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

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)

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)

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)

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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