Record Store Day rolls around again tomorrow, that time of year indie kids go straight from the friday night club to queuing round the block in the hope of snagging the ultra limited Bowie reissue. Nowt wrong with Bowie but I wouldn’t stay up all night for a piece of vinyl.
The things of interest to readers of this site are usually choice but slim so here I give you my top 5 picks for tomorrow, should you wish to go and brave your local record store. Other than the actual music the main reason for doing this is to try and provoke your local store into stocking some hiphop. Online and mailorder stores are great but there’s nothing like seeing some ukhh in the racks! Plus if you’re a vinyl hoarder and completist like me you’ll be wanting to track these releases down anyway.
1. Jehst – G.A.M.E.O.V.E.R (YNR Productions) – 500 copies
YNR hit us strong last year with the excellent Jehst remix 12″ and this year they come back with a nifty little 7″ by Jehst again. Featuring the main track and the instrumental on the flip, the press release says “Brand new from B-Boy anti-hero Jehst. ‘G.A.M.E.O.V.E.R’ is a minimalist head-nodding “nod” to classic computer games of yesteryear. with producer GhostTown (Foreign Beggars, Badness, Jam Baxter) on the console controls. Sparse synths and neck-snapping percussion lay the foundation for Jehst to stack building blocks – dropping more lines than a Tetris tournament! “Beats make ’em Bubble like Bobble / Last dregs of brew in the bottom of the bottle” At least they’ve allowed us 200 more chances of finding a copy than last years remix EP anyway…
2. Rodney P – Success/Live Up (Tru Thoughts) – 500 copies
Rodney P delivers us his first solo release on Tru Thoughts following the Sleepin’ Giantz material, a double header, Success features Harleighblu and the Renegade Brass Band and Live up, which has been kicking around in internet circles for a while now gets a vinyl release. This is the first release of a big year for Rodney with London Posse reissues and new solo album to come http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my6pB7iq4jY
3. Ramson Badbonez/Kashmere – Warlords & Immortals/Power Cosmic (Boot) – 300 copies
Boot join in on the RSD limitedness with a tidy looking 7″ from Ramson Badbonez & Kashmere. Ramson Badbonez returns for Record Store Day with a little peek at his next project. Teaming up with Billy Brimstone aka Jehst on some old Italian Giallo craziness we see him emerge as the Silva Surfa on the track ‘Warlords & Immortals’, with Jazz T & Zygote producing. Jehst takes charge of production on the flip with a banging futuristic slice of space funk in his remix of ‘Power Cosmic’ (from Kashmere’s ‘Galaktus’ LP). Kash came through to re-spit a different verse and this time is joined by Ramson Badbonez and Phoenix Da IceFire. And it’s on silver vinyl with a dope looking cover! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LqNXCE4Mi4
4. Jamie Cullum ft. Roots Manuva – Love For Sale (Island)
Scraping the barrel already but Jamie Cullum, if that’s your thing, releases his first material for a long time. Rodney Manuva turns up for a guest verse. It’s on 7″ but can’t find out how limited it is, so it probably isn’t that limited! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFo0fpl7Txo
That’s it for uk-ish I think so for item 5 we’re looking for something else. Tempted to go for the Chas N Dave Rabbit shaped picture disc I thought i’d stick with something hiphop and try
5. Beat Box: A Drum Machine Obsession book & Flexi
The TR-909 is more associated with house and techno so this book which touched on the hiphop use is a nice curiosity. 20 PAGE BOOK – INCLUDES 2 FLEXI DISCS FEATURING SCHOOLY D This unique release detailing the history of the TR-909 Rhythm Composer is excerpted from the upcoming coffee table book by one of America’s foremost collectors of drum machines, Joe Mansfield. This special 20 page book filled with original advertising, technical specs and tons of photos will delight collectors and music fans alike. Included are two flexi-discs, one clear and one orange, featuring the sounds of the TR-909, narrated by the great Schoolly D, with cuts by DJ 7L. Also included are instrumental remakes of Schoolly D’s hits ‘P.S.K.’ and ‘Gucci Time’, created with the 909 pictured on the cover. Created by Japanese engineer Tadoa Kikumoto in 1984, the TR-909 is the quintessential drum machine of house and techno music. Its built-in 16 step sequencer would go on to revolutionize the way dance music was to be produced, though this was not planned at its inception.
So there you go, good luck hunting them down. Took me a while last year to get the Jehst & Aspects records but got there eventually.
And if you’re not limited to your native hiphop then bubbling under we’ve got Black Milks ‘Synth Or Soul’ LP, the Blu + R.A. The Rugged Man & Tristate 7″, Non Phixion 7″, B.I.G. Ready To Die LP, Things Fall Apart double LP, Public Enemy Planet Earth picture disc and the Liquid Swords Chess Box 4LP edition plus no doubt some I overlooked. The latter is the most interesting/expensive. four LPs including instrumentals, chess set, stickers and all sorts of other guff. Getondown has some nice pictures if you’re interested, along with more on the Beat Box book, http://www.getondown.com/blog/2013/03/record-store-day-saturday-april-20th/
And where should you go for record store day? Your local store obviously but if that happened to be Rarekind in zzz where Jehst & Dr Zygote are making personal appearances or Dance2 Records in Guildford where the Kane FM boys will be then that would surely not be a bad thing!