Get On Down Us Vinyl & CDs

Review: With its eccentric, helium-fuelled vocals, insatiable bassline, bold pianos and swirling strings, Bumblebee Unlimited's "Lady Bug" remains one of Patrick Adams and Greg Carmichael's greatest productions. This special reissue ignores the duo's original 1978 mixes, instead showcasing the '79 reworks released on RCA. On the A-side you'll find John Morales and Frank "Sunshine Sound" Trimarco's peerless, 10-minute "Disco Mix"- a rework that successfully showcases each individual musical element contained within Adams and Carmichael's similarly epic original production. On the flip, you'll find the lesser-celebrated but equally memorable Larry Levan remix, in which the legendary Paradise Garage resident wisely put more emphasis on the heavyweight bassline and relentless disco drums.

Review: Bronx titans Camp Lo came out strong when they arrived in the late 90s on Profile Records. Of the many sure shots on their debut LP Uptown Saturday Night, 'Black Nostaljack' was a cool, funked up party jam to get every nodding their approval. It's a classic kind of hip-hop, like an East Coast version of People Under The Stairs, and it sounds super fresh on this 7" from Get On Down. As well as the original version on the A side, the flip features the jacked up 'Mix Tape Remix' from Kid Capri, which turns the heat up good and proper if you need to get the crowd freaking.

Review: Run-DMC's vital Down With The King album is now a hard to believe three decades old and so Get On Down mark the occasion with this special red & clear vinyl 7" real of its title tune for its 30th Anniversary. The album - their sixth at the time - marked a superb comeback for the band having already hit massive sights with the previous platinum album Tougher Than Leather. Gangsta rap had rather pushed the group to the sidelines but this one brought them back to the fore with its catchy melodies and crunchy beats as well as superb bars. On the flip here is the low slung and classic boom-bap sound of 'Come On Everybody.'

Review: Timmy Thomas, sometimes known as The Magician, frequently regarded as one of the most sampled men beyond the Brown franchise, he's been referenced by everyone from Drake to Dilla to MC Hammer. Here we find two of his most well known cuts, both taken from his 1972 album, Why Can't We Live Together. There's a wry cosmic sheen weaving and shimmering in the background of the soaking wet Afrofunk groove of "Africano" while the keys of "Why Can't We Live Together" instantly hit with a soul you've heard, felt and loved in so many contexts. Certified classic.

Review: Get On Down take another trip back into the history of hip-hop once more to give you two crucial cuts on a tidy little silver 7". This time around we're sliding to 1997 as Wu-Tang Clan made their collective return with second album Wu-Tang Forever. After the seismic impact of 36 Chambers, the Staten Island stronghold went off to explore their own independent avenues and returned to the group dynamic with more skill than ever. These two choice joints from Wu-Tang Forever are stone cold classics, within and beyond the Wu-Tang canon. 'Triumph' was a hit single, but 'Heaterz' remains a true fan favourite thanks to True Master's tough beat and a knockout verse from Inspectah Deck.