BBE Vinilo y CD

Review: There's no doubt that crate-digger, record collector and renowned Discogs seller Zafsmusic knows more than most about the world of private press vinyl releases. This 12", originally pressed up in super-limited quantities by its' creator, Martin L Dumas Jnr sometime around the turn of the '80s, has long been a must-have for collectors with several thousand dollars to spare. The title track is particularly wonderful - a warm, breezy, loose and fluid chunk of boogie-soul that Zaf has slightly tweaked to suit the needs of modern dancefloors. Flipside "Nonstop To The Top" has a more jazz-funk feel, with intergalactic synths complimenting Dumas Jr's sweet vocal and conscious lyrics.

Review: BBE latest "deep dive" into a widely underappreciated style focuses on a particularly fertile period in the history of Japan's "contemporary jazz" scene. Curated by renowned Japanese jazz diggers Tony Higgins and Mike Peden, J-Jazz focuses on material recorded and released between 1969 and '84, a period the label says represents a "golden age" for jazz in Japan. The compilation is both a serious history lesson and hugely enjoyable to listen to, featuring a mixture of U.S-influenced jazz-funk, fusion, post-modal and deep, spiritual improvisations. Naturally, all of the material has never been released outside of Japan before, with the vast majority of tracks being either ludicrously rare or sought-after. Simply essential, all told.

Review: Dilla's "The Shining" serves as a testament to the fact that legends never die. On February 10th, 2006, the world of hip hop lost J Dilla aka Jay Dee. James "J Dilla" Yancey leaves behind an impression on hip hop that will last the test of time. A bridge between hip hop's underground and mainstream, Dilla's contributions ranged from single handedly defining Detroit hip hop as a founding member of Slum Village to providing his production talents to Common, D'Angelo, Busta Rhymes, Erykah Badu, A Tribe Called Quest, The Pharcyde, The Roots, Janet Jackson and Macy Gray. "The Shining" marked the reunion of J Dilla & BBE, who had released "Welcome 2 Detroit", J Dilla's debut album. "The Shining" serves as showcase of J Dilla's talents which features him not only as a producer, but also as a rapper, singer and musician. Featured guests on this album include Busta Rhymes, Common, Pharoahe Monch, D'Angelo, Madlib, Black Thought, Medaphor aka MED, and Guilty Simpson.

Review: On the debut EP 'We Are The Ones/Fire/Forever', Chicago DJ and all-out living legend Rahaan collaborates with an equally talented group of musicians: Marcus J. Austin on lead vocals, Nancy Clayton on backing vocals, Carnell C. Newbill (also known as Spike Rebel) on keyboards and backing vocals, Todd Swope on guitar, and Lou Terry on bass. Together, the outfit known as The Ones create an extended three-track EP of transcendent proportions, drawing on the avaricious world-passion for music and life heard in the joyous chasms between psychedelia, Afrobeat and disco. Bridging these precipices by way of a vast, suspensory dancefloor held together by firmly mixable kick drums serving as rivets, Rahaan produces and mixes a viscerally eye-popping set of devotionals here. From the impassioned beatitudes and thanksgivings of 'We Are The Ones', to the desirous chic-funk drum circle envisaged on 'Fire' and the eternal gospel-rock-tinged disco-soul ablution 'Forever' (a special favourite of ours), this is a holy chrism in record form.

Review: Two years ago, Volcov set our pulses racing with From The Archive, a superb selection of killer cuts from the depth of his notoriously impressive record collection. Volume 2 is equally as inspired, though the focus is a little different. Whereas Volcov previously chose to concentrate on soul, funk and disco, this edition is far more widescreen in scope. So, we get soaring soul-jazz bliss (Collective Peace's "Let The Music Play"), head-nodding hip-hop soul (Eric Lau remixing Ruth Koleva), futurist jazz-funk (Ron Trent's wild but brilliant "Ori Space"), soul-fired broken beat (Volcov's own re-edit of Xantone Blacq's vintage remix of Intuit's "Planet Birth"), impeccable soundscape jazz ("Lawra" by Tony Williams) and much more besides.