Search results: Art Of Beat

Review: This limited edition white vinyl album takes us back to 1987 when Michael Jackson was still very much the King of Pop and at the height of his powers. It was in that year that he was on one of his many epic world tours and this night in particular took him to Yokohama Stadium. The maverick performer and gifted vocalist worked through what were already some of his most tired and tested hits such as 'Beat It', 'I Just Can't Stop Loving You' and 'Bad' while he also served up a rare Jackson 5 medley in which he mixed up 'I Want You Back/The Love You Save/Can You Feel It'. Classic.

Review: Heads will know Suicide as the pioneering duo of electronic music and proto-punk from New York City, consisting of vocalist Alan Vega and instrumentalist Martin Rev. Fewer will know anything more beyond the pale of their debut album, though. 'A Way of Life', their third studio album released in 1988 via Wax Trax!, heard them escape the noise - exploring a more hypnotic, minimalistic synthpop sound. That being said, stonkers like 'Surrender', 'Jukebox Baby 96', and 'Dominic Christ' all still captured the doomy New York zeitgeist. This remastered edition contains a full remaster from its original tapes, as well as a brand new, never-heard-before live Bruce Springseen cover no less.

Review: Curated as part of the iconic street artist's Tate exhibition this year, The World Of Keith Haring unites many of the talented souls Keith knew, or was inspired by, during his prolific rise as one of the most vital cultural spokesmen through the 70s and 80s. Soundtracking the gritty downtown NYC streets he made his first mark on, this limited collection captures the whole melting pot from b-boy culture with cuts such as "E.T Boogie" and "Bump N Grind", raw boogie and soul ("Over & Over") and pure drama ("The Guardian Angel Is Watching Over Us"). A powerful collection as striking and relatable as his own signature.

Review: The DJ Spinna 1998 Beat Tape vinyl finally arrives having previously only been available on digital after initial release in 2000. It is the this in a series after the 1997 and 1996 beat tapes he dropped back in 2019 and 2017 and again finds Vincent Williams serving essential hip hop beats. They are often depend packed with soul, with jostling kick and raw his interlaced with well chosen samples, curious vocals and cute melodies. It is a perfect soundtrack to a lazy afternoon, or great source material for DJs looking to bring a cinematic sound.

Review: Jazzman Records' curatorial moniker Greasy Mike delivers a seventh compilation in his eponymous beatnik jazz series. At The Beatnik Cafe follows up former visits to the Tropical Island, the Chinese Takeaway, and the Halloween haunted house for a trip back in time and place to 1950s New York, netting the sonic essence of the Beat generation. Predominantly comprising swing, bebop and hard bop recorded during and at the turn of the following decade, we're smitten at the likes of Harvey Anderson's 'Monday Night At 8PM', The Seven Arts Beat Society's 'New York Havana', and Cindy Laine's 'Whispering Wind', all of which amount to prototypical, quiet cafe-bound storms, and the perfect complements for free-assocative poetry composition and goatee grooming.

Review: London DJ Paul Murphy has been entertaining jazz dancers since the late 1970s and is rightly cited by Gilles Peterson (amongst others) as a major influence. Here he offers up a taste of the up-tempo dancefloor jazz he's been championing for the last four decades via a fine compilation named after his once regular club night, Jazz Room. There's plenty of Latin jazz and fusion present (see Art Pepper's "Mambo de la Pinta", Lucas Van Merwijk's "4Beat Cha Cha Cha" and Terje Terasmaa's "Yatra-Ta") as well as African-influenced workouts (see the cuts by Rhythmagic Orchestra and Mamelon), the odd classic (Art Ensemble of Chicago) and a handful of more recent cuts, including an inspired jazz cover of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Blue Mode.