Search results: Snap

Review: Skull Snaps' eponymous 1973 debut album has long been regarded as one of funk's greatest albums, not to mention one of the most sampled of all time. Many of the set's killer drum breaks have been recycled on hip-hop and dance records over the years, including those by the Prodigy, the Pharcyde, Gang Starr, DJ Shadow, Pete Rock and CL Smooth. Thanks to a fresh studio remaster, the album sounds heavier than ever on this licensed Mr Bongo reissue. Highlights include opening stomper "My Hang Up Is You", the sweet and relaxed "Didn't I Do It To You", the head nodding "Bus Stop" bounce of "It's A New Day" and the driving soul brilliance of "I'm Your Pimp".

Review: We all know of legendary 90s dance act Snap's 'The Power' but do you know any other of their tunes? Well, now you can acquaint yourself with this limited edition picture disc version of their World Power album. It of course features the dark but catchy and by now truly seminal hit that made them famous worldwide as well as many other euro-dance sounds such as 'I'm Gonna Get You (To Whom It May Concern)' and 'Cult of Snap!" amongst many more. What a treasure it is too, and one that will take you right back to your childhood.

Review: If you hadn't heard this one back in '92, where were you? Probably not even born yet, but that's just us showing our age. Undoubtedly one of techno's first forays into the mainstream, Snap! represented a wave of artists alongside the likes of 2 Unlimited, Technotronic, The Shaman and The Grid who provided many an anthem which now a true zeitgeist of this golden era. BMG presents this much welcome vinyl reissue of the German Eurodance outfit's now legendary sophomore effort The Madman's Return; a Michael Munzing & Luca Anzilotti production featuring vocalists Penny Ford, Turbo B and Thea Austin and the hits 'Rhythm Is A Dancer', 'Exterminate' and 'Colour Of Love'.

Review: Two genuine rising stars collaborate here for the first time, as Semi Delicious label founder Demi Riquisimo joins forces with Japan-born, Bristol-based Manami. The duo opt to start in thrillingly positive and tuneful fashion on 'Sugar Snap', where Japanese-influenced melodic lead lines, spacey chords and jaunty organ stabs ride above a surging, tech-tinged house groove, before continuing the full-throttle star-gazing flavour on 'Interstellar'. Over on the flip, both tracks are given the remix treatment. Baldo turns 'Sugar Snap' into a bleeping, acid-propelled slab of hallucinatory neo-trance, while Matisa reaches for chunky organ bass, jumpy female vocal samples and fizzing electronics on a vintage UKG-influenced revision of 'Interstellar'.

Review: Gasoline originally released the superb Snap Your Neck album back in 2005 on a digipack CD via Pamplemousse Productions and La Fondation. It has never since been reissued but now Beatsqueeze Records has secured the rights and servers it up on this 7" yellow slab in limited quantities. It covers plenty of hip-hop ground across the three tracks and also includes a trio of 'Skip Proof Loops' versions of 'Scratch FX'. The originals take in the snappy drums and lounge chords of 'Introspection', the golden era boom bap and menacing bars of 'Snap Your Neck Back (part 1)' and East Coast Mobb Deep-style swing of 'Danger Zone'.

Review: Following their draconic sixth studio album Sealed And Icy, US megapop superstars Twenty One Pilots share their whopping, driving new album Clancy, marking the end of the multi-album narrative first introduced in the band's breakthrough album Blurryface. The Columbus, Ohio based duo of Tyler Joseph nad Josh Dun are two of the most successful artists of their generation, owing to their distinct blend of quick-quipping raps and stadium-bound electronic rock production. If lead single 'Overcompensate' is anything to go by, Clancy will continue to regale the tale of the Pilots' longstanding concept narrative of Clancy, the central character first articulated in their 2018 album Dema, and deals in themes of angst, powerlessness and (over)compensatory superpowers like psychokinesis endemic to the lore. Get immersed, ultrafans.

Review: You'd be hard-pressed to find a collection of euro house and dance music more chock-full of hits than this. In the vein of the early 90s dance compilations, Music On Vinyl gathers two discs packed with landmark dance records and massively popular crossover tracks like Haddaway's 'What Is Love', 2 Unlimited's sports arena classic No Limit', Snap!'s timeless 'Rhythm Is A Dancer' and the worldwide hit 'Pump Up The Jam' by Technotronic. The great thing about this release is the inclusion of many other lesser known but memorable gems like T-Spoon 'Sex On The Beach' and Twenty 4 Seven's 'Slave To The Music'. A whopping 27 tracks in total to take you back to the days when dance music owned the airwaves and the clubs.

Review: Blue Note's Classic Vinyl Series turns its focus to the one and only Herbie Hancock here for another superb reissue that will keep the jazz heads happy. His long player Empyrean Isles landed in 1964 as his fourth overall. For this one Hancock linked up with his Miles Davis bandmates including Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams on drums with Freddie Hubbard also on board with his trusty trumpet. The record works through hard bop and modal as well as plenty of soulful jazz sounds and is another standout in Hancock's discography.

Review: Seven years after his last album, UK techno mainstay Perc is back with another thrilling full length that brings together the past, present and future of his sound. Hard techno is very much in right now but Perc has always dealt in a tough take on the genre that is at odds with the usual tropes and he showcases that again here with plenty of high-energy tracks and a healthy dose of his signature industrial texture. In between percussive workouts, there are some flashy acid lines and all manner of deeply penetrating drones. A great return for this vital artist.

Review: A decade after Blockhead dropped his seminal Interludes After Midnight album it gets a deserving reissue on Ninja Tune. Blockhead is of course an alias of the revered New York producer Tony Simon who is reissuing all his albums at the moment. This one set a blueprint for the broken beat and nu jazz scene, with elements of trip hop and downtempo also colouring the grooves. Some tunes like 'Never Forget Your Token' have a Latin feel thanks to the keys and breaks, others are more psyched out late night store jams like 'Hungover Like Woah.' All are great.

Review: Mind Maintenance is certainly an appropriate name for this duo. Usually grounded in jazz, here bassist Joshua Abrams and drummer Chad Taylor look far beyond the world of cool cats and late night bars, casting their gaze on more organic and earthy tones. Picking up a guimba - perhaps better known to some as the guitar-ish sintir regularly heard in Moroccan music - and mbira, a family of Zimbabwean percussive instruments, the tones are, unsurprisingly, transportive.

Through highly complex but minimalistic arrangements we are taken to places that can only really be described as 'not here'. The repetitive loops of padded beats and chimed melodies seem to go straight for the mind's eye, boring ever deeper into our subconscious and holding on tight once there. Close your eyes and the world in front of you quickly fades, leaving nothing but hypnotic tones that deserve to be heard outside, beneath the stars, by the fire.

Review: Massimiliano Pagliara returns to Permanent Vacation with his fourth studio album 'See You In Paradise'. The Italian-German artist has his sights set on the sublime, enlisting the help of Snax, Fort Romeau, Init, Curses, Coloray and Vanessa to produce a 10-track album of smoked-out trip hop, house, nu-disco and downtempo. Unsettlingly unwilling to settle on any particular genre, the multifaceted nature of the project reflects Pagliara's many faces, not least as a DJ, producer and ballet dancer. For indeed, paradise isn't a world where we're boxed into one role or genre for the rest of our lives, but rather get to occupy as many as we see fit.

Review: Wagram is right up there with some of the best labels in the game when it comes to comprehensive compilations that look to survey the sounds of many different global music scenes. Next in their headlights is this, a look at Protest Songs: Rare Soul Funk Tunes from the Civil Rights Era across four sides of vinyl. What else could it possible open with than Gil Scott-Heron's 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised'? From there, the socially-political astute commentaries come think and fast in funky form from the likes of H Rap Brown, the gorgeous tones of the The Whatnauts and Young Holt Unlimited amongst many more.

Review: Surely one of the most recognisable brands in all of British music, the NOW series is still going strong. Famed for their snapshot compilations which provided and overview of what was hot back in the 80s, 90s and 00s, they now offer up vast compendiums that capture the very best of entire decades. Enter this new and three part series which focusses on all 40 years of its existence across three volumes, each one a double album packed with pop hits. This one focusses on 1993-2003 and is a real time warp.

Review: It's no mean feat to be amongst the most recorded drummers in jazz, but Roy Haynes is right up there thanks to a career spanning a mighty 80 years. Given his debut was in 1942 in Boston, by the time he recorded Out Of The Afternoon in 1962 he was already what many would consider a veteran. The Quartet he assembled for the album included Henry Grimes on bass, Tommy Flanagan on piano and none other than Roland Kirk on tenor sax and a host of other less obvious instruments. It's a stunning slice of post-bop from one of jazz's all-time greats, now reissued on heavyweight audiophile vinyl.

Review: .NOW's Yearbook series of quadruple CD sets reaches 1990, a year in which the currents of dance music's future dominance of the pop charts became stronger and more pronounced. Of course, this being a pop-focused collection, the musical story told is far more varied. So while there are suitably baggy, bowl haircut-sporting indie-dance numbers from the likes of Candyflip, Happy Mondays and the Stone Roses, as well as crossover club hits from the likes of The KLF, the Adventures of Stevie V and Dee-Lite, you'll also find synth-pop melancholia from the Pet Shop Boys (including 'Being Boring', arguably Neil Tennant's best song), boy band business from New Kids on the Block, a dash of Kylie Minogue, alt-rock hits from Faith No More and Bon Jovi, and a blast of Elton John.

Review: The legendary NOW series is still going strong despite the fact that the music industry and how we access and listen to music has changed immeasurably since they first started way back in the 17th century (maybe.) Now they focus on serving up complete compendiums and comprehensive overviews of entire genres or decades. This NOW: Yearbook 1990 comes across three slabs of orange vinyl with names like Dee-Lite, Dusty Springfield, Duran Duran, Bass-O-Matic and many more all present and correct. If nothing else it is a great trip down memory lane and fine resource for jobbing DJs.