Wax Tailor - Sometimes

Wax Tailor, aka JC le Saout, made a remarkable impact worldwide with his debut ‘Tales of the Forgotten Melodies’. A sweeping, cinematic hip-hop album that had critics citing similarities to DJ Shadow and RJD2. ‘Tales...’ propelled this Frenchman to stardom in his home country (notching up 60,000 home sales) and his debut was heralded as Radio Nova's album of the year.
An artist's second album is often seen as the moment of truth. With ‘Hope & Sorrow’, set for release this June, Wax Tailor confirms his musical identity. Often categorized as trip-hop or downtempo hip-hop, Wax Tailor breaks musical barriers using a sonic palette to demonstrate his life chronicles tainted in soul, jazz, and funk. There's no weaknesses here at all, each track has its own vibe, and all the guest vocals are strong. In fact that's one thing that sets this apart from Tailor's debut; his choice of vocals, with more than a few tracks featuring female singers, perfectly compliment the music.

Tek9 - The Friday Takeaway Order

When he's not crafting house-inspired, intelligent jungle with his partner Mark Mac as 4 Hero, Dego McFarlane records ragga, trip-hop, and drum'n'bass as Tek 9. The side project began in 1991, after 4 Hero had released four EPs on the duo's Reinforced label. Dego initially recorded the Kingdom of Dub EP, and then recorded (with Manifest and Cheewa toasting over the top) the ragga classic "A London Sumtin'" as Code 071 -- though the single appeared later as Tek 9. During 1993-1994, Dego worked only sparingly as Tek 9 while running his Tom & Jerry label and working on 4 Hero material. He later returned to the project with several EPs -- The Return of Tek 9, 'Breakin Sound Barriers, and Killing Time -- and in 1996 released Tek 9's debut album, It's Not What You Think It Is!!?! The album charted a mellower course than the early EPs, concentrating more on downtempo, hip-hop, and house than ragga jungle. After a busy two years working on 4 Hero material, Dego returned in late 1999 with the second Tek 9 LP, Simply.

Air - J'ai Dormi sous l'Eau

Although Air’s music is often referred to as electronica or trip-hop and is often found in such bins in record stores, their form of electronic music actually owes more to the synthesizer sounds of the 1970s Jean Michel Jarre and Vangelis. Other influences that are more readily apparent than house and techno are psychedelic rock pioneers Pink Floyd and krautrockers Tangerine Dream (although there are some echoes of dance music styles in the production). Another influence is French crooner Serge Gainsbourg. Air’s music also has jazz inflections at times, and their ability to improvise is more clearly highlighted in the live arena. Before they founded Air, JB and Nicolas played together in the band Orange, with others such as Alex Gopher, Xavier Jamaux and Etienne De Crecy names which have recently reappeared in connection with Air’s remixes.

Tosca - Chocolate Elvis

Richard Dorfmeister & Rupert Huber were both school chums and shared the same interests in music. Dorfmeister teamed up with Peter Kruder in a spam factory to form Kruder & Dorfmeister and because they never made any studio albums (the kruder and dorfmeister sessions) Dorfmeister and Huber got together to form Tosca. Their first album “Opera” was based around NYC street blues samples and deep basslines, and the tracks Fuck Dub & Chocolate Elvis spawned many remixes from the likes of Boozoo Bajou, Fila Brazillia or Baby Mammoth. Their 2000 release “Suzuki” explored the lighter side of blunted trip-hop with smooth synth textures most notably Orozco, Boss on the Boat and Ocean Beat. Dehli9 is probably Tosca’s least popular album but is the first to have some real vocals. There is also a second disc containing warped piano recordings. The album J.A.C. is Tosca’s more friendly album with Jazzy tracks like Heidi Bruehl & Superrob.

Nightmares on wax - Les Nuits

Nightmares on Wax is one of those legendary one-man bands who crop up every now and then (also known as George Evelyn, but that doesn't sound as cool). Even the "merely good" work by people such as he is astounding, inventive and really fun.
And "Carboot Soul," his third album, is no exception: it's an amazing mixture of chillout electronica and acid jazz. It's a bit less hazy than his 1995 "Smoker's Delight," but that isn't surprising - here Evelyn pulls on various influences to flavour his music. The title fits this album: it's soulful, yet it has as many influences as a "carboot" rummage sale.
It begins on a symphonic note in the epic "Les nuits", which seems to herald a new music direction. Don't be deceived. The symphonic build-up leads to funky grooves and jazzy flavours in "Morse," which continues to the brassy "Easejimi," the mellow murmurs of "Finer," and the wonderfully peculiar "Argha Noah." Say that last title out loud, and you'll understand the joke.

Kid Koala and Money Mark - Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Unless you're a DJ or a student of electronic music-making, turntablism can be something of an esoteric art form -- everyone knows it's the foundation of hip-hop, but its techniques aren't as widely understood or appreciated as those of a traditional instrumentalist. The turntablist revival of the '90s produced some major talents (the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, the Beat Junkies, the X-Ecutioners), but the nuances of their skills were often lost on casual observers, and only sometimes translated to recordings. That's why Kid Koala's full-length debut, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, is so important: It's capable of making turntablism engaging to a wider audience. It isn't that Kid Koala is necessarily the greatest DJ spinning, although he's clearly in the top tier. It's that he's able to bring so much personality and entertainment value to his work, which makes Carpal Tunnel Syndrome arguably the most appealing turntablist album yet released. Unlike many of his peers, Koala makes heavy use of dialogue snippets from movies and TV shows, instructional records, and other obscure sources. They provide a running commentary on the action, and Koala also assembles them into mini-skits, or makes wry jokes about the lack of respect afforded DJs as musicians. Elsewhere, there are aural jokes wholly dependent on Koala's DJ skill -- "Drunk Trumpet," for example, is a cut-up jazz solo played on the crossfader. But all of this isn't to say that Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a novelty item. Koala makes it easy for listeners to follow the transformation of his source material into totally different creations, and builds some deceptively dense, layered tracks; plus, his explosive scratching (best heard on "A Night at the Nufonia") is the equivalent of a guitar shredder soloing. His infectious sense of fun is simply a gateway to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome's readily apparent musical sophistication. All in all, a superb and accessible introduction to a specialist art form.
(sorry, no video for "Carpal Tunnel Syndrome")

The Mighty Bop - Feeling Good

The Mighty Bop aka Bob Sinclar is a Grammy Award-nominated French record producer, House music DJ, remixer and owner of the label Yellow Productions. This album is down-tempo hip-hop at its most nocturnal and statuesque, Mighty Bop's influences come from a variety of sources. Start with rap's golden age (for the beats), early New York and Chicago house (for the atmospheric synth), and a liberal dose of jazz and R&B (for the instrumentation and overall vibes). The French turntablist covers Bricusse/Newley's "Feeling Good," and even titles one of his tracks "Moody's Mood" (though resemblances to the James Moody standard are slight). Elsewhere, "Freestyle Liguistique" is a solid minor-key hip-hop track with rapping by EJM, and the album hits another down-tempo high with "Sea, Sex & Fleurs," a sultry beat piece featuring vocals by Louise Vertigo. Overall, Spin My Hits is a delightful mix trip through the Mighty Bop back catalog.

Sofa Surfers - Container

On the Klein Records site, it says that Sofa Surfers are a "multimedia collective that specializes in experimental beats mixed with heavy dub and freaky jazz references." These guys can be grouped into the musical spectrum of the new European dub movement, which has Kruder & Dorfmeister's smooth jazz-sophisticate sound on one end and Pole's ultra-minimal machine dub at the other extreme. Landing somewhere in between on this, their second full-length release, they explore atmospheric soundscapes on tracks like "Container" and "Guns & Bombs & Knives", dark jazz-funk on "I Asked For Water" and "If It Were Not For You" while toying with a more traditional dub style on "The Low Rider" and "Long Bone". Mainly instrumental, but nice reggae-style vocals on "Beans & Rice" and "If It Were Not For You". Comparisons to Smith & Mighty or Massive Attack would not be unwarranted, although these guys are definitely more experimental. Oh, and there's LOTS of bass...
(sorry, no video for "Container")

Plaid Feat. Bjork - Lilith

Formerly Involved in Black Dog Productions (a group, not a company as the name alludes), Ed Handley, Andy Turner minus Ken Downie, created Plaid.
The duo construct what I have seen described as semi-experimental electronic, techno, ambient, trance, drum/base music. the group has released 4 albums, Not for Three's being the first.
"The group recorded several albums and EPs throughout the early and mid-'90s, helping to forge a style of dance music one step removed from the 12-inch considerations of the averagefaceless techno art."
The Lilith symbol in modern usage means something besides a demoness that kills children, but the first verse seems to deal with the older usage from the Talmud.

Dj Vadim - Manchester

2007 has been a year of struggle and debate for hip-hop. Some of the artists are ready to declare hip-hop dead, some will join forces and say it's alive and stronger than ever, but perhaps they're both off base. I don't recall any time in recorded history when music has been declared dead, or poetry has become completely irrelevant.

DJ Vadim, known for his longtime work with Ninja Tune, continues furthering the dark hip-hop/acid jazz sound that defined most of that record company's artists, except that he's doing it for the bbe label now. The Sound Catcher is a crowded affair with guests on nearly every track including Zion (Zion I), John Ellis (Cinematic Orchestra), & SkinnyMan and is quite impressive, given both the material's strength and stylistic variety.

Hamid Baroudi - Trance Dance (Dj Krush Remix)

"I make it difficult for experts to pigeon-hole me - that gives me a real kick. People ask me, "What kind of music do you play? Is that ethno, pop, techno, classic, modern?" To which I can only say, "Sorry, but that's not my problem. It was my problem until I composed it. Now the ball's in your court." All of the ten songs on the album were recorded in a different city. The album is as varied as the places it was recorded at. "Trance dance" ingeniously combines trance rhythms from the Maghreb with European rave beats. The remixes by DJ Krush and Sakuma mirror Hamid Baroudi's latest Japanese excursions.
DJ Krush's remix of Hamid Baroudi's "Trance Dance" is colored with his usual sleek style.

Io - Claire

iO is a 4 releases cheap records inhouse project with Erdem Tunakan, Patrick Pulsinger, Gerhard Potuznik and Umberto Gollini. Which is a bit suprising since when I heard Claire on the Mo' Wax Excursions comp I thought for sure it was a product of Detroit, not Austria & Germany. Not a knock on those two countries, I just figured something that soulful, smooth & funky had to be from the D. Either way it's a beautiful track that doesn't really fit nicely into any dance category or really fit that well on the dancefloor. What is also surprising is Gerhard Potuznik is known for his work with the Warholian Electro Clash act Chicks On Speed & Patrick Pulsinger is known for his Acid Techno (he's since covered a wide variety of styles within the realm of Techno).

Kruder and Dorfmeister - Black Baby

The trip-hop production duo of Peter Kruder and Richard Dorfmeister has gained more fame for its stellar remixes and DJ sets than as producers of its own work. By engineering reworkings of tracks by a cast of artists ranging from William Orbit and Bomb the Bass to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and United Future Organization, the Austrian duo became one of the most respected names in the dancefloor community.
Kruder & Dorfmeister's standing increased with the issue of two acclaimed 1996 DJ albums: Conversions for Spray/BMG and DJ Kicks for Belgium's Stud!o K7. After forming their own G-Stone Records, the pair found a distribution deal with Quango and released the G-Stoned EP in mid-1996. Though they remained busy with remix work and DJ gigs during 1997, it wasn't until late 1998 that another release appeared, The Kruder & Dorfmeister Sessions. Dorfmeister also appears in the side-project Tosca with Rupert Huber, while Kruder released an album on G-Stoned in 1999 as Peace Orchestra.

Amon Tobin - Easy Muffin

Bricolage became the first release for Amon Tobin, who was now recording under his own name and on the label Ninja Tune in 1997. Bricolage is one of only 11 albums to receive (on initial release) a 10.0 from Pitchfork Media. The album was a departure from his last effort, Adventures in Foam (as Cujo), incorporating a heavier blend of jazz melodies and intense jungle rhythms. The album became a success overseas and was followed by Permutation in 1998.The track "Easy Muffin" was used in Toonami commercials for Gundam SEED as well as an episode of IGPX. It is also featured in the Elie Suleiman film Divine Intervention. It is also featured in many episodes of Top Gear; most recently in the November 4, 2007 episode, which was the African special.

Ursula Rucker - Supa Sista (Modaji Downlow Mix)

fter years of work with artists across the spectrum (The Roots, Jazzanova, Josh Wink), Philly-born poet/singer Ursula Rucker has released her first full-length album, Supa Sista. The disc runs the gamut of social consciousness, from inner-city school system politics (the tabla-infused "Philadelphia Child") to child molestation (the chilling "Song For Billy"). The exquisite "7," featuring M.A.D. and Vicki Miles, recounts the construction and gradual erosion of a relationship: "The belly flutters...The soft sweet-as-apple-butter kisses...From night flights inside fancy and fantasy/Now we a family." The track "What???" takes the "near non-existent state of black music" to task; while Rucker's didactic tone is a bit awkward (the rest of the album speaks volumes more by sheer example), it's an accurate and long-overdue diss from within: "No Crissy, no thongs...No lies about your ghetto rep." "Digichant" explores the long-festering debate on technology (is the world shrinking by speed of communication or are we growing more isolated?), Rucker's voice digitally pitched up and down across a backdrop of electronic programming: "Can you/Fuck me with your modem/Talk dirty while you finger your diseased keys?" Supa Sista's mix of new jazz, soul and analog synthesis creates a muggy sweetness that's strung cohesively by a slew of producers (Alexkid, King Britt, among others). "All they can or want to see/Are scantily clad asses that swing/And beg to be slapped/During self satisfying sex/Say my name," Rucker says on "Womansong." This ain't no Destiny's Child; it's Nuyorican poetry, it's the unadorned essence of hip-hop.

The Cinematic Orchestra - Channel One Suite

The Cinematic Orchestra is a U.K.-based jazz and electronic outfit, created in the late 1990s by Jason Swinscoe, which records on the Ninja Tune independent record label. Their debut album, Motion, was released in 1999. The critical success of that album led to them being asked to perform at the Director's Guild Awards ceremony for the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award to film director Stanley Kubrick.
"Motion" is jazz - there's no way around it. It has paved another path through one of the leading experimental electronica labels, which isn't the easiest thing to do when sharing the same distributer as the likes of Amon Tobin and Funki Porcini. J. Swinscoe, the brainchild of the Orchestra, has pumped new life into the future of music by combining elements of jazz, classical, and dub. Rather than finding sources for his sampling elsewhere; however, he has chosen to sample the works of his own arrangements, the resulting layers of music sounding fresh and original.

Smith and Mighty - Same

Set the control (for the heart of BASS) !
Big World, Small World is a striking long player from producers Rob Smith, Ray Mighty and junglist associate Peter D that aims for a heavy-hearted urban blues. Architects [and perhaps archetypes] of the "Bristol Sound", Smith & Mighty enjoy a formidable legacy--they produced Massive Attack's first single and recorded a "great lost" debut LP "Bass Is Maternal". Subsequently more street (or more accurately rave) than Massive they continue to thread junglist licks and a punky grit into their productions. Tracks are slow-hipped, downtempo and firmly rooted with references to Jamaica's Studio One, old school breakbeat and earthy basslines. Lyrics are strident and romantic--backstreet howls and soundsystem laments--meat for the soaring soul of guest vocalists LD, Tammy Payne, Kelx and Rudy. It is difficult to pick a standout as all are burnished alloys of keening voice, dope rhythm and Bristol's trademarked imperial "Sound".

Aim Feat. Kate Rogers - Sail (Rae & Christian Remix)

Aim is Andrew Turner, a British musician, DJ and producer, who was born in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. Aim's sound is a blend of funky electronic music and hip hop beats, a sound which typified the Grand Central Records label. Much of Aim's work is instrumental, though his records include collaborations with other artists who provide vocals, including Stephen Jones of Babybird, Diamond D, Souls of Mischief, QNC and Kate Rogers.

Cold Water Music was the debut album released by Aim in 1999.
user review: My favorite track off of Cold Water Music gets the remix treatment from Rae & Christian. The remix doesn't detract from the original at all; instead, the icy synths and electric guitar gives the track a fragile, crystalline beauty.

DJ Cam - Dieu Reconnaitra Les Siens

DJ Cam wasn't a crate-digger like DJ Shadow; he much preferred creating a reflective atmosphere around a chosen few samples, usually familiar. While simplistic (especially early in his career), it was often very effective, as the best tracks here illustrate. "Sang-Lien" has only vibes, a fragment of a flute line, and muted trumpet, but Cam still creates something very special with the addition of a French chanteuse. "Mad Blunted Jazz" switches it up a bit, moving between multiple drum tracks and samples. Most of these are little more than background hip-hop tracks that the average rapper wouldn't even consider rhyming over, but in the grand tradition of ambient music (from Satie to Eno), DJ Cam's productions ranked near the top.

Tricky - Evolution Revolution Love

Blowback is the sixth album by Tricky, released in 2001. Like Nearly God, Blowback contains several collaborations, but the album's sound is much brighter and more relaxed by comparison. Tricky himself says that he wants to get airplay with this album, while most of his older albums were made to stay off the radio. Guest singers on Blowback include Anthony Kiedis and John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Cyndi Lauper, Alanis Morissette, Ed Kowalczyk and less well known artists such as Hawkman, Stephanie McKay and Ambersunshower, with whom he already worked in 1996 for the charity compilation Childline.