Gravity Movement : Put Your Dukes Up

On Put Your Dukes Up, Gravity Movement has assembled twelve soulful beats influenced by one of his main musical inspirations; George Duke. Progressive Moog arrangements provide much of the sample material, while the North Carolina-based producer also adds audio clips from Duke’s interviews to create a cohesive EP that serves as a fitting tribute to the late fusion pioneer. Soundcheck starts off hype as a classic break bounces off rowdy M.O.P chants, Run The Spot stacks Run DMC scratches over neat loops, and Jay Dee’s eternal influence surfaces through SV samples on the Redman-driven bump of Say It With Me.

The knockout one-two combo of Write and Gravitas bring a calming influence through mellow synth melodies and funky bass lines looped under recurring vocals; while The Son‘s memorable use of a simple hook offers a nice interlude before the heady blend of astral synths and funky percussion George favoured lends itself to Aura‘s neck-snapping snares. Lauryn Hill’s Delfonics-inspired hook on Nas’s Trackmasters anthem If I Ruled The World gets an atmospheric update on Imagine That, before descending keys slip and slide throughout Pre Flight, and the slow-burning, jazz voyage of Soulva Nova makes for yet another highlight.

Buy the EP here, and check out more from the man behind Gravity Movement 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.

Kista & Glad2Mecha : Collecting Dust

One look at Collecting Dust‘s Hip Hop interpretation of the Places and Spaces cover art and it’s easy to see that the dusty fingers behind Soundweight Records and Dusty Platter have stayed diggin’ since Kista’s Pushin’ Buttons 12″. This new LP continues their run of essential vinyl presses as Kista links with Arizona-based emcee Glad2Mecha, creating thirteen dope tracks that fuse ill lyricism with the crackle of old 45’s. Since winter 2013 the pair have been outlining the blueprint for Collecting Dust; discussions on their influences, favourite records, and the sound they wanted to achieve led to the pair trading beats and bars back and forth, culminating in this traditional take on the golden era sound with a modern twist.

The test press package and cassette/vinyl combo have sold out, but you can still get your hands on the 12″ vinyl here.

Peace.

Klaus Layer : For The People Like Us

Klaus Layer’s modern reinterpretations of the Golden-Era sound continue to improve with every new release Redef presses to wax. His ear for memorable loops and dedication to granular, low-bit breaks ensures his beats stay dusted, and while the sample sources that distinguish his sound might be vintage, his approach to sampling is anything but. The title track picks up where The Adventures Of Captain Crook left off with a hefty helping of filtered loops and swinging snares; but it’s on Kool aka Resurgent Branch where things become interesting. There’s more vocal cuts than before, more focus on the bassline, and shorter chops arranged throughout to accentuate phrases, it seems Klaus is living up to that surname, with sequencing that shows more variation this time around. Washed-out notes linger in mid-air then cascade over raspy drums on Sun Is Up, while Dreams Of Yesterday subtly breaks up the boom-bap, before Animals Garden brings that bump back with head-rocking kick patterns under a neat guitar loop.

Lounging keys recline against neck-snapping snares on Be As You Are, then Klaus switches sample source and flips some eighties electronic ambience on No Pantomime, before No Joke kicks with hype vocal cuts and a break so dusty hitting play might make you sneeze. The sweeping strings of Watching Fireflies soon fade into Coming Into The World‘s summertime vibes as an ethereal Rhodes loop fizzes amidst mellow pipes on this highlight; while the smooth, Madlib-style vocal chops of Symbol Of Tomorrow end another quality collection of instrumentals from Klaus Layer; if his diggin’ continues to expand in musical scope, and his flirtation with other genres continues to be reflected in his arrangements, there can only be many more flawless instrumentals from the Berlin-based producer on the horizon.

Buy it here.

Peace.