Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Dusty Donuts return with another heavyweight 7" of hip-hop gold, this time journeying from Queensbridge to Staten Island. Side A delivers a bouncy, chopped-up rework featuring a Lost Girl once heard on a legendary QB mixtape and it is guaranteed to ignite any dancefloor. Flipping over, the vibe shifts to Shaolin with a raw and soulful reinterpretation of a classic that pays tasteful homage to Staten Island's finest. With tight edits and a deep love for golden-era hip-hop, this release hits hard on both sides and is another great example of the craftsmanship, nostalgia and party-starting energy the Dusty Donuts crew always deals in.

Review: Originally hailing from Washington DC, Father's Children were one of the capital's most promising funk outfits in the late 70s. This new 7" reissue on South Street Soul revives two prized tracks from their Mercury Records era, produced by Wayne Henderson of The Crusaders. 'Hollywood Dreaming' is a breezy, rolling slice of mellow soul-funkithe sort of elegant groove that turns up on late-night radio, all gentle clavs and cruising vocals. Flip it and 'Shine On' turns up the energy, driven by a snapping slap bassline, crisp brass jabs and a slick group vocal arrangement. Both cuts originally appeared on their 1979 LP, but the original 45 has long been a holy grail for collectorsifetching triple digits. This reissue not only preserves the format but delivers on fidelity and style, giving DJs and heads alike a long-awaited chance to spin these Washington-grown grooves without fear of shelling out a fortune.

Review: In 1979, the Washington-based Janice Lakers Quintet recorded this fetching demo, beloved for its formal attending to the joy of making music together. With Lakers on vocals, Dick Cady on piano, Mike Edwards on woodwinds, Larry Turner on bass and Fred Taylor on drums, the group delivered two unique covers, each worked into their own signature style. Their take on Seawind's 'He Loves You' strips back the funk, replacing it with a light, effortless glide. Taylor's whisking drums and Turner's steady bassline lay an airy foundation, while Edwards' clarinet and Cady's piano inject bursts of energy mid-song. On the flip, 'Shaker Song' bridges Spyro Gyra's instrumental and Manhattan Transfer's later vocal version; richer in texture, it offered Lakers a chance to explore her vocal range, closing with lively scatting.

Review: A jazz head with deep hip-hop roots, New York-based saxophonist Benny Reid returns with a brand-new 7" on Fat Beats, following his 2023 The Infamous Live reinterpretation. This is his latest standalone tribute, and it plays like a deliberate two-sided concept: '93 'Til Infinity' on the A, 'Day One' on the B i reworked with full reverence but plenty of vision. Reid's take on the former is all patience and atmosphere, stretching the groove into moody, modal territory without losing its swing. Flip it for a tighter, chunkier pass at the D.I.T.C. classic, where arrangements lean into low-end murk and sharper rhythmic interplay. Drawing on years of post-bop work for Concord, Reid reanimates sample culture as memory, process and momentum.

Review: British-born soul artist Eki Shola, resident variously between the US and Japan, is said to have spent much of her creative career in "enforced isolation", and her music bears all the great hallmarks of a true artist. The most recent LP Kaeru is true to said assessment, reflecting Shola's long and enduring multi-instrumental, Eastern hemispherical instrumental interests: curiosities such as shakuhachi, shamisen, and Morin Khuur were incorporated into her already brilliant electronica soul salutations, representing leaps in both geography and sound. This new Oonops Drops issue brings two fresh new interpretations to follow 2023's LP, evincing the same good headspace that birthed the first.

Review: Who doesn't love a bit of sophisticated soul? We certainly do and it's always good to hear some reworks of the soul great's finest cuts for the dancefloor. And that's what we have here on a new 7" that opens with a disco version of 'Nothing Can Come Between Us' and doesn't go hard, instead building in some gentle drums and lo-fi melodies, swooning vocals and a mystical late night sense of romance. On the flip, we get a lovers rock version of 'Cherish The Day' which adds plenty of lovely guitar lines to bring that island vibe while the shuffling drums lock you in gently.

Review: Echo Chamber Recordings launches its new sub-label, Echo Labs, with a killer debut 7" from Southside Sound Surgeons, aka a coming together of label boss Si Cheeba and longtime DJ partner WeeG. After years behind the decks, the duo finally commits their sound to wax, and it has been well worth the wait. The A-side, 'Hi-Jakarta,' is a high-energy, Afro-Brazilian b-boy bomb aimed directly at the rump with stomping beats and wildly expressive synths. The B-side, 'Rockin' Roots,' flips golden era hip-hop vibes with classic vocal chops and chunky beats, and it builds to a dancefloor-smashing climax.