Search results: Black Box

Review: It was big news this year when hip-hop legends De La Soul finally made all of their music available to stream on digital platforms. That move was backed up by them also dropping a load of reissues of their finest albums and now we have, for Record Store Day/Back Friday, this special coloured vinyl boxset featuring their most iconic LP, 3 Feet High and Rising, on seven individual 7"s, making them perfect for DJ deployment. The box set also includes a funky slipmat making this a perfect Christmas gift for the hip-hop head in your life.

Review: After they announced their decision to call time in 2020, Dutch D&B heavyweight trio Noisia are drawing a line under their project with this authoritative final statement, Closer. Pulling together some of their final studio experiments, which were originally intended as a follow up to 2016's Outer Edges, there's a lot to take in. The devoted Noisia fanbase will be savouring every last drop, from the collabs with Camo & Crooked, Skrillex and The Upbeats to the last standalone drops from one of the most inventive forces ever to grace drum & bass. Giving the release the ceremony it deserves, this edition comes on silver vinyl across four LPs. A definitive kicker from a group we'll never see the likes of again.

Review: Who doesn't love the White Stripes? One can quite predictably measure a band's impact on commercial music history by way of just how many full-blown reissues they've released, many of which aim to repackage and represent albums to their fullest, most honest effect. By that metric, this ubiquitous duo are more than certainly going down in history; Elephant, the Stripes' fourth album, is lent the sonic perfection and signature packaging it deserves, with Analogue Productions and Third Man Records teaming up for the ultimate reissue edition here. They present in UHQR format on Clarity Vinyl this modern rock cornerstone, limited to 10,000 copies. It comes with gold foil numbered jackets, housed in a premium slipcase with a wooden dowel spine.

Review: Airto Moreira and Flora Purim are known as the legendary King and Queen of Brazilian Jazz. For the last 60 years they have been serving up rich and vivid albums as well as playing exhilarating live shows all over the world. They have fans all over the world from Japan's concert halls to the UK's jazz funk and jazz dance scenes and their latest album in 2022, If You Will, was nominated for a Grammy, proving that they very much still have it. A Celebration: 60 Years - Sounds, Dreams & Other Stories is a collection of their many best bits from over the years.

Review: Music Message & The Moment has been put together to celebrate 60 years of Impulse Records. All the big hitters like John Coltrane, Quincy Jones, Charles Mingus, Oliver Nelson, Pharaoh Sanders, Archie Shepp and a host of other legendary jazz cats all feature. Each of them contributed to Impulse's reputation as the leading, political stand-taking label of the 60s. Togeterh they add up to a strong statement of black power, and musically the compilation take sin a wide embrace of styles and sounds. The stunning four LP box set is housed in a high-quality archival portfolio cast with a museum drop front, and it also comes with a booklet and unique slipmat, so is a real piece of collector's gold.

Review: The iconic Late Night Tales series scored a real doozy when they managed to lock in Don Letts for for his instalment. The British film director, DJ and musician is a vital part of the UK's musical fabric from his days making videos for The Clash and Elvis Costello to his work with the Big Audio Dynamite band he co-founded. All that history is distilled into this sublime selection of sounds across four vital sounds fo wax. There's reggae, dub, ska, a cover of Joy Division, head twisting goodness from Gentleman's Dub Club and plenty of exclusives. It's an essential listen, basically.

Review: Two years on from his last outing under the DJ Snils alias, Oleg Buyanov AKA Ol buddies up with pal Every Korner (real name Roman Erikona) to help launch the Save the Books label. The Moscow-based pair apparently recorded the four tracks at various points over the last few years. There's an undeniably Balearic feel to proceedings throughout, from the dreamy pads, twittering loon bird samples and new age ambient melodies of 'Intro', to the jazz-flecked Italian dream house drowsiness of luscious and life-affirming closing cut 'Sector 100'. In between you'll find the bustling 'Take Money', where sampled piano motifs and huggable chords ride a chunky, bass-heavy groove, and the sunny broken beat/jazz-funk/deep house fusion of 'Black Box Riddle'.

Review: On the latest volume in the Late Night Tales series, Don Letts has dug deep into his crates to present a selection of some of his favourite dubbed-out reggae cover versions, alongside dub style remixes of more contemporary covers. It's a simple concept, brilliantly executed, with Letts offering up some exclusive, dubplate style remixes amongst the classic cuts and recent gems. Highlights include, but are in no way limited to, the full vocal dub of Capitol 1212's take on Joy Dvision's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart', Mad Professor's insanely weighty 2021 dub of John Holt classic 'You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine', Blackbox Recorder's oddball reggae-soul version of 'Uptown Top Rankin' and Easy Stars All Stars' deliciously mystical interpretation of The Beatles' 'Within You Without You'.