ABJEKT: Doomtree mixtape – free download

ABJEKT: Doomtree mixtape – free download
You know Doomtree. Yes you do! The indy hip-hop collective from Minneapolis? Friends with Brother Ali and Atmosphere? Look, it doesn’t matter. They might be emo but don’t hold it against them, they’re really quite good. Anyway, the mysterious Abjekt has done a dope 35 minute mix of Doomtree material for your earholes…DOWNLOAD/ READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

AVERAGE KEITH: ‘Not So Average’ LP release details + tracklist

AVERAGE KEITH: ‘Not So Average’ LP release details + tracklist
Runcorn MC (no, really) Average Keith is about to drop his debut LP on Random Era’s home label. I did a little bit of research on Runcorn as the only thing I knew about it was that it was in Cheshire. It turns out that Keith isn’t the town’s only musical luminary as Nicola Roberts of Girls Aloud is also from there. Mind you, I got that off wikipedia so it could be utter horseshit.…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

WAX TAILOR live @ The Electric Ballroom 27 May 2010 – WIN FREE ENTRY FOR 2

WAX TAILOR live @ The Electric Ballroom 27 May 2010 – WIN FREE ENTRY FOR 2
Wax Tailor has been stitching together loops and making alterations to other people’s musical material with Saville Row precision for over half a decade now. If you want the chance to check out the cut of his cloth and size up his beats now’s your moment as monkeyboxing.com is offering free entry plus one to the first correct answer to the following:…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

THE DISABLISTS & FOREIGN BEGGARS: ‘Heavy Rotation’ video

THE DISABLISTS & FOREIGN BEGGARS: ‘Heavy Rotation’ video
How about this? Turntablists and several times UK DMC champions The Disablists get on a nineties-soudning tip with the UK’s most convincing hip-hop crew, Foreign Beggars, for new single Heavy Rotation - no doubt in the hopes of achieving…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

BASEMENT FREAKS: 'Nirvana Suckaz' + 'And That’s Nu Fun' free downloads

BASEMENT FREAKS: Nirvana Suckaz + And That’s Nu Funk free downloads
George Fotiadis (otherwise known as Basement Freaks) continues to cement his reputation for boundless generosity with another couple of free downloads. Nirvana Suckaz and And That’s Nu Funk. Anyone who can’t guess what’s been sampled on the first of these wants working on, while the second…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

GURU: 17.7.62 - 19.4.10 - R.I.P.

GURU: 17.7.62 - 19.4.10 - R.I.P.
Guru's gone but check the technique...

PLAN B: The Defamation Of Strickland Banks – 2010 – Album review

PLAN B: The Defamation Of Strickland Banks – 2010 – Album review
HIGHLIGHTS: Pretty much all of it.
SOUNDBITE: “There’s people outside, telling me to watch my back/ If I want to survive, I gotta stop them in their tracks”
RATING: 5/5
Everybody knows by now that rapper Plan B barely raps on this and that contrary to his gritty rhyming (in that Carribean-inflected London accent all dem yout’ got nowadays) he mainly sings in a surprisingly good – er – I mean ‘girly’ - falsetto. Everybody also knows that this is a ‘concept’ album accompanied by a short film, the concept of which is that B is a soul singer called Strickland Banks ‘what gets framed by some puddy cuz he won’t put out’ – or something…So there’s no need for me to get bogged down in all that – I can just focus on the music. Since this is probably one of the biggest releases that’ll be checked on monkeyboxing.com this year, we thought it best to go the track-by-track route just like blogging giant Byron Crawford does. Or did. He doesn’t seem to be doing music lately…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

CYPRESS HILL: Rise Up – 2010 – Album review

CYPRESS HILL: Rise Up – 2010 – Album review
HIGHLIGHTS: Light It Up – K.U.S.H.
SOUNDBITE: “The beat is on, the heat is on/ If Sen Dog’s Cheech I must be Chong”
RATING: 3/5
In which we continue with this week’s guest review style (courtesy of Rolling Stone). Honestly. - I’ve written longer notes to the milkman:

As with fellow Californians Souls Of Mischief, Cypress Hill’s early work was so huge they’ve been living in its shadow ever since. Still, maybe that’s the price of creating a classic and it sounds like they’re still paying as the LP begins with a compere referencing how in 1991 an ‘artist’ in Compton was blown away by Cypress Hill’s ‘futuristic funk’ and ‘dedication to a certain herb,’ followed in short order by the lumpen, staccato, programmed beats of It Ain’t Nuthin’. Well, quite. The scratchy-sample on Light It Up is much more ear-friendly and perhaps the most successful track here at updating the classic Cypress Hilll ‘shit’ which it does so well it’s the LP highlight. Elsewhere…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

THE UNDERBELLY: Seven Feet Under – 2010 – Album review

THE UNDERBELLY: Seven Feet Under – 2010 – Album review
HIGHLIGHTS: VFunk
SOUNDBITE: “…my conscience said tell”
RATING: 2.5/5
Pushed for time once again, this week’s guest review style had to be that of Rolling Stone magazine. Have you seen them? Christ! I’ve written longer notes on the shower door. Any way – here goes:

With a name like The Underbelly you might expect Seven Feet Under to be an exploration of the seedier, darker side of funk, especially given the graveyard connotations of the LP title. It’s something of a surprise then, to find out that this Cornish ‘deep funk’ band’s LP is shot through with jazzy stylings (e.g. Re-use Me) and even the odd stab at something bit more Afrobeat in (funnily enough) a track entitled Afrobeat. There’s no doubting that The Underbelly’s playing is
…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

SHARON JONES & THE DAP KINGS: I Learned The Hard Way – 2010 – Album review

SHARON JONES & THE DAP KINGS: I Learned The Hard Way – 2010 – Album review
HIGHLIGHTS: Money – Better Things To Do – The Reason
SOUNDBITE:
RATING: 4/5
Over the best part of the last decade the combination of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings has been massively influential in underground funk circles. In fact they are probably the most widely respected act on the scene – with good reason, indeed, if creating the sound of soul/ funk authenticity were a competition, this lot would effortlessly wipe the floor with every rival, every single time…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

JAYLFUNK: We Got The Funk – release details

JAYLFUNK: We Got The Funk – release details
Forthcoming on Basement Freaks new imprint (the aptly named Bombastic Jam) is this funky breaks cut from Nurnberg producer JaylFunk accompanied by not one but four remixes from the likes of Basement Freaks himself…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

DEL THE FUNKY HOMOSAPIEN vs. OSIRIS: Vulc hi-top

DEL THE FUNKY HOMOSAPIEN vs. OSIRIS: Vulc hi-top
Man I used to love hi-tops the first time they were in so you can only imagine how gutted I was when they went out – I figured I’d just lie low until they came back in again. The thing is…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

NICE UP & J STAR: Cut Ups, Bruck Ups and Muck Ups Vol. 2 – 2010 – Album review

NICE UP & J STAR: Cut Ups, Bruck Ups and Muck Ups Vol. 2 – 2010 – Album review
HIGHLIGHTS: All of it. Again.
SOUNDBITE:
RATING: 5/5
As many DJs will tell you, just because something bumps on the dancefloor doesn’t mean you want to hear it in the car or on your mp3 player - and the opposite is also true. Happy the person, then, who gets hold of this second volume from the kings of reggae mash-up/ remix-land which, like its predecessor (and hopefully any future successors) run tings in both clubland and pretty much anywhere else you care to play it. Once again the main contributors are J Star and Nice Up label boss DJ Shepdog - though on Cut Ups…2 they’re also joined by Jeff Li (the fashion designer? Surely not?) and Brighton's Black Grass.
…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

NICE UP & J STAR: Cut Ups, Bruck Ups and Muck Ups Vol. 2 – 2010 – Album review

NICE UP & J STAR: Cut Ups, Bruck Ups and Muck Ups Vol. 2 – 2010 – Album review
HIGHLIGHTS: All of it. Again.
SOUNDBITE:
RATING: 5/5
As many DJs will tell you, just because something bumps on the dancefloor doesn’t mean you want to hear it in the car or on your mp3 player - and the opposite is also true. Happy the person, then, who gets hold of this second volume from the kings of reggae mash-up/ remix-land which, like its predecessor (and hopefully any future successors) run tings in both clubland and pretty much anywhere else you care to play it. Once again the main contributors are J Star and Nice Up label boss DJ Shepdog - though on Cut Ups…2 they’re also joined by Jeff Li (the fashion designer? Surely not?) and Brighton's Black Grass.
…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM

MANMADE Feature Funk Vol. 5

MANMADE Feature Funk Vol. 5
Fifth volume from the Manmade Recordings crew and once again it’s label bosses CMC & Silenta who produce the best cut with the pneumatic genre-splicing monster Rock Da Riddim. Thankful as I am that the 90s big beat stylings of Vol. 4 have been left behind I’m not convinced that DJ Kid Stretch’s speedy breaks-plus-Moose-T loop is the way forward. Neither am I sure about Funkanomics’ On The Floor which, despite containing a sample of Tina Turner’s Funkier Than A Mosquito’s Tweeter comes on like a disco-Tyrannosaurus or Mr Fudge’s Damian Marley-fied Boot All Night - though my baby daughter had a bit of a boogie to that one so it can’t be all bad.…READ THE REST AT MONKEYBOXING.COM