MINT

The collaboration between Piecelock70 & Redef continues! This time we’re presented with the long-awaited instrumental versions of People Under The Stairs “The Gettin’ Off Stage, Step 1” EP on deluxe color vinyl (black & silver blend in extra thick jackets), with stunning artwork provided by highly respected visual artist Joseph Buckingham (aka “Joe Buck,” best known for his iconic work for De La Soul on the “De La Soul is Dead” cover).The TGOS Instrumental artwork is presented as a trio of unique covers that connect to form one 36 inch wide illustration. Instrumental versions of both Steps 1 & 2 are now available individually and word on the street is that Step 3 vocal & instrumental versions may follow soon after.-Latest collaboration between the newly formed partnership of Piecelock70 / Redefinition-Deluxe color vinyl: Black & silver blend in extra thick jackets.-High fidelity sound via DMM Mastering Process-Limited Edition first pressing of just 600 units total-Part 1 of a 3 LP collection, each features a unique cover by legendary designer Joe buck (De La Soul Is Dead). The 3 covers connect to form the full illustration

Danish producer Uffe Christensen returns to Tartelet Records with his second LP 'No!', a deeply personal LP to follow 2015's unanimously unfuckwithable debut 'Radio Days'.Every bit as abundant as his first, it's a record that scales polyrhythmic percussion, improvised jazz, & billowing ballads. This, that and so much more, it's a triumph of one man's instinctive ear –– and should be consumed in one sitting.A year after his dynamic debut 'Radio Days', Uffe resurfaces on Tartelet with a record cut in the same spirit as the last: a borderless approach to music-making with organic instrumentation at its heart. Genres collide peaceably ––off-beat soul with jazz, hip-hop with the heft of house–– and are melded smooth with an earthy warmth. Like nearly all at camp Tartelet, he's a producer who is more interested in cutting loose than playing to the tune of dominant modes in dance music. In that, his album's title is instructive: a 'no' to the tyranny of trends, to slavish Facebook likes, to creative compromise. Beyond the babble of fleeting fads, Uffe enjoys his place on the perimeter –– an outlier searching critically for something closer to a timeless groove.Uffe has all of the intuition of the self-taught instrumentalist, following his ear into unexpected rhythmic and tonal combinations. It's what gives the album its urgent appeal: the sound of tentative experiments being made live, of sequences improvised amongst friends. Far from a churn of simple floor fodder, the album is a journey through a consummate narrative. Shy guitar interlude 'Fridge Magnet Radio Theme' feels its way out of the warbling jazz breakdown in 'Lesser Known Values'. 'The Fact', an unexpected vocal ballad, follows the broken beat of 'Solo, So Loud'. With the record's pleading closer 'From Me', it's a story with a start, middle, and end. A long player as long players should be.As Tartelet continue their run of consistently solid EPs & 12"s, it's still these album moments that remain the best gateways into the label's distinctive sound. Alongside Max Graef's debut 'Rivers of the Red Planet' and Glenn Astro's 'Throwback', Uffe's 'No' is a mirror to the Tartelet spirit and sits amongst the imprint's best. For lovers of the true album –– the full-length proper, the one-take listen –– this one's for you.

Digging duo Kon & Amir occupy a select corner of the DJ world, with radio, mix-CDs, live sets and compilations on their radar. Theirs is a slowly-but-steadily growing catlogue crammed with timeless releases: six volumes of their widely celebrated On Track mixtape series, a highly regarded compilation The Cleaning (2004), a breaks-heavy instalment called Kings of Digging (2006) with DJ Muro from Japan and now the third volume of five in their Off Track series for BBE. Not to mention tours spanning the US, Europe and Far East taking in appearances at clubs, festivals and weekenders, in addition they have a strong affiliation with record diggers' bible 'Wax Poetics', and have just completed an 18-month residency of their own monthly show on online music 'zine Spine Magazine's radio station.Off Track III finds the New York/Boston-based pair shining light on another diverse array of underexposed vinyl. The eclectic African disco and soul cuts Amir highlights on his disc are Americanized by style but inherently authentic in feel, demonstrating the very best of the region's dance music from the period following Fela Kuti's mid-70s creative peak. Some standouts: Tee Mac's 1980’s insistently catchy 'Living Everyday', Effi Duke's percussive materpiece 'The Time Is Come', and Christy Essien's glorious 'You Can't Change', which features famed bandleader Geraldo Pino's Show Train outfit. Also in the mix are a couple of cuts from unsung Nigerian star Dizzy K. Falola aimed at sophisticated dancefloors.Kon's disc opens with an extended edit of Donny McCullough's 'From The Heart' from a pricey 1981 album. Rudolph Baker's little known album track 'Getting Next To You' is a floor-filling anthem in the waiting. Edge of Daybreak were a prison band whose punchy title track from their rare Eyes Of Love album provides a solid argument for subsidizing more music programs behind bars. 'Tin Top' is another cut with a Kon edit, but Kenny Mann & Liquid Pleasure are the antithesis of mysterious indy-label group, the veterans performing to this day and maintaining a comprehensive website loaded with videos and resumes.

'Yes Lawd!', the much anticipated debut album from NxWorries (pronounced "no worries") is coming October 21 on Stones Throw Records. On Yes Lawd!, Anderson .Paak plays a theatrically brash version of himself who raps and sings like a '70s superstar and talks shit like a stone cold player. The performance is seeded with details from his life, which has seen a fair share of struggle and hard-won triumph. Meanwhile Knxwledge weaves a tapestry of sampled bits and live fragments - bass, brass and violin - that smooths everything over, reminding us that despite whatever struggle it took to get here... well, you already know the name: NxWorries.

Mukatsuku sets up the ongoing winter months with a couple of hot dance floor burners of gems from the legendary vibes master, Mr Roy Ayers. First up an monster club instrumental in the shape of 'Funk In The Hole' with driving driving electronic keys accompanied by a funky breakbeat ,brass stabs and strings. On the slipside is the sultry personification of sexy soulfulness that is ''Liquid Love'' ...,..Both tracks issued here for the first time on a single in their own right.