Cole Medina - Love You Inside Out (The Pinches mix)

Here is an absolute treat for those of you proud members of the sub-100bpm club. Los Angeles' Cole Medina has take a pair of scissors to the Bee Gees' Love You Inside Out and done nothing more than elongate the intro turning into into a slo-mo slow-burner that should find favour with the BBQ set on these warm balmy summer days. This is one of those records that you can leave on loop for half an hour or so and be perfectly happy as it sunkissed groove inevitably makes your day shine. Superb stuff and one that should appeal to everyone from the soul set to the discoid dumpers.

Cole Medina - Love You Inside Out (The Pinches mix) (Removed)

Black Renaissance - Black Renaissance

Harry Whitaker is a piano player, producer and arranger who on Martin Luther King day in 1976, at the age of 26, recorded Black Renaissance Body, Mind, and Spirit, a holy grail amongst collectors of soul-jazz and rare groove. So rare, it's virtually a myth to many collectors and music aficionados, and one that a few people I know have spent a fair amount of money on including myself. It is one of those records that isn't only aided in the legendary status by its rarity but also by the supreme musicianship on offer by all the players. To add to that the album was basically bootlegged by a Japanese label called Baystate, who never bothered to inform Whitaker as to its release. When Baystate folded, copies virtually vanished, leaving Whitaker with no distribution, no money, and no way to hear the actual LP. To make matters worse, the master tapes of the recording were destroyed in a fire. Thankfully Ubiquity Records somehow managed to acquire the rights to the album and re-released it a few years ago much to the chagrin of those of us who had dropped $350+ on a copy. This is a record that is compulsory for any record collection - superb stuff.

Black Renaissance - Black Renaissance

Nalin & Kane - Beachball

I was listening to an old mix from the mid-90s that a friend of mine and I did, and this tune immediately jumped out and I couldn't decide if sentiment was making me all excited about it or if it really is a decent tune. I'm in two minds truth be told but back in the 90s when this tune reared its head and was appropriated by lotions as their anthem of choice it was a barnstormer that was played by everyone from Sasha to Danny Rampling and followed me around for a few months at seemingly every party that I went to over that time. I'm sure the vast majority of you groaned when you saw it on here but for those of us who lapped up just about everything that was thrown at us in the mid-90s from Goldie to this, it was an absolute anthem but ultimately we all got sick of it but it still puts a smile on my face. This one is for you, Graham.

Nalin & Kane - Beachball

Razzy - I Hate Hate

Razzy Bailey is a purveyor of blue-eyed country and soul and this cut taken off the album also titled I Hate Hate is probably his best work, well to these ears at least. There is something incredibly beautiful about the lyrics and the organ melody all delivered with aplomb by our hero who it seems had a lot of trouble in the music industry constantly dropping out of it whenever record sales went bad. He did have remarkable success in the late 70s and early 80s where he had thirteen number one tracks, none of which I have ever heard of. I'm quite happy having this as the only Razzy track in my collection and to be honest it doesn't get any better than this.

Razzy - I Hate Hate

Death Star Cafeteria

Hilarious.

Flying Lotus feat. Dolly - RobertaFlack

This track exemplifies all that is fresh in the world of music at the moment to me. There is something beautiful about the way how Flying Lotus has added Dolly's exquisite vocals to a fairly bleek beat landscape and his ability to make an almost transluscent synergy of the two is the stuff of genius. This is off his new album Los Angeles and for anyone who even has a passing interest in the beat world then this is a great entry point. Gilles Peterson's recent show has an indepth and strong look at the scene and you can download the show from here - heavy cut after heavy cut. Superb stuff.

Flying Lotus feat. Dolly - RobertaFlack

Pepe California - Sunshine

I know very little about Pepe California beyond this track that featured on his mini album Yes I Do, which you can buy from here. I haven't really been able to find anything in English on him but he seems to be Japanese and obviously a lover of psychedelia and balearic goodness which is reinforced by this track that is beautiful from start to finish. I would love a copy of this on 12" but so far I haven't had any luck but I've enlisted help from friends of mine in Tokyo, so hopefully one will turn up sooner rather than later. If anyone knows anything about our hero get in touch. A record for the bears, I think.

Pepe California - Sunshine