Ghana-based Benjamin Lebrave speaks fluent French and English, and can schmooze in Spanish and Portuguese. He’ll report on new African music every other week. This week, it's Chicago-via-Nigeria rapper The GTW's "Cravings." I'm on the ... read more

Benin City's Josh (Rhymes) & Faye (Trombone) Last week saw the long overdue return of the Music Like Dirt sessions with all six members of Benin City proving the music business isn't all glamour by cramming into the smallest, sweatiest rehearsal room in Walthamstow. Thankfully they were as charming as they are talented, running through a sneak preview of single number three " Crush " which superbly combines Star Wars Sith references with deft trombone and sax lines. The session will hopefully be on the site in the next month or [...]

★★★☆☆ A turntablist turned dubstep detontator, seduced by gigantic wobbles being able to hit the big time, DJ Kentaro’s kitchen sink mentality is a mere half-hour long, the development of stylus wrecker to Japanese exocet having him breathe fire and running the city into a fever. The cut and dice never leaves him, intelligently worked into "Crossfader" and electro-funk ease-up "Next Page," and there’s more than enough hip-hop firepower — DJ Krush, D-Styles, Kid Koala, C2C — to bill Contrast as a purely multi-deck throwdown. "Kikkake" and "Higher" however immediately state his intentions to [...]
Japanese turntable phenom DJ Kentaro drops a mix promoting his new album.

Summer's here so it's time to stop talking about moody, minimal techno and start blasting some tropical, tribal, latin, dancehall-infused beats 'n' bass. And who better to kick things off than Maga Bo ? Spending his formative years in Rio de Janeiro seems to have made him a lot more upbeat than his press shots suggest. Cumbia beats, dancehall vocals and a chaotic carnival vibe provide the backdrop to one of the most exceptional remix albums of recent years. Quite often with such LPs, the artists selected for the album are so disparate [...]
Melt winter with drum 'n bass
When MC Zulu's voice comes through in the hype-as-hell "Crowd Control", you know your ears are in for a heavy blend of synthesizers, bass, and bangin' percussion. Thanks to London-based producer the Bumps, the track has a pulse thick enough to complement the Chicago resident's instantly recognizable voice. Oh, and if you're looking for a new addition to your party playlist, it's here. Stream the track below and hit the skip to download. "Crowd Control" stems from MC Zulu's new album, Electro Track Therapy . Download: MC Zulu - "Crowd [...]

Chicago's dancehall guru MC Zulu is back with his new album Electro Track Therapy . The album is out now via Perception2020 Recordings and combines Zulu's unique take on dancehall with diverse harmonies and rhythms. The album features contributions from Poirier (Ninja Tune), Chrissy Murderbot (Planet Mu), Kush Arora, Maga Bo, Mochipet, Bionik, and many more. MP3: Call Red Alert

We are one of the handful of selected blogs to stream the complete Electro Track Therapy album by none other than post-dancehall badman himself aka MC Zulu . The Panama born/Chicago based MC is widely known as being one of the most in-demand vocalists in the scene. Electro Track Therapy is oficially out today and is a compilation of all of MC Zulu's latest collaborations with some big names in the global bass community such as Poirier, The Bumps, Mega Bo, Kush Arora, Top Billin and more. Post-Dancehall (also known as future reggae, future dancehall or [...]

Lite krutig tropikal är fan skitgött. MC Zulu & Caballo - Baila Moomdoh
They say good things come to those that wait, and this is definitely worth the wait! Mochipet has delivered to us an exclusive mix set of Mochipet tunes for our readers alongside an interview with our very own Denver-based Tenbucc2. With the new album CHICXULUB released last week on 1320 Records, as well as recent EPs on MalLabel and his own Daly City Records, Mochipet has nowhere to go but up! Tracklist: 01 - Mochipet - For When The World Ends - Spacezilla 02 - MC ZULU - Mochipet is Evil - Mochipet is Evil 03 - [...]

KUSH ARORA - SPANISH STREET RIDDIM by TOP BILLIN It’s about time we release our first riddim release! Featuring the production talent on San Francisco producer Kush Arora and vocal talent of Lady Chann , Mega Banton , Jahdan Blakkamoore , MC Zulu and Undah P, this one is a bomb. "Kush Arora has been sculpting sound in San Francisco and beyond for the past decade. He has branded his own signature imprint on bass driven music. All shades of Dub, [...]
Pitchfork Music Festival Day Two: The Story in Photos and a few words.
On the day with seemingly the least star power, there were some CLUTCH performances. At 1pm, performances began with two choices. On the main stage, vocal-looping composer Julianna Barwick, likely the festival's most quiet show. On the smallest stage (Blue) across the park, local party monster Chrissy Murderbot, a dj specializing in bass-heavy, hybrid-style party [...]
![[ViDEO] Chrissy Murderbot x DJ Spinn – Bussin’ Down](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/3306188_lg.jpg)
Chicago juke mastermind , Year Of Mixtapes ninja and one of my favorite dance music producers on planet earth Chrissy Murderbot ' has a frame-bumping new EP out on Planet Mu meant to crash through your speakers get the blood flowing. The remixes on Bussin' Down EP waver between 130 and 160 bpm's of pure juke fantasy. If this shit does not make you dance, have someone check for pulse and call 911 because obviously you are DEAD. Paired up with [...]

Given that I'm a fairly recent convert to the ways of Dubstep, I'm pretty excited for this epic show coming to Metro/ Smartbar next week. Actually, I'm doubly as excited because we get to give away a pair of tickets to the show! Reference the above flyer for information and get your click on with the links below to get a listen at what will be melting your face off. Leave a comment to be entered to win ONE PAIR OF TICKETS to the show and I'll definitely, definitely, definitely see you there. Saturday, [...]

Our good chums at Valeo Productions are shouting their lungs about the new Poirier release. I've only heard a couple of tracks (you can tuck into those little beauties below) but it's really promising and could well be my favourite release of the year. He's always been a favourite of mine, riding the different styles without committing to any particular one, excelling in each. His new album promises to make Funky look embarrassing and I really can't wait, which makes a change - it's been a long time since I've been excited about music. [...]
(photo by May Truong) Poirier's Running High double-CD isn't out for a few weeks in the UK, US and Australia (it's out in Canada and Japan right now, though). But we've got a new sampler of the twenty-eight-track affair right...

Ras Amerlock : "2010, A Bass Oddity (Trinity All Stars)" LCL20 - 02/2010 LCL neltabel ABOUT THIS RELEASE Ras Amerlock is an american Dub producer who already released several tracks on the german netlabel "Jahtari" and autoproduced LPs and EPs. This multi-instrumentalist, has a lot of hidden unreleased gems : here are some of them, just lightly remastered to fit in the same LP. The tracks are rough and alive as vintage, if you approach your ears you might even hear the tape delay breathing... Along [...]