Main Source
Looking At The Front Door

Black Sheep – and their 1991 ‘A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’ album - were definitely an outlier in the Native Tongues fold. They were raunchier and more playful than their peers which, given that those peers were A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and Jungle Brothers, is really saying something.‘Strobelite Honey’ catches that difference perfectly, leaning heavily on a pair of 1980 disco samples rather than the jazz of their brethren, and taking a somewhat less chivalrous approach to women. ‘Strobelite’s slender but fun narrative sees rapper Dres up in the club and fooled by the lights – approaching a girl he likes the look off but backing off when they reveal she’s not what he expected. Charmed, we’re sure.Dres and his partner Mr. Lawnge were always willing to push boundaries, and that extends to the often confusing labelling of the various remixes of this choice single. 12”s dropped with the ‘No We Didn’t Mix’, ‘Yes We Did Mix’ and ‘Maybe We Did Mix’ (not to mention a separate 12” of House mixes).The last and best of these accompanied the original version on the now-rare 1991 7”, as it does here. The ‘Maybe We Did Mix’ adds urgent horns - almost like the buzzing of a bee - and a new beat to completely reconfigure the sound into something much more of its era. It’s a reminder of when remixes were about much more than the same beat with different rappers. crédits

Much about ‘Beat Bop’ is shrouded in mystery. Who really produced it? Why was Jean-Michel Basquiat relegated from rapper on the track to drawing the cover and labels? What are they actually rapping about for most of the ten-minute length?These questions, however, are all part of the enigma and rich legend surrounding a song that is an undisputed piece of true hip-hop genius. The combination of graffiti artist Rammellzee and rapper K-Rob is a potent one, with each MC adopting a persona - hustler and B-Boy respectively - that they maintain against an unusual swirling backdrop that must be one of the best instrumentals ever committed to wax.The original Tartown Record pressing was limited to 500 copies, a mere test pressing in the eyes of the assembled artists, with scarcity further driven by Basquiat’s rising rep in the art world. Those few hundred copies – and a subsequent re-release on Profile Records (the same label where K-Rob played out the rest of his brief career) – punched well above their weight in terms of lasting influence.Consider the early vocal tones of the Beastie Boys (who also sampled the track), or the huge part it played in the sound of Cypress Hill and B-Real. His voice is almost homage to Rammellzee’s on ‘Beat Bop’, while they also lifted the chorus of ‘Shoot ‘Em Up’ and even a sample of ‘Cypress Hill’ from the track too. It’s unsurprising – this is a multi-layered, complex song that reveals a little more of itself each time you play it but remains damn funky.This reissue boasts the vocal and instrumental versions in full, as well as both the full cover and label artwork from the original Tartown Release.

The Shining by J Dilla

The finely-honed balancing act between vintage-80s-synth goodness and neck-snapping 90s boom bap, all coated with just the right amount of soulful melodic sensibility never falters at any point on the album. For a more specific comparison, think Manzel's Midnight Theme LP updated for these strange times we're in seems to fit the bill, especially on tracks like "Prisms," "Floating In The Wind" and "Early Morning." This is the funky instrumental mood music you desperately need right now whether you realize it or not, and Buscrates is here to serve it up. "Buckin'" is prominent among the many highlights of the Pittsburgh producer’s album, strongly evoking the likes of Paul Hardcastle, Atmosfear and the Art Of Noise while simultaneously paying homage to the funk/R&B roots of Detroit techno pioneers like Juan Atkins and Derrick May. The album's sonic journey culminates in "On My Way," the only vocal track on the album and which features Soraya Watti's lovely vocals. One can easily imagine this track on the playlist of NY's WBLS in the early 80s. Soraya's smooth and soulful tones prove to be the perfect addition and act as a kind of sexy ghost in the Buscrates machine. The album as a whole feels like nothing so much as an updated, postmodern version of the kinds of sleek, funky grooves oozing through your Cadillac's 8- track deck circa 1972.