Back in stock: Broken Beat/Nu Jazz/Nu Soul

Review: Camae Ayewa AKA Moor Mother has long talked about wanting to work with an orchestra, applying her verbal Afro-futurism and free-jazz experimentation to the classical domain. She recently did just that, delivering a grandiose live interpretation of her ninth album, The Great Bailout, alongside the London Contemporary Orchestra. It makes perfect sense: while the album itself is not fully orchestrated, it's a conceptual work dissecting the British slave trade, slavery and colonialism. Musically, there are two central focal points: her spoken word vocals and the beautiful singing of Lonnie Haley. These two vital voices weave in and out of sound worlds rooted in dark ambient, lo-fi hip-hop beats, free jazz instrumentation, out-there samples and clandestine aural textures. It's naturally raw, moody and weighty, but more importantly it's also a genuine masterpiece that deserves your attention.

Review: More gold from the always in the know and on point 5 Boroughs label. Again here it digs into the vast annals of hip-hop history to come up with some still relevant gems in the form of Rakim and DJ Premier's staple 'It's Been a Long Time.' It is a classic boom-bap joint with lush strings and horns, some old-school scratching and cool bars. As walls, the label serves it up alongside the original sample source on the flip which is Cecil Holmes's languid soul slow burner 'Call Me, Come Back Home'. These plays shift in quick time so do not snooze if you want a slice.

Review: Dresden label Cold Diggin has been a consistent outlet for the work of The Duke Ya Love To Hate, which is one of several different aliases that Stefan Senf choses to work under. Usually they serve up just one of his special 7" outings per year but in 2023 two are arriving in December. This one comes on a hand-numbered 7" in screen-printed sleeve and is limited to just 150 copies. A-side jam 'Cold Wire' is a lively mix of breaks, jazzy chord stabs and plunging bass, then 'Cold Strut' slows things down and builds on a familiar funk break and top line melody in alluring new ways.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Kaidi Tatham back on 2000BLACK needs little explanation really, does it? Anyone who takes broken beat and neo soul seriously should already be slipping this on in their cart, but for the uninitiated this is one of the grandmasters of the sound in full flight. 'Galaxy' is a beautiful, uplifting soul-boogie jam with a stunning vocal turn from Lola Violet, and it comes in two different twists depending on the energy you need to bring to your set - for us the 'Uptempo Mix' is a perfect shot of joy in the arm. 'A Message From Above' cools things down with gorgeous keys, a characteristically snagging beat and sultry horns, and 'Ergonomic Structures' slinks into the sweetest of downtempo funks that'll have you head nodding hard and keeping you chill all in the same beat.