- Continue Shopping
- Your Cart is Empty
OFEGE - TRY AND LOVE
FAT BEATS exclusive color variant on CLEAR VINYL, strictly limited to 100 copies! ‘Try And Love’ is wild and uncompromising blend of soul, funk and rock with complex and groovy rhythms. Ofege succeeded in creating a debut album drenced with fuzzy guitars, plaintive/wailing vocals and a backbeat as influenced by James Brown as it is by Fela Kuti. It’s a unique, raw and beautiful take on the psychedelic sound. The ingenuity allied with the inexperience of its members makes this album a real treasure.
Pre-Order The Exclusive
ATMOSPHERE - MI VIDA LOCAL
Mi Vida Local might be the best album Atmosphere’s ever made. It’s definitely the one they needed to make right now, and one listeners need to hear just as urgently. If it’s sometimes an album about how the fight to find happiness never really ends–even after you get the house and the kids and the artistic freedom to make dad-rap records–it’s also about discovering that there’s happiness to be found just in fighting.
Pre-Order The Album
Another milestone of Hip Hop's Golden Era gets an all official vinyl re-release through HHV. Smif-N-Wessun's debut album "Dah' Shinin" is an early Boot Camp Clikk release with features by Black Moon, Heltah Skeltah and the Originoo Gunn Clappaz and entirely produced by Da Beatminerz. Essential pick!
Pre-Order The LP
KUTMAH - PRESENTS SKETCHBOOK RADIO ARCHIVES, VOL. 1
"Sketchbook Archives Series" is a compilation that dates back to this era and the present day. It features exclusive tracks from artists such as Natureboy Flako, Samiyam, Al Dobson Jr., Ras G, Flying Lotus, Pablo Ygal, Mo Kolours, Shash'u and many more.
Pre-Order The Vinyl
JANSPORT J - LOW
Jansport J's LOW begins with the rude assertion that we oughta wake up and be released from our dream-state before we absorb what we are about to hear. What follows is 20 concepts identifying the many different states of human existence.
Pre-Order The Vinyl
$27.99
Double Vinyl w/ Exclusive Colored 45 Including Two Bonus Tracks, Casewrapped Tip-On Gatefold Jacket, Metallic Spot Gloss Printed Vinyl Sleeves & Free Digital Download Card. It’s a different place than it was two years ago, when Atmosphere released their last record, Fishing Blues. Their seventh album, Mi Vida Local, reflects the ways in which the world–and their place in it–has changed. The idyllic domesticity of the past few records has morphed into anxiety over keeping loved ones safe during turbulent times. The easygoing collaboration between Ant and Slug has started to feel more like the life-or-death intimacy of two men trapped together on a lifeboat. At times, Mi Vida Local is a heavy album, (“I might be the last generation of grandparents,” goes a key line from “Virgo”), but it’s far from grim. As the name implies, Mi Vida Local is intensely focused on the place it was created–the southside of Minneapolis–where Slug and Ant work tirelessly in their “beautiful basements”, refining their sound without interruption, save for a handful of Minneapolis friends that showed up to contribute. The album pairs complex subject matter with equally deep beats–ones that show a clear lineage back to the psychedelic funk landmarks from an earlier era where America was going through a post-utopian hangover, and prove that there won’t ever be a time where boom-bap beats don’t sound perfectly of the moment. Mi Vida Local might be the best album Atmosphere’s ever made. It’s definitely the one they needed to make right now, and one listeners need to hear just as urgently. If it’s sometimes an album about how the fight to find happiness never really ends–even after you get the house and the kids and the artistic freedom to make dad-rap records–it’s also about discovering that there’s happiness to be found just in fighting.
$17.99
Limited to just 500 copies. Housed in a heavy duty custom printed full-colour company sleeve. Neck-snapping soul masterpiece from Freddie Scott, famously sampled by Biz Markie for his melancholic pop-rap hit “Just A Friend” and a surefire piano-driven basement party anthem in its own right. The work of the legendary producers Gamble & Huff, the track was also sampled by Ghostface Killah for the wonderful “Save Me Dear” with Jay Dilla also utilising the crunching drums to lace many memorable productions for A Tribe Called Quest and Slum Village. A peerless piece of deep soul and hip-hop history, here’s your chance to own the first ever officially licensed reissue on 45. On the flip, “Powerful Love” is uptempo guitar-soul with finger-popping swing. Featuring delicate horns and gorgeous backing vocals, it’s an unfairly slept-on gem but, given the weight of the A-Side, this is perfectly understandable.
$129.99
A specially designed heat sensitive box will include a book featuring exclusive images by Robert Del Naja and Nick Knight. 3 pieces of coloured vinyl will include the remastered version of Mezzanine and previously unheard Mad Professor remixes from the original 1998 sessions. 20th anniversary reissue of Massive Attack’s double platinum (UK) album featuring the original album re-mastered + an album of previously unreleased dub remixes by the Mad Professor (2CD and 3LP super deluxe only). Widely hailed as their masterpiece, and voted 15 in Q Magazine’s 100 Greatest British Albums Ever (2000), Mezzanine saw the band move away from the ‘trip-hop’ sound they had helped define to embrace rock and electronica. Mezzanine was remastered by Tim Young at Metropolis who has worked with the band for over twenty years. The Mad Professor remixes were originally intended to be released on a Mad Professor Mezzanine remix album – as the band had done with previous album Protection (No Protection) – yet in the end only a number of his remixes were issued as single b-sides. All 8 of the Mad Professor remixes included here are previously unreleased and include his dub mixes of 2 tracks not originally featured on Mezzanine but from the same period – Metal Banshee – a dub version of Superpredators which was a cover of Siouxie and the Banshee’s Metal Postcard – and Wire, a track they recorded for the soundtrack of the film Welcome to Sarajevo. As per the original release, the artwork is by Hingston studios who have worked with Robert Del Naja from the band – the 3LP super-deluxe takes the form of a 48pp hardback book featuring photos from Nick Knight that show the development of the striking cover imagery + an additional 32pp booklet which is a new edition of the art-book Fitting In which Del Naja originally issued in 2000 (only 50 of which were ever available to buy).
$20.99
FIRST TIME ON WAX! PRESSED ON WHITE VINYL! Originally released on July 9th, 2012, only via Soundcloud, Cigarette Boats is now available on wax! When Curren$y (aka Spitta Andretti) & Harry Fraud collab, they create classics, something which is most definitely evidenced on ‘Cigarette Boats’. The merger of Harry’s signature production and Spitta’s deadly flow show why XXL Magazine named it the "2012 EP of the Year." The duo decided it was time to make Cigarette Boats available in all formats, releasing the instrumentals exclusively on vinyl. Fraud recalled his audition for Curren$y, after meeting him while working on a Smoke DZA project: "I had met Curren$y briefly for one second at a radio station, but that was the first time we really kicked it. He just asked me to play some beats, and I played like five beats, and he was just like, 'Yo, I need all of those. We gotta do a little EP with those.'” Those same five beats became the entire sound bed for the ‘Cigarette Boats’.
$29.99
Jedi Mind Tricks frontman, Vinnie Paz, returns with his fourth, full-length solo album. For over twenty years, Vinnie Paz's dedication to the craft of emceeing has helped cement his reputation as one of the most respected emcees in the indie hip-hop scene. Since launching his own independent label in 2010, Paz has released a barrage of albums that also include his work with Jedi Mind Tricks, Army of the Pharaohs, and Heavy Metal Kings.
$12.99
Babu the Turntablist is back, known for The classic DJ Tool Records “Super Duck Breaks” and “Super Duper Duck Breaks”, Babu continues to make timeless music for DJ’s. These “Flips” are sure to keep dancefloors and beat heads moving.
$44.99
Final Album From the Screaming Eagle of Soul. 2xLP, Includes Bonus 12", Printed Inner Sleeves, Photo Book, Slipmat, Seeded Download Card Included. Charles Bradley's forthcoming LP, "Black Velvet" is an extraordinary collection of 10 tracks making their LP debut. In addition to fan favorites like Charles' covers of Nirvana's "Stay Away", Neil Young's "Heart Of Gold", and Rodriguez's "Slip Away" - this album features 4 never-before-heard tracks from Producer Tommy 'TNT' Brenneck's vaults.
$17.99
Humble Pi' is the forthcoming collaborative album from two NYC-based rappers, Homeboy Sandman and Edan. It's also Edan's highly anticipated return since 2005's 'Beauty And The Beat.' Sandman and Edan's partnership goes back several years, to when a friend told Sandman to check out Edans live show. It blew Sandman's mind, and the two finally connected when they shared a bill at Manhattan venue Santos Party House. Their collaboration took off from there: whenever they could find a few open hours, theyd write and record in Edans Brooklyn studio. The outcome of those sessions is this new album, on which Sandman's goofy and self-effacing but incisive raps are a perfect foil for Edan's "electric- fried psych beats" (Stereogum).
$27.99
2LP pink vinyl with printed inner sleeves. Artwork by Stanley Donwood Original score music from Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, including 5 original songs, soundtracking the forthcoming remake of Dario Argento’s cult classic “Suspiria.” The Luca Guadagnino directed film stars Dakota Johnson & Tilda Swinton.
$19.99
The Bela Session is the first official reissue of "Bela Lugosi's Dead" on vinyl, and the first release of the complete recording session: 5 tracks total, 3 previously unreleased. Late 2018 will mark the 40th anniversary of Bauhaus.
$19.99
Available in a limited edition of 10,000 on October 26, 2018. The song that burst Blondie out of the streets of the Bowery to #1 on the charts, “Heart of Glass” was the pivotal moment in punk’s choreographed slamdance with the mainstream. Inspired by Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder, Blondie transformed their campy “Once I Had A Love” into a Roland-driven juggernaut and never looked back. Explored and exploded via six distinct versions remastered from the original analog tapes, the history of “Heart of Glass” is documented here in a copious essay, its art reimagined by noted American illustrator Shepard Fairey.
$31.99
Phil Ranelin was a session trombonist recording with the likes of Steve Wonder before setting up the Tribe label with Wendell Harrison in Detroit. Like other contemporary artist run labels like Strata East and Black Jazz, Tribe releases were characterised by a heady mix of post Coltrane free jazz, soul and funk, all informed by a strong political conscience. Vibes From the Tribe is a fine record. The title track is lusciously, greasily funky and stands in pretty stark contrast to the kind of airbrushed fusion that was in vogue at the time. “Sounds from the Village” is even better (and dirtier), showcasing Ranelin’s oily trombone gymnastics and a viciously fuzzed guitar solo. “Wife” features Phil’s singing and is oddly reminiscent of Frank Zappa’s writing on Sleep Dirt; an affecting, snaking melody topped off with a beautiful solo from the leader, whose playing here has the grace of Bob Brookmeyer coupled with the agility of George Lewis. “He The One We All Knew” is the obligatory Coltrane tribute and is a trip into the kind of groove based free playing typical of Pharoah Sanders, though only really picks up when the band launch into post bop swing mode in the last six minutes or so, provoking another fine Ranelin solo. Bassist Ralph Armstrong is particularly strong here; his brief solo passages are a wonder of agility and tough lyricism that make me wonder why he’s not better known. Other highlights come from the mellifluous flute of Wendell Harrison. Beautiful stuff, and it’s good to know that Ranelin is still at work even now. Essential.
$18.99
Features include JID, Goldlink, JPEGMAFIA, and introduces long-time friend and collaborator Nyyjeria. His highly-anticipated third album TA13OO will be released in three acts. The first act, Light, will be released July 25th, followed by Gray on July 26th and Dark on July 27th. Each early single represents one of the album's acts, as "Sumo" represents Light, "Clout Cobain" represents Gray, and "Percs" represents Dark, which come together cohesively to form TA13OO. Across the three sections of TA13OO, Denzel explores topics including molestation, the presidential election, fame, hatred, paranoia, revenge, love, the current state of music and personal tales of his own near death experiences. Sonically, the album ranges just as widely as its subject matter, sounds of paranoia, fear of loss, brooding melancholy and mood swings straight from hell all find their way onto TA13OO, making this Denzel's most groundbreaking musical performance to date. TA13OO is the first longform statement from Denzel since his 2016 album Imperial, which landed him on the XXL Freshman cover and helped set the template for the South Florida sound that has exploded in the last few years. The album bridges the gap between the older generation of hip hop and the budding generation of SoundCloud rappers that he helped birth in sound and style, all while commanding respect from them both with lethal lyricism and deeply personal storytelling.
$14.99
Vinyl is a gatefold jacket with a vinyl booklet Nas' latest album, produced by Kanye West.
$23.99
Experimental Sacramento, CA hip-hop trio and force to be reckoned with, Death Grips - MC Ride, drummer/producer Zach Hill and recording engineer Andy Morin - follow-up 2016's Bottomless Pit with their sixth studio effort Year of the Snitch. The tight-lipped release includes the previously revealed singles "Streaky," "Flies," "Black Paint," "Hahaha," "Dilemma" and "Shitshow" plus collaborations with Academy Award-winning film director/producer Andrew Adamson (Shrek, Shrek II) and Tool bassist Justin Chancellor.
$8.99
Red vinyl 7", limited to 200 copies. Exclusive to FatBeats.com and official band webstore. Fresh off the success of their latest full-length album of Public Enemy reinterprations, Fear of A Brown Planet, Brownout hit back with a limited 7" featuring album highlight "Fight the Power", backed by a searing non-album cut "Brothers Gonna Work It Out".
$84.99
Contains limited clear vinyl remastered editions of Switched On, Volumes 1-3. Remastered edition of a compilation of Stereolab's first three singles, first issued in 1992. Initial copies come on clear vinyl. Includes download card. Reissued alongside new vinyl editions of the companion volumes Refried Ectoplasm [Switched On Volume 2], Aluminum Tunes [Switched On Volume 3], and a CD anthology of all 3 volumes.
$24.99
After producing and featuring on several songs by other artists, Pharrell Williams released his debut solo album 'In My Mind' in 2006. Featuring Kanye West, Gwen Stefani, Pusha T, Snoop Dogg, Nelly, and Slim Thug, 'In My Mind' is now available again on vinyl.
$24.99
Debuting at the top of the Billboard chart in 2007, Common's seventh studio album 'Finding Forever' is a fan favorite. Originally a UK and iTunes exclusive, "Play Your Cards Right" (feat. Bilal) is now available on vinyl for the first time as a bonus track on this 2 LP reissue.
$20.99
“It’d be easy to mistake this release for yet another soul revival album made by a dude who wasn’t there the first time around - but it’d be the listener’s mistake to make. What kind of record is a man with a punk past going to make when he’s been a mod, a rocker and a rare soul collector in between? One that draws on a familial history of activism, sacrifice and earnest hustling – the very same things we’re all being called upon to conjure as a society in this present moment. This is a body of work that lets neither performer nor listener off the hook, yet still understands the need for care and cause in the spaces between. Consider it: A band of fighters meant for the clear-eyed lovers of the world. Ben Pirani is not fooling around, and neither are the working musicians who agreed to make this record with him.” - Jocelyn Brown Colemine Records is proud to present the debut LP from Ben Pirani. A record that feels so very easy and familiar, but at the same time fresh and relevant. Like the hype sticker says, “Soul music that’s so positive it might just spark a revolution!”
$7.99
You might not think of Minneapolis, MN as a hotbed of reggae, but you’d be hard pressed to find any other current artists making a more authentic reggae product in 2018. “Chin Up” is a single from the forthcoming LP titled Rockstone on Colemine Records. It epitomizes what traditional rocksteady should be. Sweet harmonies, catchy hooks, and classic JA rhythms. The super sweet B-side, “Spellbound”, is exclusive to this 45 and will not appear on the LP.
$18.99
Acclaimed UK out-rock trio, Beak>, return with their first album in six years. The aptly-titled >>> will be released on September 21, 2018 on Temporary Residence Ltd./Invada Records. Written over the last year and, for the most part, written and recorded live at Invada Studios, the band continue to forge their own path through their own genre of oddness. ">>> definitely sounds like a step forward. The production and feel of the first two albums were like listening throughfrosted glass; a band playing behind a curtain. Now we are hearing Beak> in sharp focus, but without forfeiting what the band see as its 'wrongness'. This could be the result of having played bigger stages and festivals - something that was never part of the plan - or perhaps it is just a reaction to the infinite cut & paste fuzz pedal kraut bands on the planet." - Redg Weeks, Invada Label Manager
$18.99
Loser Edition on green/blue vinyl Knife Knights were born of the love of mystery. From the start of Shabazz Palaces – the groundbreaking project launched in 2009 by former-Digable Planets leader Ishmael Butler – confidentiality seemed essential: Butler wanted Shabazz Palaces to stand on its own strength, not his outsized reputation, so he adopted a nom de plume for himself. As the project’s network expanded, though, he needed new monikers for his partnerships. Knife Knights is the name he gave to his work with Seattle engineer, producer, songwriter, and film composer Erik Blood, a vital force in the Shabazz Palaces universe. Now, after more than a decade of collaboration and the development of a rich friendship, Butler and Blood have made a proper full-length record together as Knife Knights: 1 Time Mirage, an eleven-track odyssey that finds the pair and a cast of their friends weaving together a singular world of soul and shoegaze, hip-hop and lush noise, bass and bedlam. 1 Time Mirage represents a playground for Butler and Blood, a free space for unfettered exploration, and a radically adventurous start to something much more than a mere production duo or side project. Recorded in three fertile sessions interrupted by Shabazz Palaces tours and Blood’s recording projects, 1 Time Mirage is a profound fulfilment of the partnership, realized at the crossroads of Butler’s and Blood’s mutual enthusiasms. Their shared interests have been split into pieces and fused together with enviable imagination. In the decade since Butler launched Shabazz Palaces and first christened his partnership with Blood as Knife Knights, much of the external mystery has, of course, fallen away. And 1 Time Mirage is a very public step forward for the pair. The early sense of secrecy has given way to a spirit of friendship and creative candor, to the doors of experimentation being thrown open by old pals thrilled by the prospect of testing new ideas. Still, these eleven songs retain a core of intrigue and, indeed, mystery; each listen reveals yet another connection between infinite and interlocking pieces. To wit, Robert Beatty’s brilliant cover for 1 Time Mirage depicts a futuristic vehicle, being coolly steered with one hand into some great, mildly ominous unknown. That’s how these songs feel, too—confident conquests of the dark that unlock sounds and spaces you have yet to imagine.
$17.99
Limited edition maroon vinyl with an orange stripe in the middle. Working closely with his brothers and a skilled technical team including mix engineers Joey Waronker (Atoms for Peace, David Byrne, Beck, R.E.M.) and Tom Biller (Kanye West, Jon Brion, Kate Nash), and percussionist Neal Morgan (Joanna Newsom, Bill Callahan), Brocker Way’s original score for the Netflix docuseries Wild Wild Country is meant to reflect the outlook of each of the show’s interviewees rather than simply emphasizing their outward idiosyncrasies. Such an approach invites the listener to inhabit the myriad personalities and situations in the show from a virtual first-person perspective, sculpting a deeply empathic auditory experience capable of standing on its own as an album. In Way’s words “This kind of music gives us an idea as to the motives of each talking head, without actually scoring the motives of the character, and hopefully entices us as the audience to take the journey with them. When the Rajneeshees are building their town, you get to feel that and be right there with them. When Dave Fronmeyer is building his case, you get to feel the nobility he saw in his cause, and we hope to put you right in the room with him when he’s doing it. When a city inspector has to go onto the ranch you can feel the fear as you sit in the car with him. That’s the goal anyway.”
$12.99
West Coast Berkeley grad, battle rapper and musician Locksmith has hammered out a reputation as one of Hiphop's most enlightened no punch pulling emcees. From his early appearances on MTV's Freestyle Championship to his frequent Shade 45 appearances, Locksmith always brings cutting lyricism that not only questions the status quo but offers deep truths for reflection. Meanwhile Detroit's Apollo Brown has built his illustrious career on emotive production that draws the best out of already legendary mic kings. From his work with Ras Kass and OC, Skyzoo to Ghostface Killah, Apollo repeatedly creates eyes shut, head nodding, soul stirring perfection for our greatest storytellers to lay their truth bare. So when Richmond & Detroit came together in the studio the answer was "No Question" - a new project that finds Locksmith ruminating on everything from advice to his younger self to his continued drive to rise without following in anyones footsteps. Apollo Brown is back June 15th with yet another of the best emcees to ever do it.
$13.99
FEATURES GUEST VERSES FROM CORMEGA, N.O.R.E., MEYHEM LAUREN, FREDDIE GIBBS, AZ, AND MORE AND GUEST PRODUCTION FROM ALCHEMIST, DJ PREMIER, PETE ROCK, SHOWBIZ AND MORE... Kool G Rap doesn’t let his legend status stop him from continuing to do what he loves. Last year, the Corona, Queens veteran dropped his ‘Return Of The Don’ album, and in 2018, he’s following up the solid effort with a collaborative album full of heavy hitters behind the boards and on the mic, alongside Rochester native 38 Spesh (aka $pesh), who linked with Griselda Records’ Benny the Butcher earlier this year for the well-received ‘Stabbed & Shot’ album. ‘Son Of G Rap’ dropped digitally in July, and now it finds its way to CD. The album’s tracklisting boasts veteran features like Cormega (on the song “Dead or Alive”) and AZ (“Honest Truth”) while also brandishing newer school spitters like Freddie Gibbs and Meyhem Lauren (on “Flow Gods”) and Griselda Records’ Benny The Butcher (on “Binoculars”). Behind the boards, as mentioned, KGR summoned production akin to MCing prowess. Alchemist heads up “Land Mine” while DJ Premier and Pete Rock lay the beats for two tracks each. Album mainstays Midnite and 38 Spesh handle most of the rest of the production. Overall, the project is a lot of what you’d expect from Kool G Rap: grimy street rhymes full of stories of peril and the beats to match. On “Land Mine,” the duo of 38 Spesh and Ransom provide a rather introspective look-back on their troubled come up while a song like “Flow Gods” reminds everyone that G and his assembly are nothing to be taken lightly when it comes to witty wordplay and velvety smooth bars.
$14.99
Mac Miller has accomplished every goal he ever set for himself. At least that's what the magazines say about the Pittsburgh kid, and they're right enough. With his first album he became a grassroots rap megastar. With his second he bared his weird soul and was praised for it. His 11 mixtapes boast a couple bucket lists' worth of collaborators, from Bun B and Kendrick Lamar to Rick Ross and Juicy J. And in the same year that he toured the U.S. backed by a psychedelic soul band, he rapped all over Europe with Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz. He did indie. He's doing major. He even bought himself a ridiculous house in the Los Angeles hills and made a TV show about it. Hell, he made a jazz record.
$19.99
In Sudan, the political and cultural are inseparable. In 1989, a coup brought a hardline religious government to power. Music was violently condemned. Many musicians and artists were persecuted, tortured, forced to flee into exile — and even murdered, ending one of the most beloved music eras in all of Africa and largely denying Sudan’s gifted instrumentalists, singers, and poets, from strutting their creative heritage on the global stage. What came before in a special era that protected and promoted the arts was one of the richest music scenes anywhere in the world. Although Sudanese styles are endlessly diverse, this compilation celebrates the golden sound of the capital, Khartoum. Each chapter of the cosmopolitan city’s tumultuous musical story is covered through 16 tracks: from the hypnotic violin and accordion-driven orchestral music of the 1970s that captured the ears and hearts of Africa and the Arabic-speaking world, to the synthesizer and drum machine music of the 1980s, and the music produced in exile in the 1990s. The deep kicks of tum tum and Nubian rhythms keep the sound infectious. Sudan of old had music everywhere: roving sound systems and ubiquitous bands and orchestras kept Khartoum’s sharply dressed youth on their feet. Live music was integral to cultural life, producing a catalog of concert recordings. In small arenas and large outdoor venues, musical royalty of the day built Khartoum’s reputation as ground zero for innovation and technique that inspired a continent. Musicians in Ethiopia and Somalia frequently point to Sudan’s biggest golden era stars as idols. Mention Mohammed Wardi — a legendary Sudanese singer and activist akin to Fela Kuti in stature and impact in his music and politics — and they often look to the heavens. Such is the reputation of Sudanese music, particularly in the “Sudanic Belt,” a cultural zone that stretches from Djibouti all the way west to Mauritania, covering much of the Sahara and the Sahel, lands where Sudanese artists are household names and Sudanese poems are regularly used as lyrics until today to produce the latest hits. Sudanese cassettes often sold more in Cameroon and Nigeria than at home. But years of anti-music sentiment have made recordings in Sudan difficult to source. Ostinato’s team traveled to Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, and Egypt in search of the timeless cultural artifacts that hold the story of Africa’s most mesmerizing cultures. That these cassette tape and vinyl recordings were mainly found in Sudan’s neighbors is a testament to Sudanese music’s widespread appeal. With our Sudanese partner and co-compiler Tamador Sheikh Eldin Gibreel, a once famous poet and actress in ’70s Khartoum, Ostinato’s fifth album, following our Grammy-nominated “Sweet As Broken Dates,” revives the enchanting harmonies, haunting melodies, and relentless rhythms of Sudan’s brightest years, fully restored, remastered and packaged luxuriously in a triple LP gatefold and double CD bookcase to match the regal repute of Sudanese music. A 20,000-word liner note booklet gives voice to the singers silenced by an oppressive regime. Take a sail down the Blue and White Nile as they pass through Khartoum, carrying with them an ancient history and a never-ending stream of poems and songs. It takes two Niles to sing a melody
$12.99
When you hear the phrase, “everything’s fine,” we immediately understand it as emotional shorthand. In daily life, we depend on those perfunctory clichés (hope all is well, good to hear from you, etc.) to spare ourselves from the psychological unpacking that the truth requires. For that, there’s art. For that, there’s Everything’s Fine from Jean Grae and Quelle Chris, a jagged, acerbic odyssey that brilliantly riffs on this dystopian zeitgeist. The thing is, anyone without a lobotomy and a toxic red hat understands that things are definitely not fine. The crush of modern anxiety, the late capitalist scramble to survive, and the brain warp rot of social media has left most of us half crazy. “We have a dickhead for a president, and before our eyes, racial, religious, and sexual identity rights are moving backwards,” says New York’s (by way of Detroit) Quelle Chris. “Money is still a thing (I’m waiting for Star Trek life to start). There’s war, your kids may be sick, but if someone randomly asks "how's it going?" most people will say "fine." Released on Mello Music Group, this album replaces that reflexive cliché with honest and eloquent tangents. It’s specific and subtle in its execution, achieving equilibrium between lackadaisical detours to smell the flowers and the frantic acknowledgement that there’s an inferno raging outside. If the great political albums are often grim polemics, Everything’s Fine achieves its goals partially through withering satire. See the opening skit, a Prince Paul-style game show in which three contestants (including a futuristic robot) numbly croak that everyone’s fine despite flying high on every imaginable drug, crying themselves to sleep at night and being unemployed for a decade and a half despite having a Master’s in Fine Arts. I promise it’s much funnier than it reads off a screen. “We’re both perfectionists in different ways,” Jean Grae describes their working relationship. “We both see huge pictures and concepts. So while listening, pay attention to the subtleties, the nuances, the dissonance and the harmony. The conversations and pieces of ourselves in the words, the flows, the beats. All of the open spaces. .Be uncomfortable and be okay with that. Be layered and be okay with that. Be angry and be okay.” It’s rare to find a record where two rappers are so seamlessly intertwined. Yes, that’s partially a by-product of the teamwork that goes into being in any normal relationship where you wake, sleep, and dream together. But the album also bears the hallmarks of two singular creative geniuses trading bars, collaborating on beats, and combining fun with internal therapy and external observations. It features indelible cameos from Denmark Vessey, Grammy Award winner Anna Wise, Your Old Droog and Big Tone, as well as comics Ashok “Dap” Kondabolu, Michael Che, Nick Offerman, and Hannibal Burress. In the streaming era, we tend to naturally overlook albums that require multiple listens. This is a record that will grab you on first listen, but it’s greatness only reveals itself through its careful construction, slick wordplay, and esoteric allusions. On “Zero,” Jean artfully references Rachmaninoff and The Donner Party in the first two bars. With “Scoop A Dirt,” she name-drops the Babadook alongside the truth bomb that Friends was little more than a whitewashed rip off off Living Single. Meanwhile, Quelle balances boasts about bags of cash the size of Chris Christie with poignant existential laments. Somewhere in between, Jean will stealthily slip in jewels like, “it took me until my 30s just to put my finger on it, once you accept the knowledge/solace doesn’t follow/honest.” It’s a record with only a couple antecedents: De La Soul is Dead, Organized Konfusion’s Stress: The Extinction Agenda, Blackstar, and maybe Cannibal Ox’s Cold Vein. Yet it doesn't sound remotely like any of them. It’s spontaneous and free, yet refined and meticulous. Even if everything is abject, it’s a reminder that music can transcend. “This album is full of our minds. Our hearts. Our love for production, and words. flow and a lot of musicality,” Jeans says. “We don’t approach topics, issues, writing, or making beats in the same way. I’m harsh, blunt, quick, technical, I arrange classically and play more than I sample. I make joints with 80 tracks. I’m layers upon layers upon layers. Quelle is patient, he’s kinder. More loose and minimalistic. He makes sounds work together that shouldn’t fucking work. How? I have no idea. These are dreams within dreams.”
$10.99
Tragedy Khadafi can be viewed as the originator of the modern QB sound. His resume is cemented with legendary albums and features. Trag’s teaching and guidance has helped QB stand atop the Hip Hop landscape as one of the most dominant forces in Hip Hop. BP has been crafting his sound and style for over 10 years. His ability to develop whole projects with a distinct sound, feel, and theme separate him from other beat makers and producers. Trag and BP have teamed up before on Black Market Militia’s “The Struggle”, BP’s remix for the HRSMN song “Historic”, and on Nature’s “Give It To ‘Em”. The two of them have an undeniable chemistry and have joined forces to create a joint album: Tragedy Khadafi & BP “Immortal Titans”. The album starts with a dark ominous energy and grows as Tragedy takes you through his various experiences and styles. From street bangers like “Immortal Titans”, to non-stop lyrical content on “Upper Echelon”, to concepts on the “Labels” inspired “Prime Time”, and the true story behind Trag’s role in the formation of the group Lords of the Underground. Features include fellow QB legend Nature on “F#*% How They Feel”, Apathy “Mastermind”, The Winners (SmooVth, Rozewood, and Hus Kingpin) “Renoir Repertoire”, and Ali Vegas “The World Is Mine”. DJ Stitches (Class A Felony) created epic scratches throughout the record to give the album an indisputable Hip Hop feel. Immortal Titans is the Tragedy & BP album that delivers on the promise of never having to hit skip. Sit back and take a journey with the Immortal Titans.
$11.99
Da Buze Bruvaz have created a modern Blaxploitation epic in hip-hop form. Known for their raw and unapologetic over the top lyrics, they have built a strong cult following. They now present Ni$&@tivity, their official follow up to 2017’s Adebesi Hat LP. This project is even more over the top and sounds like Richard Pryor having a hardcore battle with Redd Foxx. The Philadelphia duo have taken it up a degree and should offend pretty much any and everyone fairly. Aside from rhymes they are also longtime members of the legendary NY posse the LoLifes, founded by Thirstin Howl 3rd and are heavily regarded in that movement.
$12.99
FINALLY, the wait is over! Curren$y and Harry Fraud's new joint effort is here. The rapper-producer duo unloaded The Marina EP, an eight-track project featuring guest appearances from Wiz Khalifa, French Montana, Action Bronson, Smoke DZA and Street Wiz. Curren$y (aka Spitta Andretti) and Fraud previously connected on Cigarette Boats, an EP they dropped in 2012 as a Sound Cloud only release. The Marina sees their chemistry is still as sharp as ever, with each artist lending what we think are career-best efforts. The Marina is a showcase for Spitta's understated, but clever brand of lyricism. Mr. Fraud also delivers, crafting a soundscape as dynamic as Spitta's subtly versatile flows. The chemistry between the two would make Walter White envious. The show begins with "Radar Tower," a dreamy opening for a project filled with gems from Fraud and Curren$y. "Yours truly in the booth, packaging and wrapping these bricks/My style capture a chick, she was dressed quite ravishing/In the parking lot at the Radisson/With garbage bags of cash in the back of the van," Curren$y raps, tying in some nice alliteration while sounding as relaxed as can be. With additional tracks featuring heavyweights like French Montana, Action Bronson, Smoke DZA and Wiz Khalifa, this release is certain to become an instant “must cop” release.
Sold Out - $10.99
NOW AVAILABLE ON CASSETTE!!! Often, art is considered the safe space for dangerous ideas. JPEGMAFIA is a reminder that in a dangerous world, sometimes nowhere is safe. Operating out of Baltimore Maryland but born in New York to Jamaican parents, JPEG spent the bulk of his childhood in East Flatbush, Brooklyn—a neighborhood deeply rooted in West Indian culture and black pride—and the majority of his mid teens in deep south rural Alabama—bouncing from place to place due to rough circumstances at home and after a short stint in prison due to a racially-charged altercation in his late teens, JPEG joined the military where he’d be deployed to different parts of the world, meeting fellow artists and adding new elements to his producing and rapping repertoire. If trap music is the sound of the street, then JPEGMAFIA is trap’s subconscious; dark but not without a humor that makes things even more uncomfortable. His role as villain or satirist, hood protector or nihilist is intentionally hard to put one’s finger on. What more appropriate way to embody the frightening and confusing reality of America today?
$9.99
Demo versions on side B. "I'll go unknown by torpedo or Crohn's / Only those evil live to see their own likeness in stone." It's the kind of couplet you'd carve into a wall whilst savoring the irony at hand, but when Yoni Wolf spit the line ten years ago he was blissfully, broodily unaware that he and his band WHY? were creating a career-defining album—one so fan-adored that it would go out of print, and so influential that the art-pop heroine Lorde herself would lovingly steal the very lyric quoted above. When it dropped in 2008, Alopecia not only marked WHY?'s evolution from a sonically collaged mostly solo project to a live-recorded powerhouse band of badass multi-instrumentalists. It also minted a genre of one: wryly written, poignantly posed, simultaneously swaggering and heart-rending song-rap that jangles like folk, bursts like psych-rock, and sways like chamber pop. To this day, there is no other group in the known universe that sounds or feels like WHY? does on Alopecia. The album's 2018 reissue cheekily etches that aural likeness into our musical history.
$11.99
K-Def is an unopposed underground beat legend, has been banging on his MPC for years. Beats From Da 90s brings you some of his released and unreleased sampled, looped, soul-drenched lost tracks. Found in a bag of dusted DATs before leaving the House of Hits and moving over to computers, K-Def brought the heat out of his analog machines. The MPC 3000 and S-3000, were his main weapons, of choice. These tracks in question exemplify that mid-'90s sound to such a degree that it serves up a veritable lesson in boom bap aesthetics, a flawless realization of how emotive, sonically rich and downright beautiful hip hop music can be when executed by a master. Originally available in 2008 on Vinyl LP and CD formats. Now for the first time on Cassette, this 10 Year Anniversary features the hidden never released Bonus Track "It's Good".
$7.99
"The desert is a recurring theme in a lot of my music and art. Something about it – the contrast of what looks like desolation to the naked eye to the vibrancy that one sees upon looking closer, the silence that allows you to hear the faint sounds in the air, the formations that are colors you've never even heard of before, and night sky that serves as a backdrop for every star in our galaxy – are all elements that I wanted to echo in Death Valley. I wanted to create an album that people could listen to while they cruise through their desert, wherever or whatever that may be for them." - Astronautica Astronautica is back with new music this year, scheduled to release Death Valley with Alpha Pup Records on digital and physical formats, August 24, 2018. Death Valley is the singer-songwriter's much anticipated follow-up to the critically acclaimed album, Gemini, and the recent Gemini Remixes EP. Written and recorded over the last three years, Astronautica captured Death Valley at her home studio in Los Angeles. This was completed around her Ace Hotel residency, festival dates through the States, a mini-tour up the West Coast, and a month-long stint with Low End Theory. Like her past works, the new record captures the eclectic nature of LA's experimental electronic scene and the connections tethered into various cultures around the globe. Primary instrumentation utilized across Death Valley consists of guitar, Push, Launchkey, and Ultra Nova, with a template drawn from radiant harmonies, experimental overtones, Latin rhythms, and dance floor grooves. Astronautica's vocals trace through the music with an airy veil, spinning out ghost like tones that shimmer through the music with an elusiveness. The feeling of adventure and mysticism is rooted into Death Valley that's unlike anything she's created before. Conceptually, Astronautica reimagined herself in various places of travel through the songwriting process, recreating the original vibes of each setting like a painter contextualizing the most impactful visions they've experienced. This approach takes the listener through their own journeys while giving latitude to provide a window into the essence of her own pathway. This duality of self-reflection and the outward extension to the listener makes this as personal of an album for Astronautica as much as it's a universal representative of humanities complex variations. "A lot of the inspiration for my music stems from traveling to places that I've never been to before or places I continually go back to, and the feelings they evoke in me upon going there," states Astronautica. "I think with Death Valley, it truly is both an inward reflection as well as an extroverted sentiment. The vastness of the desert has always given me this feeling of awe, and Death Valley is my effort to capture that." Rays of warmth shine through the skies of Death Valley with the enveloping, third-eye intro “Sunrise.” Open-hearted “Reasons” wanders the desert wilderness in search of spiritual awakening. Bliss out on an unexplored island with “Racetracks,” a tonic lounge carved from indigenous beats and body-moving bass. Prismatic brightness bubbles up in “I’ve Never Been,” and “Can’t Remember” swirls around a memory glitch. Fireflies float through “California Roll,” a colorful sunset of a song that churns into a twilight vibe. Imbued with a surreal sense of freedom, “Mahogany” is a tropical vacation: palm trees in the breeze, foamy ocean swells, beach bonfires under the stars. “You Should” roams over swift-footed curves and “Sunset” follows the road into a dust-faded dreamland. Vast, expanding, and always exploring, Death Valley transcends into a sacred space. It is that fleeting, glowing moment when everything feels okay. Astronautica has released music with Alpha Pup Records for five years, dropping her debut-full length Replay Last Night in 2013, and following up with the 2014's Waikiki EP and 2015's Gemini LP. Death Valley continues her fruitful journey as one of LA's most prominent and respected voices in the underground and finds the rising artist creating her best work to date. An accompanied merchandise line will launch with the release of Death Valley, along with a handful of tour dates around the US in support.
$7.99
In 2018, Low will turn twenty-five. Since 1993, Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker—the married couple whose heaven-and-earth harmonies have always held the band’s center—have pioneered a subgenre, shrugged off its strictures, recorded a Christmas classic, become a magnetic onstage force, and emerged as one of music’s most steadfast and vital vehicles for pulling light from our darkest emotional recesses. But Low will not commemorate its first quarter-century with mawkish nostalgia or safe runs through songbook favorites. Instead, in faithfully defiant fashion, Low will release its most brazen, abrasive (and, paradoxically, most empowering) album ever: Double Negative, an unflinching eleven-song quest through snarling static and shattering beats that somehow culminates in the brightest pop song of Low’s career. To make Double Negative, Low reenlisted B.J. Burton, the quietly energetic and adventurous producer who has made records with James Blake, Sylvan Esso, and The Tallest Man on Earth in recent years while working as one of the go-to figures at Bon Iver’s home studio, April Base. Burton recorded Low’s last album, 2015’s Ones and Sixes, at April Base, adding might to many of its beats and squelch and frisson beneath many of its melodies. This time, though, Sparhawk, Parker, and bassist Steve Garrington knew they wanted to go further with Burton and his palette of sounds, to see what someone who is, as Sparhawk puts it, “a hip-hop guy” could truly do to their music. Rather than obsessively write and rehearse at home in Duluth, Minnesota, they would often head southeast to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, arriving with sketches and ideas that they would work on for days with Burton. Band and producer became collaborative cowriters, building the pieces up and breaking them down and building them again until their purpose and force felt clear. As the world outside seemed to slide deeper into instability, Low repeated this process for the better part of two years, pondering the results during tours and breaks at home. They considered not only how the fragments fit together but also how, in the United States of 2018, they functioned as statements and salves. Double Negative is, indeed, a record perfectly and painfully suited for our time. Loud and contentious and commanding, Low fights for the world by fighting against it. It begins in pure bedlam, with a beat built from a loop of ruptured noise waging war against the paired voices of Sparhawk and Parker the moment they begin to sing during the massive “Quorum.” For forty minutes, they indulge the battle, trying to be heard amid the noisy grain, sometimes winning and sometimes being tossed toward oblivion. In spite of the mounting noise, Sparhawk and Parker still sing. Or maybe they sing because of the noise. For Low, has there ever really been a difference?
$9.99
1995/1996 remastered demo with unreleased beats from unknown Bronx, NY duo called the Midnight EEz. So this is how the story goes.. A long long time ago in a galaxy far away, that is to say pre-internet, 1995 or 1996 to be not very exact, All City co-founder Splyce found himself on one of his regular record buying sojourns to New York. Approached outside the Fat Beats store by two guys who had heard he was a DJ from out of town and were eager to spread word of their production work outside their homeland, he was given a mix tape demo of their beats. Named The Midnight Eez, from the Bronx, they were one of thousands of budding production units on Manhattan Island. The tape came only with a name and pager number, which hardly surprisingly now goes unanswered in 2011, but after relocating that same tape in a recent house move, in the spirit of musical altruism we have decided to give it the proper vinyl release it deserves. Hopefully this release will see The Midnite Eez them get some belated but deserved shine. Tracklisting is precisely as per the original cassette, with 30 minutes of hip hop music over the two sides.. Cover photo courtesy of NY photographer Sue Kwon.
$9.99
Blessing you with 75 minutes of sinless soul on limited edition cassette tape (100 copies). All mixed, edited and engineered by DJ Big Jacks.
$7.99
Blitzen Trapper is the Portland, Oregon-based experimental country and folk rock band, who in 2008 released Furr, its breakthrough album and label debut for Sub Pop. The record was met with universal acclaim, earning praise from the likes of The Guardian, Pitchfork, Paste, AV Club, and Rolling Stone, who in its four-star review called the album “an engaging album full of rootsy beauty.” The album would earn the no. 13 spot on Rolling Stone’s 50 Best Albums of 2008 later that year. For this expanded deluxe edition of Furr, Blitzen Trapper have compiled over two LPs worth of material: the original album and twelve rare and previously unreleased tunes. The added songs are from the same recordings that become Furr, with the exception of the “Live at KCRW” tracks, which were recorded during the Furr tour. The songs “War is Placebo,” “Booksmart Baby,” and “Maybe Baby” appeared as limited-edition singles for Record Store Day in 2009 and 2011. This reissue also features new liner notes from Eric Earley reflecting on the album, as well as a track-by-track description of the bonus songs, and a Q&A with the stage and screen actor Rainn Wilson (of The Office fame).
