Bloody good music though, which  - in a seamless segue – leads me onto todays little ditties.

Shameless, aren’t I.

First up this week is a classic slab of funk from Joseph Henry. Who’s The King (You Know That’s Me). Originally released on the retro-funk Desco label in ’98, this was recut and redropped on Daptone in ’05 following Josephs untimely death.

Wicked tune mind.

HT to Funk from the Trunk Furriest Funkateer, Vallee for this one

Keeping it in a funk vein, albeit a sampled one, this next cut flicks my hip-hop switches. Everytime I hear the name ‘Mystikal‘  the image of the nerdy kid in About a Boy jiggling down the corridor is never far from my mind, which isn’t s terrible thing, as the tune used is fantastic.  Hit Me is up on a par with this, with some seriously *huge* funk samples woven in and out of Mystikal channelling James Brown on the vocal.

(HT to Brad Baloo for kicking off the Facebook thread that led me to this …)

This one is a little bit of an oldie that I missed at the time, but it still sounds utterly fresh. Some Foreign Beggars tracks I love, others I can’t stand, there seems to be very little middle ground. Fortunately Broka Billy featuring the vocal styling of Grems it top drawer, especially when given a spin by Machinedrum. Mmmmmm, glitchy

Three of the finest, funkiest, downright flippin’ fan-dabby-dozy-iest tunes to grace my ears since the last one of these little missives

Enjoy

First up this week flicks my ‘covers in a different style’ switches, especially when it’s well known track, purely for the ‘What the ….@ reaction you get when you drop it. I first spotted this Double Yellow tune on Dieslers Life in the Slow Lane mix, and couldn’t quite believe what they’d done to the Queens of the Stone Age’s  har rock classic No One Knows. Jazz Hands at the ready!

Much as they might be a nation of garlic munching, white flag waving, Gauloise puffing serial philanderers, there’s something about the French that’s ineffably cool, and that goes double for French Hip-hop. The flowing smooth phonemes of the French language just suit this genre down to the ground, and this goes double when you’ve got a 40 strong funk jazz orchestra behind you, as can be seen in Between the Lines by the Electro Deluxe Big Band. Smoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooth

(HT to  Bass player extraordinaire Richard O’Brien for the tipoff)

And sticking with the hip-hop, just as I was grasping for the last track for this weeks trio, Uncle Nu comes through, with an beaty bouncy horn punching slab of that golden era goodness, Lay Em Low featuring NY Oil, and it’s free. What more could you want – aside from a 21 year old Russian Nymphomaniac Gymnast, and a 1lb bag of blow, or is that just me …

Yeah a day late, but it means I’ve got some tidy tunes for you – I’m sure you’ll forgive me.

Odd little realisation – I’ve seen every band/producer listen below live …

First up this week is a new tune from New Orleans finest brass-meisters, The Hot 8 Brass Band. If you don’t know the Hot 8, they’re a Nawlins Marching Band, but more Mardi Gras meets Mobb Deep than Military. Both tunes I heard, Hot 8 Shit and  Milwaukee Fat were tidy, but I prefer the more MC led vibe of this one – you can’t keep me away from the hip-hop eh?

It’s becoming a habit to pimp this pair on here, but The Allergies just keep making tunes that flick my switches – hip-hop, laden with intelligently selected samples thoughtfully put together with a killer hook – what more could you ask for. You Wouldn’t Know lifts Ann Peebles 99lbs, and gives it a proper dancefloor spin.

Last up is Sugarplum is a wickedly mellow little piece of late night Jazz from the recently departed legend, Richie Havens. Saw him at The Big Chill in 2004, where he was awesome, but this on is new to me. Definitely a case of turn on, tune in, drop out. Enjoy.

(now with an updated youtube link as UMG took the last one down. Cheers for that …)

Mmmm, sat here stuffed with fried chicken from the awesome meatandbread who was at one of the rash of street food joints that have sprung up in Bristol recently, Bristol Eats (it was rather good and I’d  recommend it)

Y’never know, you might see me playing there sometime soon ..

Right, onto the tunes then, eh? before I fall asleep

First one this week is from the most Delta-Blues-sounding-fat-lad-from-Brighton you ever did see, the awesomely talented Rag’N'Bone Man, here unleashing his gravelly tones on Nobody  taken off the collobo Dog’N'Bone EP with Leaf Dog. If you like your hip-hop with a dose of blues you won’t go far wrong here.

Next is a gorgeous slice of stuttering ambient lushness in hip-hop form from Aleos. When he’s not producing wonky, stuttering beats like Things You See, he’s studying jazz guitar, which kinda makes the musicality of his work all a bit more obvious.  His Moments E.P. is currently pay-what-you-want over on bandcamp. (HT to Repeat Button for spotting this one)

Last up this week is a bit of a glitch-hop banger from Slamboree - there’s a redundant term, do the do anything other than bangers? Sampling a great big wodge of Bill Hicks musings on life, before laying down a wobble and then some, erm , balkan-style gypsy fiddle … no, no, stay with me here, enjoy The Ride

I’m back (and I’m on time for once!)

This week almost writes itself … enjoy

First up is a track from the Granddaddies of conscious hip-hop, De La Soul. Get Away  (feat. the Spirit of the Wu)  is a rant, or at least as much a one as you will ever get from the pioneers of the Daisy Age, against the corporate, soulless, image obsessed parody of itself that commercial hip-hop has become.

Seriously loving this, both the tune and message. Why can’t it all be like this

It wouldn’t be a Three on a Thursday without something to shake your rump to, and this week it comes courtesy of Krafty Kuts.

Proving that every cloud has a silver lining, after breaking his leg on the slopes at Snowbombing a couple of weeks back, he’s just dropped a reboot of The Party Squad’s Lighterman which he made whilst holed up recovering.

Cue a dancefloor busting, beat breaking. skanking monster of a track – the boy is back to his best!.

Last up this week is a wicked little Rufus Thomas number ths been thoroughly Ghetto-fied by one of the most reliable producers in the genre, Slynk. So reliable in fact, that this is the second week on the bounce that I’ve featured his tunes …

Just listening to his Fried Chicken Remix makes me hungry

It’s (finally) Three on a Thursday time again.

Yes I know it’s Friday

No it’s not my fault. The little girl refused to sleep til 11 last night, and I didn’t have the time to do a proper job on this after those histrionics.

Tonight however …

First up is a new sound for me. I saw this one doing the rounds a couple of months back, but couldn’t lay my hands on a copy to listen to, but now I have Jus Now‘s One Time has its claws deep into me.

A mutant Soca/DnB/Brass workout number, I have no idea when I’d play this, or what the fuck I’d over mix in to it, but, by God is it GOOD!

Next one is one of the best “sounds like an old soul 45 dug out from the ’60′s but it was recorded last week in a studio in Hackney” tunes I’ve heard in a donkeys age.   The Enticements have got the sound absolutely nailed on
It Ain’t Cheatin’ (If You Mean It), from the slightly ‘flat’ sounding vocal from the mic. to the bright guitar

The lyrics however, have a bit more of a ‘swinging’ sound to them if you catch my drift (actually, sod that, old soul tunes are often filth as well …)

Last up is a rarity from me these days, given that much of the tunes churned out calling themselves ‘Ghetto Funk’ are, quite frankly, godawful.

This one however shows some chops, which is now huge surprise, as it’s a Slynk  special.  This is Dance Across The Bass and what’s more, it’s free!

Fear not mind, I’ve managed to drag my lazy carcass to the keyboard again to unleash three new tunes on your earholes!

First up this week is a wicked tweak to a total classic of 90′s hip-hop. Freqnik and WDRE take Pete Rock and CL Smooth’s Ghettos of The Mind and bring the lazy summertime vibes to bear on it.

From the sound of thing’s I need to check out the rest of their Tribute To 90′s Hip Hop Series …

ht to Roy Moneyshot for pointing this one my way.

Next up is a quality little remix of The Gemini Bros  latin tinged beatfest Trump Skyscrapers byGerman party starters  CMC & Silenta who’ve seemingly followed the old adage that there’s no such thing as too much party wobble

Blackstreet’s No Diggity is one of the more covered/remixed/rebooted tracks I’ve got, but very few of them manage to conjure up a more mellow version than Chet Faker.  His ‘original’ is ok, but the live version is absolutely brilliant 

I’m getting worse at this remembering to blog tunes for you mob on a Thursday don’t I? With one thing and another, specifically an almost two-year old thing, I rarely get the sort of long stretches of unbroken time in which I can finely hone a blog post for you …

This week however …

First up is a wicked little number from one of my favourite producers of the moment, Roast Beatz, with a legend of UK Hip-hop who also seems to be on a serious run of form, Mystro aka Mys-Diggi. Pour Me is a party starting paen to one of my favourite things, hitting the pub. 

Dropping on Luxury Boom Bap For The Eclectic B Boy released on  Boogie Boutique soon.

I’ve you’ve ever seen a Three on a Thursday, to know I’m a sucker for some soulful hip-hop nonsense, and Balance from Sean Haefili  had the required in shovelfuls. Combining a smooth little piano line with a Blue Note-esque trumpet line and a this is quite brilliant

The track features on the Sound Strategy EP, which is available from Sean’s Bandcamp (despite apparently being released in 2008!)

Last up is a new track from an old friend, Mr Bird who chucks us yet another of of his epic, Latin infused, hip-hoppity, genre mangling slices of goodness in the form of some Monkey Funk. Just try an stop your hips twitching to the beat on this one …

If this is your sort of thing, check his newly released Bird, Bird, Bird album for more of the same

Not being satisfied with smashing up dancefloors of the UK and Europe with eclectic, beat laden party styling sets, or releasing sample heavy mashups, he’s taken to singing …

Ewan’s been pushing  his new sound in live sets since before Christmas, fusing scratching, rapping, singing and MPC work and has now given a first showing in this new style on the Fire In Me EP.

The title track sets the tone, with densely layered samples over his trademarked crisp beats, with the man himself taking the mic to introduce things. The little piano line in the background on this one is strangely hypnotic …

Top track for me is Through with Love, featuring another critically acclaimed Bristol beatmangler, Blacksmith, is stuffed to the gills with Bond-esque strings combining brilliantly with a buzzing electro bassline.

The last two tracks, Android Pillow Talk and The Quiet take vocal duties off Ewan and introduce Colleen Quinn into the mix. There’s something heavily reminiscent of another Bristol band from yesteryear, Alpha  about the first of the two tunes, with the crystal clear vocal sitting over a lovely crunchy bassy little number. Properly head noddable.

The last track is a re-reworking of a tune, All Quiet, which has featured on various forms on Ewan’s  Mildebeats and Wildebeats albums from a couple of years back, with an all new vocal from Colleen which pitches somewhere between energy levels of the previous versions.

All in all none too shabby, and even better, all on a ‘name your price’ deal from bandcamp.

If you’re feeling this keep your ears (?) peeled from the upcoming long player, Robot Soul.

Ooops.

Can I make up for my recent slackness with some belting tunes?

Please?

First up this week is Verb T, who has spent faaaar too long making beats and seems to want everyone to leave him alone, so has cut a slice of proper lazy hip-hop to tell the world.

I’m fairly certain several Producer mates of mine could sympathise with his sentiments on  Where You Find Me.

It wouldn’t be a ToT without some thoroughly reggaeish party-starting beats, and this one comes courtesy of Daytoner and Tenoshi – The only version of  Treat Me I can find has been lifted from the awesome Craig Charles Funk and Soul show on BBC Radio 6 Music (hence the stings in the middle of the tunes) I’m on the scout for a decent version as this sounds like a proper little summertime scorcher !

Last up this week is yet another belter from local lad, Frenic. Lifting the alightly addled  out DMT fuelled ramblings of Alex Grey, Deep Secrets is a seriously mellow slice of late night beatiness. Putting the trip back into trip-hop …