Diggin’ In The Crates

Chicago brother Jamie 3:26 is back and this time more focused and more sober than ever (yup, he gone clean)! After his classy album release on BBE he’s now back on GAMM with what he does best, top class Chi-town disco edits! This time ’round Jamie goes to work on two gems from The Watsonian Institute and Peoples Choice. As usual, the soul and funk is always present and both edits go well beyond the 9 min mark…extended play guaranteed!

Celebrating 30 years in the game for Z Records with a series of 12” vinyl EP’s containing some of the most sought-after remixes from the esteemed Z back catalogue. Part 2 sees highly desired cuts from Doug Willis, Joey Negro, The Sunburst Band, Mid Air and The Revenge.

First up, Doug Willis’ ‘Crystal Lover’ is a bass heavy jam slathered over the top of a toasted slice of percussion, cosmic vocal swoons, and eternally echoing horns. Next, the 1991 classic that really put Dave Lee on the map ‘Do What You Feel’ saw a standout remix from the man himself in 2015. The JN Revival Mix keeps much of the original music but beefs up the drums and bass to make for a super punchy sounding update.

Flip it over and find yourself lost in Joey Negro & The Sunburst Band ‘Only Time Will Tell ft. Angela Johnson (JN City Connection Mix)’. This jazzy, Latin-tinged and unashamedly musical dance cut showed the full force of soulful house music, made ever sweeter by Angela’s wonderful voice. Closing out proceedings, The Revenge unleashes a signature slammer of an edit of Mid Air ‘Ease Out’, perfect for blasting out across the highway or teasing in across the night.

That ecumenical training has served him well. With little fanfare preparing the way, Eli Escobar’s latest album Last Summer came as something of a surprise – a pleasant one, as Last Summer grabs you by the hand on a passage through 30 years of New York City night clubs, house parties and basement jams.

Originally released back in 2011 on two singles, Shades of Detroit is a journey of six deep and dubby house monsters! The new limited reissue includes both Dark and Light parts, marbled vinyl and a new updated artwork. Essential Detroit house classic!

Steam Down, whose fiery mix of afro-swing, grime, jazz, and future soul has led them to become one of the London music scene’s most-talked-about groups, have released their new version of Wayne Shorter’s “Etcetera” featuring vocals by Afronaut Zu. “Wayne Shorter has long been my favourite saxophonist and composer in jazz,” says Steam Down’s Ahnansé. “Reworking ‘Etcetera’ from his legendary Blue Note catalogue is a childhood dream come true.”

Heart Math, the new LP from alternative hip-hop mainstay The Gaslamp Killer, is exactly the sort of astral opus which its rich artwork intimates that it will be. With each new track the listener is taken deeper into the trip here, the steady drum breaks underpinning some stargazing and psychedelic production.

The influence of the Los Angeles beat scene in which The Gaslamp Killer made his name – lest we forget that he helped set up the city’s legendary Low End Theory club night – can still be heard here. For instance, ‘Midnight Music’ is the sort of bleeping prog-hop odyssey that could have graced one of the first Flying Lotus albums. However, the rich textures, fusion aesthetics and spiritualised flavour which runs through so much of Heart Math also aligns it with FlyLo’s more recent work as well as artists such as The Heliocentrics and Madlib.

Indeed, Malcolm Catto’s band The Heliocentrics actually appear on the thrilling ‘Hooked On Classic’s’, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Amir Yaghmai and Roberto Schilling are among the other features on a typically guest-heavy collection from The Gaslamp Killer, his powers of collaboration once more proving testament to his knack for involving other artists in his vision.

Heart Math is a set of astral hip-hop explorations the likes of which only The Gaslamp Killer would have the ambition to attempt – let alone pull off.

While ZamZam Sounds is a dub label without reservation or qualification, our roots as music lovers reach deep into punk, metal, folk musics, and other sounds from the well. Thus it’s a great pleasure to introduce ZamZam 79, a musical blessing from Al Cisneros of Sleep and Om fame.

As bass player and vibe-controller for two of the most seminal bands in the ‘stoner metal’ and heavy drone zones respectively, Cisneros has toured the globe countless times anchoring multiple projects with his distinctive, melodic bass weight. So singular is his tone and approach that Rickenbacker recently released an Al Cisneros signature bass guitar. His deep love of reggae has manifested most explicitly in a number of releases under his own name, on his own Sinai imprint as well as Drag City, and it was these releases that convinced us we had to reach out.

“Apple Pipe” is a magisterial mid-tempo steppers led by live drums, an utterly enveloping bassline, and horns that warm like a summer sunrise after a long, cold night. Focused, minimalist, clear and uncompromising roots music.

“No Tobacco” wets up the hi hats and opens up the reverb-space, releasing snare echoes that filter out deep into subterranean caverns, occasionally boomeranging back from the depths, building into washes that overtake only to dissipate again.

Brand new label re-issuing rare soul, funk and disco on 7″. First release is an absolute whopper with the classic and very rare Jackson Sisters “I Believe In Miracles” b/w Laura Lee’s “Crumbs Off The Table” – both guaranteed dancefloor dynamite! Limited to 300 copies only.

M-Plant will release an EP called The Struggle / Save The Children comprising a solo Robert Hood track and two Floorplan cuts.

The A-side, “The Struggle,” sees Hood overlaying an acidic techno track with a speech the activist Tamika Mallory gave in the days following the murder of George Floyd. The B-side, meanwhile, samples the comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory for two mixes of a track called “Save The Children.”

It’s the first release of the year for Hood and Floorplan, though Lyric Hood—a member of the latter project with her father—released a solo 12-inch on M-Plant on Friday.

Stomping through the undergrowth once more, CULTED return with five mad-cap edit bangers. Pounding, hypnotic, tribal, this is jungle dance of the highest order, acid-laden rhythms to shake the dust off our pandemic rattled spines from Nicola Cruz, Asa Moto, Balam, Tyu and Akimbo.