

GOODGROOVE: Regrooved Series 10
The latest from the Goodgroove label goes large again and by now you should know to expect fat beats drawing influence from across the funky spectrum with nods to house music in the builds and the drops. It does come across as a bit mechanical at times and the Apache break has had more than enough outings in the last year or so but at least they didn’t go all Fatboy Slim like the last drop from rivals Manmade. Philly Blunt takes the laurels…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

MOS DEF: UK tour dates 2010

MOS DEF: UK tour dates 2010
Yes the Black Dante deigns to grace UK shores with his presence for a lengthy tour and will most definitely be appearing at the following O2 Academies - no doubt looking for an ecstatic reception……READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

BASEMENT FREAKS: ‘Don’t Mush With My Funk’/ Promo Mix 2010 feat. MC Coppa

BASEMENT FREAKS: ‘Don’t Mush With My Funk’/ Promo Mix 2010 feat. MC Coppa
George Fotadis a.k.a. Basement Freaks has got funky pockets. How can you tell? Because he’s dropping free shit like there’s gaping holes in them that’s how. Either that or he’s in an especially generous mood following the rapturous reception of current Disco Life EP. Don’t stand on ceremony – let the download frenzy commence…DOWNLOAD AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

RHYMEFEST: ‘El Che’ LP release details

RHYMEFEST: ‘El Che’ LP release details
He’s co-written with Kanye, collaborated with Mark Ronson, talked hip-hop with UK Tory MP/ publicity slag David Cameron and recently indulged in a bit of gay-bashing but will El Che revolutionise hip-hop…?

(PRESS RELEASE) Grammy Award winner, Rhymefest, will release his highly anticipated album El Che on May 18, 2010 via dN|Be Entertainment. Distributed by EMI, in conjunction with Rosehip Records.

The full length LP features production from beatsmiths Scram Jones, S1, BKS, and Terry Hunter. The 16-track opus also boasts guest appearances from Little Brother, Saigon, Glen Lewis, and…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

FREEWAY & JAKE ONE: The Stimulus Package – 2010 – Album review

FREEWAY & JAKE ONE: The Stimulus Package – 2010 – Album review
HIGHLIGHTS: Never Gonna Change – Know What I Mean – Microphone Killa - Money
SOUNDBITE: “Who am I? Microphone Killa/ Swifter than a breeze I will Swiss cheese MCs”
RATING: 3/5
Time is at a premium this week so regular readers may notice the extended tenure of the ‘guest review style of the week’ from a fortnight ago to facilitate our exploraton of the freshly-released and much-hyped offering from Leslie Edward Pridgen And Jacob Dutton. Or Freeway and Jake One as their mums know them…
WHAT’S RIGHT WITH IT?
Well, and I hate to sound like a stuck record here (y’know - one of those big black cd things), it’s the production stupid. Jake One delivers an impressive sound that you could go to the bank with, correctly getting the bottom end right as if he couldn’t care less what this sounded like on mobile phone speakers. It’s also worth noting when he gets a bit inventive with the beats as on the clattering snares of ghetto tale Never Gonna Change which initially sounded like El-P had popped round for a cup of tea and had a crack at the drum programming while Jake was in the toilet but later resonates as…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

BROTHER ALI: UK tour dates announced

BROTHER ALI: UK tour dates announced
He dropped arguably the best hip-hop long-player of 2009 so it’d be rude not to pop along and catch the man, should you find Brother Ali round your way in March. And while locating a good hip-hop LP these days is more difficult than finding a job finding out if Ali’s in your hood couldn’t be simpler – details below:…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

PAMA INTERNATIONAL: I Still Love You More (Bongolian Mix) – Single release details + tour dates

PAMA INTERNATIONAL: I Still Love You More (Bongolian Mix) – Single release details + tour dates
Being the first new band in thirty years to sign to the mighty Trojan Records a couple of years back is fairly impressive credential I think you’ll agree. But then again the Pama International ska/ rocksteady/ soul collective’s revolving line-up is a virtual who’s who of classic rocksteady/ ska movers and shakers of the last few decades. In fact they’re kind of like the antidote to UB40. I Still Love You More plays atypically ‘on’ the beat rather than off it however, and emphasises…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

THE HAWK feat. Little Hannah Collins: ‘Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover’ single release details

THE HAWK feat. Little Hannah Collins: ‘Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover’ single release details
Big Boss Man bassist and monkeyboxing.com favourite The Hawk is back with a hot slice of authentic northern soul featuring the long overdue return of former The Snugs/ The Heavy songstress Hannah Collins on Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover. And who better to release such a contemporary soul gem than…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

SHARON JONES & THE DAP KINGS: ‘I Learned The Hard Way’ single – free download

SHARON JONES & THE DAP KINGS: ‘I Learned The Hard Way’ single – free download
Now I’ve looked into it a little, there seems to be some confusion about when the new Sharon Jones LP I Learned The Hard Way is due for release – a matter possibly compounded by the fact that the first single to be released off the album is the title track. As a slave to funk it wasn’t so much a duty as a compulsion to follow the trail of confusion through…DOWNLOAD/ READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

FREEWAY & JAKE ONE: ‘Know What I Mean’ video 2010

FREEWAY & JAKE ONE: ‘Know What I Mean’ video 2010
First single on the highly anticipated Freeway/ Jake One collabo on Rhymesayers Stimulus Package, ‘Know What I Mean’ may come in low and slow, but it’s radar image is roughly the size of Minneapolis…SEE VID/ READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

FOREIGN BEGGARS: ‘Get A Bit More’ videos + SkisM DJ MIX

FOREIGN BEGGARS: ‘Get A Bit More’ videos + SkisM DJ MIX
Admittedly, it’s not like Get A Bit More was the monkey’s favourite track off recent FB LP The United Colours Of Beggattron (that would be the mighty Seven Figure Swagger), nor even the monkey’s second favourite (which would be the behemoth beats of Contact)…in fact checking back…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM