MF Doom - MM..FOOD (20th Anniversary Edition)

In celebration of the album’s 20th anniversary, MM..FOOD has been repackaged with all new artwork by Sam Rodriguez!

Originally released in 2004, MF DOOM's MM..FOOD is hailed as a classic hip-hop album full of inventive production, remarkable wordplay, and unique themes. Celebrated for its seamless blend of humor, wit, and social commentary, the album ushers listeners into a bizarre world of food-related metaphors, painting a bitterly comedic portrait of a life tainted by vice, violence, and jealousy. It was a brilliant and novel concept that gave DOOM plenty of room to explore the album’s subjects.

Throughout MM..FOOD, DOOM embeds complex ideas within seemingly simple narratives. Album opener “Beef Rapp” is a multi-pronged metaphor reminding listeners of the dangers involved in the glorification of conflict, especially within the rap game. “Hoe Cakes” borrows its name from the sweet, hot water cornmeal patties, which he uses as a symbol to rhyme about indulgence and excess. Continuing the motif, DOOM uses the Madlib-produced “One Beer” to fold layers of depth about escapism and ego, while the popular “Rapp Snitch Knishes” critiques the self-incrimination and contradictory behaviors of some rappers. Overall, MM..FOOD is both a social commentary and a piece of social satire, showcasing MF DOOM’s ability to blend serious themes with his unique, playful lyrical style.

The digital version of the 20th Anniversary Edition features 11 bonus tracks including 3 remixes, 1 alternate edit, and 7 rare and insightful clips of MF DOOM being interviewed by Kevin Beacham, just days before the original album release in 2004. 

CD1:
1. Beef Rapp
2. Hoe Cakes
3. Potholderz
4. One Beer
5. Deep Fried Frenz
6. Poo-Putt Platter
7. Fillet-O-Rapper
8. Gumbo
9. Fig Leaf Bi-Carbonate
10. Kon Karne
11. Guinnessez
12. Kon Queso
13. Rapp Snitch Knishes
14. Vomitspit
15. Kookies

CD2:
1. One Beer (Madlib Remix)
2. Hoe Cakes (Ant Remix)
3. Hoe Cakes (Jake One Remix)
4. Hoe Cakes (Beatboxapella)

CD3:
1. The Evolution From Zev Love X to MF DOOM
2. Being Embraced by a Diverse Fanbase
3. Conquering Writer's Block
4. Doing Production vs. Working with Producers
5. The Making of MM..FOOD
6. MM..FOOD Favorites
7. The Future with Metalface Records, Gas Drawls & Rhymesayers

Mal Waldron and Terumasa Hino - Reminicent Suite

As the As the BBE Music J Jazz Masterclass Series hits its 19th title, the milestone is suitably matched by a collaboration between two giants of jazz brought together to deliver an exceptional album, working with a band of the very best Japanese jazz musicians.

‘Reminicent Suite’ by American pianist Mal Waldron and Japanese trumpeter Terumasa Hino was originally released in 1973 on the famed Victor label and was one of several Japan-only albums recorded and released by Waldron over a thirty-year period, most of which have never been available outside Japan. ‘Reminicent Suite’ comprises two extended tracks, both taking up a side each. The title track on Side A is composed by Waldron, and is a dark, brooding heavy groove typical of his early 70s sound. ‘Black Forest’ on side B is written by Hino and is a vivid and energetic piece, layered and textured with dense percussion and Hino’s signature trumpet tone.

Mal Waldron started out in the early 1950s working extensively on the Prestige label with notable figures such as Gene Ammons, Jackie McLean and Charles Mingus. Most famously, he worked with Billie Holiday before leaving the States in the mid-60s and relocating to Europe where he established himself as a major figure working across many countries including France, Italy, and Germany, where he made his home in Munich. In 1969, Waldron recorded the first releases for two major European jazz labels, ECM and Enja, before visiting Japan on tour for the first time in 1970. Waldron instantly fell in love with Japan and, over the next three decades, extensively toured and recorded there for numerous labels.

Terumasa Hino is one of the towering figures of post-war modern jazz in Japan. Coming to prominence via the Hideto Shiraki and Sadao Watanabe bands in the mid-60s, Hino soon emerged as one of the prime movers in new jazz generation that changed the direction of jazz in Japan. He explored a more open, freer, and improvised sound, mixing psychedelic and rock elements with freeform and post-bop jazz. Hino recorded for many of the leading jazz labels of the era including Columbia, Three Blind Mice, and East Wind and would go on to relocate to the US in the mid-70s, immersing himself with the leading fusion players of the New York scene including Larry Corryell, Mtume, Al Foster, Dave Liebman and many more. In the early 80s, Hino’s jazz funk tracks were dancefloor smashes on the UK jazz dance scene.

Joining Waldron and Hino on ‘Reminicient Suite’ is a band made up of the very best Japanese jazzman of their day: Takeo Uematsu on sax, Terumasa’s brother, Motohiko Hino, on drums, and the legendary bass master, Isao Suzuki. Together, they deliver one of the very best albums of the era, a richly articulated and dynamic session that exemplifies the very best that the Japanese jazz scene was doing in the early 1970s.

‘Reminicent Suite’ is pressed on 200g vinyl presented in a gatefold sleeve plus obi strip, with new photos by Tadayuki Naito; translated original sleeve notes; and a 7500-word essay including interview with Terumasa Hino from Tony Higgins, co-curator of the J Jazz Masterclass Series. This is the first time this album has been available outside of Japan.

The BBE J Jazz Masterclass Series is personally curated by Tony Higgins and Mike Peden and is dedicated to presenting the very finest in Japanese modern jazz. The series features rare material presented in the highest quality reproductions of the original releases, fully licensed and authorised. 

Tracklist:
1. Reminicent Suite: Dig It Deep Down Baby〜Echoes〜Once More With Feeling
2. Black Forest

High Contrast - Restoration

Tracklist:
1. Overture
2. Remember Me
3. Be No Rain
4. Lord
5. Happy People
6. Realise
7. It’s Alright
8. Loved You So
9. On Bass
10. No Words
11. Patience
12. Restoration

Kokoroko - Get The Message

Kokoroko, the London-based contemporary jazz collective, has released their new single ‘Three Piece Suit’ featuring Azekel.

Warm, rich and sumptuous in sound, ‘Three Piece Suit’ is a heartwarming tribute to the Nigerian immigrant experience. An initial draft of the track first began life at Kokoroko’s studio under the working title ‘Get The Message’.

Crackling through the track’s snug and patiently-arranged grooves are subtle touches of funk, adding new dimensions to the band's signature afrobeat and jazz sound in a way that recalls the work of Cymande. Further caressing the instrumentation is the incorporation of the Brazilian nose flute and woozy-sounding synth lines, effortlessly transporting the listeners back in time.

A conversation between Onome Edgeworth, the band’s percussionist and Azekel about their grandfathers who both landed in Balham from Nigeria in the 1960s would yield finishing touches that its rough sketches needed, bringing the song home to its final form.

Speaking on the track’s conception, Onome said: "We wrote the song thinking of our grandfathers arriving in London and the way they carried themselves and dressed in the 1960s. They were part of a dapper and suited generation that sowed the seeds for the worlds we’re building now. It speaks to our sentimental memories of a time that we know we can't have back”.

Palpable throughout are spiritual echoes resonating with ideas of home, lineage and ancestry. Speaking on this, Azekel said: “The song is about coming back, letting go and realizing that all things, past, present and future are intertwined.”

The unveiling of ‘Three Piece Suit’ comes alongside the news that Kokoroko will be releasing a brand new EP entitled ‘Get The Message’. Slated for release on November 1st via Brownswood Recordings, ‘Get The Message’ was created as an intentional vessel for joy. Heavily filled with themes of community, connection and relationships both romantic and platonic, the new EP is a manifestation of Kokoroko and their inner world.

The forthcoming EP will mark Kokoroko’s first dose of new music since the release of ‘Could We Be More Remixes’. The experimental and kaleidoscopic sister project to their 2022 debut album ‘Could We Be More’ which upon initial release earned critical plaudits from the likes of The Guardian, The Telegraph, Financial Times, Jazzwise, CRACK Magazine and Downbeat Magazine. The release would also garner their first Top 40 placement on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at No.30.

Enlisting some of contemporary music’s most forward-thinking artists like KeiyaA, Ash Lauryn, Stefan Ringer and Hagan to re-imagine the original album through a club-focused lens, ‘Could We Be More Remixes’ marked the beginning of the band being cast beyond spaces unrelated to the jazz sphere. A signal of their incoming next phase.

To coincide with the release of ‘Get The Message’, Kokoroko will be embarking on a headline tour across the UK which will culminate with a date at London’s O2 Academy Brixton. This will mark the biggest headline show of their career. 

Tracklist:
1. Higher
2. Sweeter Than
3. My Prayer
4. Three Piece Suit (feat. Azekel)

The Cromagnon Band - Mode

Mode is an album borne of the Cromagnon Band's creative process of taking breaks they love from the tracks they love, made by the artists they love and then jamming live in the studio until something new evolves that has taken a long journey away from the source. Taking the grooves they composed in these sessions the band reverse engineered what they created and produced the final tracks as a creative trio. From start to finish the whole process is paradoxically both constrained and given creative spontaneity by the 100% live jam creative technique.

The purely instrumental tracks on Mode represent music for the sake of music with no specific narrative but which allow space for the listener to make their own interpretations and create their own mental images. The mood is transcendental and transporting with as many ideas packed into each track as possible. The sound is cinematic and psychedelic dark Funk that showcases the band members' musical pedigrees and heritage as music lovers; Nordic psych/jazz, classical, boom-bap Hip-Hop breaks and riff heavy rock a la early Black Sabbath.

The Cromagnon Band was formed in 2015 and is a trio of artists who compose and produce their own work. Drummer Tom Watt and Bassist Lenny Walker are both from a music production background whilst Bert Page is a classically trained musician who plays all the keys as well as sax and clarinet. As well as being a studio entity The Cromagnon Band play out as a live trio, adapting and arranging their tracks to the live stage with Bert playing Moog and Rhodes simultaneously. Mode is the Cromagnon Band's second album and their debut release on BBE Music and will be released as a digital and vinyl LP.

Tracklist:
1. Wilderland
2. Bad Night
3. Contrary Motion
4. Phrygia
5. Crooked Usage
6. Fate/No Fate
7. Sky Burial
8. Hadley's Hope
9. Mandelbrot
10. Not Nothing

Quantic - Tropics

Musical polymath Quantic kicks off a special series of EPs to mark Aus Music's 200th release Canadian vocalist Laura Roy features on one of the singles

You name it, Will Holland has done it. The talented songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist and sound engineer has excelled as a solo artist and high-level collaborator over the last 20 years. A creative free spirit who is constantly engaged with his surroundings, he is as likely to serve up unheard wonders from Ethiopia and South America as he is the original sounds of Cumbia, surf guitar and folk, downtempo and dub. His love of club music has manifested on this label before now in the form of his Heaven Or Hell EP back in 2021 and now he returns in fine style.

This EP kicks off a run of four releases from different artists to mark the 200th outing of Will Saul's influential Aus Music. It is an era-defining label that has platformed some of the scene's brightest stars way before they broke out. Since launching in 2006, the label has remained dedicated to releasing club-ready music with a cultured edge from deep and melodic house to the earliest bass-driven post-dubstep fusions. Opener 'Tropics' is a fully live disco workout created by some of New York's best session musicians. The perfect celebratory single kicks off the 200 series with irresistible bounce and funky basslines. Dancing keys overflow with feel-good vibes while the chords have subtle hints of a Marshall Jefferson classic. The stirring 'Born Again' is a lush and sweeping groove packed with exuberant live musicianship, distant cosmic arps and splashing cymbals. Soaring up top are the beautifully pained and emotive vocals of Laura Roy, a Grammy nominated talent who blends 70's folk and 90's r&b into her own style. After the instrumental version comes closer 'Japanese Knives' with its paddy kick drums and organic hits, tumbling fills and heart-warming chord work. It's a classy house vibe for cosy and loved-up 'floors.

Quantic's Tropics EP arrives digitally and on vinyl via Aus Music on the 27th September. Lead single 'Tropics' streams August 16th and 'Born Again' ft. Laura Roy on September 6th. 

Tracklist:
1. Tropics
2. Tropics (12 inch version)
3. Born Again (ft. Laura Roy)
4. Born Again (Instrumental)
5. Japanese Knives

John Digweed - Live in Stereo

Tracklist:
1. John Digweed – Live in Stereo Continuous Mix CD1 (original mix)
2. John Digweed – Live in Stereo Continuous Mix CD2 (original mix)
3. John Digweed – Live in Stereo Continuous Mix CD3 (original mix)
4. John Digweed – Live in Stereo Continuous Mix CD4 (original mix)
5. John Digweed – Live in Stereo Continuous Mix CD5 (original mix)
6. Black Eyes – Movin Deeper (original mix)
7. Black Eyes – Groovin Deeper (original mix)
8. Lost Desert – Malaya (original mix)
9. Stephan Hinz – When The Cheese Is Gone (East End Dubs Remix)
10. Masaya CH – Miss Take (original mix)
11. Lost Desert – L'amour Est Bleu (original mix)
12. Shaun Reeves – Playground (original mix)
13. Matthias Meyer – Lagonia (original mix)
14. Anja Schneider – Belize (Laefar Legov remix)
15. Nuno Dos Santos – Dust In Your Eyes (original mix)
16. Yannick Baudino – Are You Sure (OXIA remix)
17. Nau Squaglia – Nothingness (original mix)
18. Klartraum – Clarity (original mix)
19. Terje Saether – Gone (original mix)
20. Sascha Braemer – Who Died & Made You King (feat Dom Fricot - original mix)
21. Masaya CH – Emphysema (original mix)
22. Tigerskin – This Place Is Empty Without You (original mix)
23. Simon Vuarambon/Tantum – Zenith (original mix)
24. Chris Fortier – Losing Wait (R.F.D Deep dub)
25. Tom Hades & Soren Aalberg – Inanitas (original mix)
26. Jamie Stevens – Stay (Golden Return mix)
27. Sascha Dive – La Candelaria (original mix)
28. Klartraum – Lost In Translation (original mix)
29. Masaya CH – Insomnia Happiness (original mix)
30. Mr Raoul K – Sinkere (Alternate version - instrumental)
31. Josh Wink – Iz (original mix)
32. Atnarko & Miss T – Follow You (Chris Fortier & John Debo dub)
33. John Digweed & Nick Muir – Santiago (Sinca remix)
34. Silvertooth – Shut Um Down (Sentre remix)
35. Remcord – Wax (original mix)
36. Remcord – Tanz Is Back (original mix)
37. Paul (AR) & NUFECTS – Something Different (Jamie Stevens remix)
38. Jonathan Kaspar – CHI (original mix)
39. Masaya CH – Gabriel (original mix)
40. Jonathan Kaspar – On The Line (Raw edit)
41. Argia – Gemma (original mix)
42. Argia – Oxido (original mix)
43. Frankey & Sandrino – Blue Flash (original mix)
44. Polo (AR) – Nostalgia Del Presente (Danny Howells remix)
45. Gespona & Martin Cozar – Resilience (Remcord remix)
46. Argia – Chispa (original mix)
47. Remcord – The Sub Changed My Life (original mix)
48. Catz 'n Dogz – Open Door (feat Cloud Boat - Jonathan Kaspar remix)
49. Jonathan Kaspar – We Come (original mix)
50. Tal Fussman – Into The Chamber (original mix)
51. Marc Romboy & C.A.R. – I Am A Dancer (Skatman remix)
52. Alican – Kray (original mix)
53. Argia – No Risk (original mix)
54. Moshic – I Met You On The Heel (original mix)
55. Four Candles – Inner (dub mix)
56. Patrick Siech & Sebastian Mullaert – River Will Turn (Vox version)
57. Radio Slave – My Bleep (Roman Flugel edit)
58. Argia – Data Error Data (original mix)
59. Rebeat & Parlando – Albtraum (Pole Position remix)
60. Simon Vuarambon & Tantum – Arcade (original mix)

Machinedrum - 3FOR82_D3LUX3

Machinedrum (aka Travis Stewart) announces an expanded digital edition of his recent album ‘3FOR82’, simply titled ‘3FOR82_D3LUX3’, set for release on 25th October and shares a sleek new single “GROWUP”, collaborating with alt pop maestro Kilo Kish (Vince Staples / The Internet).

“GROWUP takes us into the mind of Kilo’s younger self as she navigates having to make decisions that forced her to grow up faster than she would have liked to. I’m so excited to share this with everyone as it shows another side of my music production by incorporating loops that I made when I was younger and experimenting with dance music for the first time,” says Travis.

“GROWUP” is one of six brand new tracks that populate a new bonus disc, boasting collabs with Saba (Pivot Gang / Ghetto Sage), MoRuf, Beyoncé collaborator MeLo-X, Elena Pinderhughes and more. These new tracks nestle alongside six bonus instrumental versions of “ZOOM”, “WEARY”, “ILIKEU”, “RISE”, “RESPEK” and “BLESSD”.

“3FOR82_D3LUX3 includes songs that were written at the same time as the songs on 3FOR82. I was incredibly picky about what songs made it onto the first album, and made many cuts based solely on how some of the songs didn't fit next to the other songs on the album sonically, mood-wise or genre-wise. I’m thrilled to be able to release these songs as I feel just as strongly about these 6 new songs as I did the 12 that made 3FOR82,” explains Travis. “Additionally, the 6 instrumental tracks taken from the album aren’t simply made by removing the vocals. I did a new mix and added new production to them to make the songs exist more on their own without the vocal driving the tracks.”

‘3FOR82_D3LUX3’ is released on 25th October via Ninja Tune. 

Tracklist:
1. ORACLE (feat. Aja Monet)
2. RESPEK (feat. Topaz Jones/Ezri)
3. WEARY (feat. Mick Jenkins/Jesse Boykins III)
4. H0N3Y
5. HEAL (feat. AKTHESAVIOR/Deniro Farrar)
6. ILIKEU (feat. Duckwrth)
7. U_WANT (feat. KUCKA)
8. BLESSD (feat. Deem Spencer)
9. RISE (feat. ROZET)
10. ZOOM (feat. Tinashe)
11. KILL_U (feat. Tanerelle)
12. GODOWN (feat. Jesse Boykins III)
13. GROWUP (feat. Kilo Kish)
14. BREATH (feat. MeLo-X/Elena Pinderhughes)
15. BEBE (feat. DaVionne)
16. HABITS
17. N3WN3S (feat. MoRuf)
18. OK! (feat. Kota The Friend/Joekenneth Museau)
19. WEARY (Bonus) (instrumental)
20. RESPEK (Bonus) (instrumental)
21. ILIKEU (Bonus) (instrumental)
22. BLESSD (Bonus) (instrumental)
23. RISE (Bonus) (instrumental)
24. ZOOM (Bonus) (instrumental)

Joe Nora - Parasol

Parasol is a smooth wash of jazzy neo-soul beats, focusing on a mellow and study-friendly mood. After several vocal-focused albums, Joe Nora is excited to return to his roots with a project that highlights his instrumental production prowess.

Experimenting has been rewarding, but there's a special satisfaction in revisiting the origins and showcasing how far his sound has evolved.

Inspired by days spent exploring museums and finding shade from the summer sun, Parasol invites listeners to step outside and enjoy the world while offering a cool reprieve.

This beat tape aims to provide a little bit of chill and shade wherever you go. Featuring collaborations with harpist and producer Sara Kawai, as well as producer Harris Cole, Parasol is a testament to Joe’s finest chill beats.

Tracklist:
1. Starters
2. Quadra
3. Hourglass
4. Eldar (feat. Sara Kawai)
5. Too Forced (feat. Harris Cole)
6. Where Else
7. Moon Days
8. Save Your Breath (feat. Tida)
9. Sundried
10. Dusted