DJ Mitsu The Beats : Celebration Of Jay

For years Mitsu The Beats has been flying the flag for independent Hip Hop in his native country of Japan, making beautifully arranged instrumentals that are notoriously hard to cop on vinyl as he expands upon the jazz-laden loops Nujabes brought to prominence. This loving tribute to J Dilla marks the first time Mitsu has made his tunes available on an easy to buy platform like bandcamp, opening his music up to a wider audience outside of record collector circles and sample-hungry beat  junkies.

It’s Dilla’s essence that seems to provide the main inspiration as Mitsu evokes the chilled, uplifting feeling that radiated from Jay’s music; moving beyond the realms of the obvious by cutting back on the un-quantized kicks and heavy swing that would characterize a more overt tribute. Speaking on Dilla’s innovative Fantastic Volume 2 and Welcome To Detroit albums, Mitsu states; ‘I have never been influenced so much by music in my life, and probably never will be.’ This heavy respect can be felt throughout as his intention ‘to dedicate an album for him in order to reflect on my present self’ manifests in every essential track, making Celebration Of Jay one of the classier odes to the SV sample king.

Buy it here.

Peace.

 

Bambu Hands : Traditional Process/Authentic Product

After putting in work on his warmly received Lost Soul project, and collaborating with Spider Jaroo on Live From The Archive Vol 1, consumate crate digger Bambu Hands found himself with broken samplers, and a studio in need of refurbishment. To remedy that he collated over ninety of his unused instrumentals and split them into two albums, simultaneously showcasing his beats for MC’s to lease, and dropping another phat batch for the beat-heads.

Traditional Process exhibits his lighter side, while Authentic Product finds him delving into the darkness to bring about balance on this cathartic release; lacing track after track with jazzy samples and heavy breaks straight out the ASR10, SP1200 and MPC2000XL. Each beat can be bought directly from Hands on a first-come, first-served basis; so if you’re an up-and-coming rhymer looking for rugged boom bap, Bambu Hands has got what you need.

Check out the beats and get his contact info here.

Stealf : Sling Me Down

The man behind De Facto Entertainment and the instrumentals on the recent Raw Product banger Supplying The Demand has just dropped a fresh batch of home-cooked beats. A chilled, jazz-heavy release, Sling me Down finds Stealf putting in the hours on his MPC60 and S950, creating sounds that shift mood on each tune as he draws from a wide selection of sample sources. Brookyln’s Autumn begins with a catchy horn loop and swinging drums, Carbonated Daze breaks it down with dusted snares and mellow flutes, Lord Barrington‘s clean string chops dip between funky guitars, and the dynamic jazz flips on Palm Reading provide head-nods for days.

After the memorable vocal hooks of the title track dissolve into punchy kicks on stand-out track The Day Before, Stealf switches it up once again on the stop-start styles of Trans-Atlantic Cousins, then rounds out this concise release by getting loose with the snare hits on the rugged low-end bounce of Wax Works. Both a fitting intro to the De Facto sound and an exciting taste of what’s to come, Sling Me Down marks off another solid release for the ever-expanding UK label as they push their creativity while staying rooted in the Golden Era sound.

Grab your free copy here.

Peace.

Mr Brown :4our3ree EP

London-based producer Mr Brown has just dropped a fresh batch of boom-bap goodness with plenty of laidback listening for the rest of your summer. If you checked his recent Dusty Platter guest mix you’ll know the man is no stranger to crate diggin, and on 4our3ree his years invested in production show, as he assembles beautifully simple sounds with a light touch and plenty of attention to detail.

The first of four immaculate tracks begins with Fireside, setting it off smooth with spectral sax melodies adrift on calm waves of ambient piano; while plump kicks course under hazy strings on PassaBy, and Cru Day lingers with smoked-out sunshine vibes. For beatheads the sonic sensibilities are irresistible, it’s like the whole Redef roster planted themselves in Pete Rock’s basement and went to town on the SP, and as Summa closes on another high note, Mr Brown’s acute ear for dope loops has to be heard to be believed.

Get it for free, here.

Peace.