Monkeyboxing Blog

DE KRAAIEN – Pechvogel (2013) video

2013-05-22T22:56:00.000+01:00

News just in…the ghetto funk sound has finally made it into the pop charts. In Holland. Yesh my friendsh – fat beatsh, grinding shynths and buzzsaw bassh. It’sh all there. Plush Dutch vocalsh. Noysh! Time to shelebrate – shmoke and a pancake? Hey everyone – it’s De Kraaien (The Crows – I’m reliably informed) with Pechvogel (literally ‘bad luck bird’ ; idiomatically ‘unlucky person’ – I’m equally reliably informed) and their accompanying video. A Dutch ghetto funk pop video you say? Fit semi-naked birds? Check. Dodgy blond …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

GEORGE BARNETT: Get Lucky (Smoove remix) (2013)

2013-05-22T22:50:00.002+01:00

Right, so let me get this straight: 19 year old musician George Barnett has done a highly competent (but not wildly different) cover of Daft Punk’s planet-sized feelgood hit of the summer, Get Lucky. Which he just happens to have sung, played all the instruments on and performed. And generated nearly 115 thousand plays on soundcloud and over 2 million on Youtube in the last twenty days or so. In steps ‘Berry Geordie’ (a.k.a. dj/ producer Smoove of Smoove & Turrell fame) to ‘officially’ retouch Barnett’s cover, …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

FUNKOSOL: Fresh Beats Vol. 2 (2013)

2013-05-21T22:57:00.001+01:00

It’s whole lotta bumps time from Chudy‘s Funkosol label already as Fresh Beats Vol. 2 delivers a slew of ghetto funky edits and mash-ups from one of the scene’s newest labels. The Man From DelMonty says ‘yes’ to a Ghetto Funk Icons-style edit of The Spin Doctors’ Two Princes, Robinson Grooves moves your feet with the sort of bass-heavy rework of early nineties style house-y soul that has been a feature of 2013 and Azzar‘s Discogirls is hammering disco boogie camper than a …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

EWAN HOOZAMI: Skin Too Deep (2013)

2013-05-21T22:55:00.000+01:00

Skin too deep? Leave the old flesh and get your robot on, then. Say hello, once again this month, to Ewan Hoozami who gives further clues to the nature of his forthcoming Robot Soul LP with lead single Skin Too Deep on which he ventures far into the faintly neon-lit synth murk of eighties disco-funk and rocks his own vocals with such aplomb that he’s in imminent danger of invading Planet Pop. If you want a visual metaphor for this number you’ll find it in the cover art which features an …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

DISCOSOCKS: Sock Drawer Secrets #1 (2013) Free download

2013-05-21T22:53:00.001+01:00

Sock drawer secrets eh? A mankini that you were ‘forced’ to wear on that stag do, gents? Mr Buzzy, ladies? A Swedish penis pump? A pussy whip? A crusty old ‘Er – how did that get in there? Don’t recognise that at all, it’s not mine, no!’ single sock? How about three pumping edits of lesser known disco-funk bangers? In the case of Heavy Disco label signing Discosocks – it’s the latter: a revitalised Rock Don’t Stop and Save Me Your Love…READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

MARTA REN & THE GROOVELVETS: 2 Kinds Of Men/ Summer’s Gone (2013) + video

2013-05-20T22:49:00.000+01:00

“So Marta – what type of music do you and the band play?” “Oh both kinds – funk and soul.” ‘Nuff said as Record Kicks‘ latest find is Portuguese crew Marta Ren & The Groovelvets – an outfit who supplement super-tight arrangements with powerful soul vocals from Ren of whom it must be said: ‘girl got a voice!’ I hadn’t heard anything on the contemporary soul scene to approach The Excitements’ Koko-Jean Davis or …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

MR BIRD: Know Your Rodents (2013)

2013-05-19T22:47:00.000+01:00

No smelling a rat here as one of the UK’s most proficient sampledelic producers, ex-pat Mr Bird, re-releases his second LP from 2006 Know Your Rodents which is sixteen tracks of the sort of thing that were Ninjatune’s bread and butter back in the day. Put another way, this collection provides the sort of sample-rich instrumental breakbeats that have been tarred with all genre brushes from ‘trip-hop’ to ‘cinematic’. Either way (or indeed, any which way) the gloom which sometimes pervades music …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

LAZY HABITS: Even Out (Ewan Hoozami remix) (2013) Free download

2013-05-16T21:04:00.001+01:00

Bristol bass don Ewan Hoozami grabs London-based hip-hop/ 8 piece brass outfit Lazy Habits’ funky cautionary tale by the horns (see what I did there) and transmutes it into something a little more 21st century. Subtly mind – different break and some moody synth – oh and a lovely stompy bridge. Plus it’s free for you to download – which is nice. Don’t forget to say thanks. I should point out that this did …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

‘BIZARRE RIDE II THE PHARCYDE’ Live: Europe tour dates (2013)

2013-05-15T21:32:00.001+01:00

It’s got all the potential to be a massive clusterfuck of hasbeens and assorted hangers-on trading on past glories to make some cold cash money hasn’t it? A tour where two members of The Pharcyde (who, along with fellow rappers Imani and Booty Brown and producer J-Swift assured their place in hip-hop history with their glorious jazz-hip-hop psychedelia of their 1992 debut Bizarre Ride II The …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

VOODOOCUTS: Juice Vol. 2 (2013)

2013-05-14T23:00:00.001+01:00

Five stars on MB, in case you hadn’t worked it out yet, is for shit that gets the heaviest rotation on the stereo (and usually the decks) at MB Towers. And there’s no doubt that two of the tracks on Voodoocuts latest three track set, Juice Vol. 2, are precisely the type of inspired mash-up party breaks edit thingies that get heavy MB rotation. Take the utter bigness of pumping soul-jazzy breaks number The Breakmaker for example. It’s a banger, plain and simple, and you will see it feature high in the …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

BLEND MISHKIN feat. MC JAMALSKI: We Are Roots (Remixes) (2013)

2013-05-14T22:58:00.001+01:00

Clearly a case of ‘Oh shit – that was good enough to make a bit of money with – what were we thinking with the free download?’ Blend Mishkin‘s hip-hop riddim-powered reggae number featuring MC Jamalski, We Are Roots, now gets the full four-track remix treatment package. And guess what? It’s not just the original that was good enough to make a bit of money with. The ‘exclusive…READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

HARVEY K-TEL & SNORKIE: ‘Babylon Bop’ video (dir. DJ Tanner) (2013)

2013-05-13T23:19:00.001+01:00

Ponder for a minute the way the net works. By net-work. Last year Harvey K-Tel and Snorkie produce Babylon Bop (genius reggae edit of The Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop) which gets blogged by the monkey. Then The Allergies produce dope Salt N Pepa mashup Pick Up Lines for which Canadian DJ Tanner made a fresh accompanying video. Both of which get blogged by the monkey in a post which later gets read by DJ Tanner who starts to follow the monkey who puts…READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

OMAR: The Man (2013) + video

2013-05-13T23:18:00.000+01:00

Contemporary soul legend Omar is back with the title track off forthcoming album The Man and, if I hear him right, he’s become a man now that he’s not trying to be the man. Apparently he did,” some things that..[he]…should not have done, just trying to be the man.” Glad we’ve got that cleared up. Musically, the tension between who he was before and who he is now is captured by the juxtaposition of an off-kilter bass clarinet motif on the verse and …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

TOO MANY T’s: The T.P. EP (2013)

2013-05-12T22:29:00.000+01:00

Let’s face it, too much UK hip-hop is all dour posturing and album covers on which grown men pull the facial expressions of a fifteen year old who’s just been bollocked for having his phone out in class. Time to welcome Too Many Ts‘ official studio debut release The TP then, as they firmly plant the flag of old school party hip-hop somewhere at the crossover between Aspects, the crafted foolery of the Beastie Boys and the cartoon rap of Ugly Duckling. The TP is a four-track stack of boom-bap that takes it all back to moving the …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

DJ ROAST BEATZ: Panama Ho’s (2013) Free download

2013-05-12T21:24:00.003+01:00

I’m all for sisters not being held back by gender inequality but have you ever noticed how when DJs play tracks containing iffy lyrics like ‘shorty get on it’ and ‘she’s leaking, she’s soaking wet’ that the ladies, far from storming off the dancefloor in a fit of pique, get more filthy? It’s something that is almost certain to happen with this mashup bomb from DJ Roast Beatz. Ludicrous. Well – more Ludacris to be precise since …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

DANCEFLOOR OUTLAWS: Delusions EP (2013)

2013-05-11T22:51:00.002+01:00

Dancefloor Outlaws a.k.a DJ/producers Will ‘Streetwise’ and Robin Parris pull down the brims of their stetsons and pull up bandanas to cover their faces for the Delusions EP – the taster for forthcoming album Delusions Of Grandeur. I wore a pink Stetson when djing once. Not by choice of course – some drunk bird put it on my head while I was on the cut. I told her I drew the line at kinky shit though when she wanted to wrap a scarfaround me. These Outlaws draw a line at nothing however and the LP promises to deliver …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

BASEMENT FREAKS: Funk From The Trunk (2013) + Booty Shackin’ Free download

2013-05-11T22:14:00.000+01:00

You can count on one hand the number of key players in the forging of the ghetto funk scene who actually had an album of anything out prior to that scene’s creation. But George Fotiadis a.k.a Basement Freaks was one of them. Even so, the funky, latin, afro, nujazz, chilled breaks of his debut Urban Jungle were a far cry from the warping synth-bass line/ breakbeat monsters (of which BF has made his fair share) for which the scene has become known. Nevertheless, last LP Something Freaky was far from a wobble-fest – indeed it was a …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

Various: BBP Remixed (2013)

2013-05-11T12:22:00.001+01:00

Apparently May is international ghetto funk/ nufunk/ breaks remix month for here is Badboe‘s heavyweight scene label Breakbeat Paradise with twelve of the best from the BBP library getting a rework. Perhaps unsurprisingly, among those being remixed are some of the remixers. That’ll be Tom Drummond, Jayl Funk and Badboe himself – of course – after all, what kind of man throws a party and then doesn’t turn up to his own event? However not even Boe gets the pleasure of …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

JOHNNYPLUSE: The Book Of Lies Remixed (2013) + The Prowler (Django party mix) Free download

2013-05-09T22:20:00.000+01:00

If you’re a producer, it has become somewhat de rigeur of late, to follow the release of ‘the’ album (i.e. yours) with ‘the remix album’ – i.e. by ‘them’. You know, a crew of usually like-minded individuals who, the minute they get their grubby mitts on those stems, throw the owner a sly grin as if to say, ‘this shit is mine now and I’m going to go to town on it’ and then go to town on it. A bit like when that dodgy mechanic, takes your car keys and slams the door extra hard before wheel-spinning your automotive pride and joy onto the …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

THE GRIPS: Tennessee Strut/ Fancy Roll (2013)

2013-05-07T22:53:00.000+01:00

It’s re-press time for the first ever release from retro southern funky soul label G.E.D. Soul which means that the Tennessee Strut/ Fancy Roll 45 by The Grips (an early incarnation of G.E.D. Soul’s house band DeRobert & The Half Truths) gets to see the light of day once more. Sounding decades older than their mere six years, both tracks bowl along driven by crashing percussion and the sort of…READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

DJTZINAS: It’s About Really Hot (2013) Free download

2013-05-07T22:49:00.000+01:00

Djtzinas provides a slab of timely reggae-hip-hop booty with It’s About Really Hot mashing up Clipse and some random rapped hook from Alex Tune’s gabba abortion Frequencies over a skankin riddim that positively radiates summer vibes. A fact which will be particularly poignant for UK residents who have just been graced with three days of continuous sunshine. Poignant because on recent annual trends that was the British summer …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

ACEYALONE: ‘Leanin On Slick’ video (2013)

2013-05-07T22:47:00.001+01:00

Here’s the video to the title track and lead single off what is shaping up to be one of the monkey’s favourite LPs of 2013 – Aceyalone‘s Leanin’ on Slick. Expect to find the Freestyle Fellowship rapper, slightly greyer in the beard but still tight on the mic, propping up a barrio bar, chain smoking and downing endless shots of rum whilst holding forth about what people will sell their soul for – (something superbad, apparently) over a JB’s style …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

SKY HI: Reality Check EP (2013)

2013-05-07T22:45:00.001+01:00

Tennessee’s answer to Daptone, G.E.D. Soul are building a roster to rival that of their Big Apple – er – rivals. On this occasion it’s Sky Hi who fly the flag for the sound of retro southern funk sound aided and abetted by DeRobert ‘Dee’ Adams of fellow G.E.D. act DeRobert & The Half Truths. That’ll be five tracks of early seventies Stax-style numbers …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

THE GRITS: Break of the week (2013) Free download

2013-05-05T10:29:00.000+01:00

If you make hip-hop or party breaks then every week between now and the release of Brighton funk crew The Grits‘ new single is your birthday week and it’s time to get your cake on. Why? Because these raw funk renegades are releasing a WAV file of one of their drum breaks every Saturday until their new 45 comes out. For you to sample. Gratis. Not so much getting your cake on as having it and eating it. Brighton’s The Grits have been dropping quality lo-fi, psychedelic funk for …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

SMOOVE feat. JEHST, MICALL PARKNSUN & DJ JAZZ T: Fresh Pair (2013) Free download & video

2013-05-02T22:05:00.000+01:00

Imagine being so obsessed with things you wear on your feet that you not only spunk hundreds of pounds on them, but witter away endlessly about them. No, not women – men. And trainers. And so to Fresh Pair, downtempo ode to fly footwear and brainchild of a collaboration between soleheaven.com and fellow sneaker freakers Jehst, Micall Parknsun, DJ Jazz T and producer Smoove who make a convincing bid to enter the canon of hip-hop tracks about dope kicks. Oh what …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM