jazzsteppa : shamen from Noam Sahar Mamane on Vimeo.

Managed to miss these guys at every festival (those who've read my reviews won't be suprised at that) but I've been assured by friends that they are definitely ones to watch. On the strength of what we've heard so far and this monster of a new track, they're certainly ones to be listening to at least. We've included a 160kbps MP3 below but you can buy the full 320 for just £1 (as well as copies of their album at £5) at their shop.

Download: Jazzsteppa - Shamen / alt link

Some superb mixes to kick the week off just right and see you through that Monday mist. We have: a double header from Mary Anne Hobbs and Gaslamp Killer courtesy of Low End Thory; the twisted glitch funk of Slugabed from the latest edition of Rob Booth's Electronic Explorations; Tekton keeps it tropically uptempo with his Cartoon Lion Mix and our boy DJ Moneyshot digs in the crates (or rather the Beastie Boys crates) for the latest Solid Steel Radio mix as he takes all the original samples from the Check Your Head album and reworks them in his own individual way.


Gaslamp Killer & Mary Anne Hobbs - Low End Theory Podcast Episode 7


Slugabed - Electronic Explorations 082 / tracklisting


Tekton - Cartoon Lion vol 1 - Dj Mix by Tekton

Download / Tracklisting


DJ Moneyshot on Solid Steel Radio (stream) / tracklisting

One of our favourite Hip-hop albums of late is one that appears to have snuck under all the major radars yet has blasted our radar to bits with some kind of advanced sonic boom blaster. Father Abraham from Boston takes on full creative duties on I Am Not The Sailor I Am The Captain and manages to marry his passionate delivery perfectly to the neck snapping yet head twisting production. It's off-key without getting lost or seeming contrived, regains the hunger of one of Hip-hop's golden ages without being dated and gives off an endearing DIY quality without being cheap.

You can pick up a limited CD copy of the album here, but we've included a few of our favourites below (you can also pick up HIAFC from our latest chart).

Father Abraham - Yeah Hell Yeah / alt link

Father Abraham - Asteroid Belt +++ Giraffterbirth / alt link

Father Abraham - helpmesaveme / alt link

Father Abraham - Morphine's Lullaby / alt link

The album is on constant rotation here at Chrome Mansions and is likely to be for some time, but meanwhile Father Abraham is proving himself to be ever more prolific with a project in which he produces, records and releases a song a week which you can pick up over at specially designated blog 52pickup.us where he also gives an insightful and enjoyable breakdown to each track.

Bonus Download: Chino XL - Nahh! / alt link

01. Foreign Beggars – United Colours Of Beggatron (Album)
02. 808 State – Pacific State (Lazarus Project Remix)
03. Malente & Dex – Lions (Bassnectar & Ill Gates remix)
04. Riton and Primary 1 - Who's There? (Doorly Remix) / alt link
05. Hovatron – Let’s Get Wet
06. Monkey – Ninth Life
07. Doshy – Space Attack
08. Raekwon – House Of Flying Daggers
09. Schlachthofbronx - Belly Full Of Pills
10. Joe Blow – Hour Glass (Stagga Remix) / alt link
11. Uzul - Rumble Inna Station (Skream Remix)
12. George Lenton – Troll / alt link
11. Diversion Tactics – Can’t Swim
12. Old Money – Ackee & Saltfish / alt link
13. Robot Koch vs Addiquit - Killa / alt link
14. Father Abraham – HIAFC / alt link
15. 16 Bit - Jump
16. DJ 0.000001 & Mochipet - Eazy E On Atari
17. Spox – We Have Supreme Weapons / alt link
18. Willie Isz - Gosohaurd (Milky Way Mix by Dr Who Dat?)

image from Rough Cut Nation @ Edinburgh Portrait Gallery

The Squid Ninjaz crew are definitely not resting after putting the finishing touches to their their deadly Revenge Of The Blowfish album. We've already kept you up to date with Metabeats' movements but here's some fresh tracks from two more members: Joe Blow who's working on the follow up to his excellent Smoking Skills EP and recieves a Stagga refix to one of his latest offerings; and Cervantis aka Lousain Hekla who drops the even more sinister 6 track Face Boglin EP.


At an exhibition in the Edinburgh Festival I saw a great painting where the artist had turned a young group of rough looking Scottish council estate kids into majestic centaurs. For me Cervantis carries the same raw imagery of mythology meets harsh reality in his rhymes and paints a similar picture of South Wales. It certainly seems as if the Barry Town residents are getting ready for a long, cold and harsh winter, actually it sounds like summer never quite reached the beach there in the first place.

Downloads:

Joe Blow - Hour Glass (Stagga Remix) / alt link

Cervantis aka Lousain Hekla - Face Boglin EP (zip)

A couple of our choice cuts from the EP.

Cervantis - Supa Human / alt link

Cervantis - Yellow Rocks / alt link