Compiled & Blended By Amar Patel


1. TEEBS – Gordon (Brainfeeder)
It seems that Flying Lotus has a limitless supply of sound scientists to promote through his LA-based Brainfeeder label. Fertile ground, indeed. This 23-year-old visual artist is among the most promising, not least becaus he goes beyond the crude frequencies of the today's bass junky culture to explore the more intricate textures of modern hip hop. Kaleidoscopic, psychedelic… Translation: he's deep.

>> www.myspace.com/teeeb


2. SOLOMON BURKE – Don't Give Up On Me (Fat Possum)
Legendary Atlantic records producer Jerry Wexler once remarked that the late "King" Solomon was the best soul singer of all time. I'm not sure if I'd go that far but he was certainly underappreciated. And what a life: the first black singer to have a folk hit, counting the Klu Klux Klan among his admirers and patriarch to the largest family I've ever read about (“I have 21 children and 90 grandchildren – loving people is what I do," he chuckled to The Telegraph last month). A big man in terms of both physical presence and musical aura, this track is one of my favourites, taken from his astonishing comeback album in 2002. I managed to resist obeying my years of 'Dirty Dancing' conditioning, singing 'Cry to Me'. Just. RIP big man.

>> thekingsolomonburke.com


3. ROBERT WYATT – Solar Flares (Domino)

I love Robert Wyatt, partly because of is avuncular nature, mostly because of that lovely fuzzy beard he sports and certainly because he's a true musical genius. Continuing their fine efforts to round off our appreciation of the former Soft Machine drummer and vocalist (check 'Cuckooland' and 'Comicopera' especially), Domino released ‘His Greatest Misses' this summer, a hitherto Japan-only collection, limited to 500 copies worldwide. As Robert says, “A thoughtful chap in Japan brought these tunes together as a sort of canter around my back catalogue: a reminder or introduction. Blimey! My little drawings were done about 60 years ago. How retrospective can you get?” So many ideas, so much sincerity.

>> dominorecordco.com/uk/albums/02-12-09/his-greatest-misses/Will Sessions


4. WILL SESSIONS – Kindred [the Few records]

There's more to the D than techno and hip hop, you know. Shout out to Dominic Arellano at the Few records for sending a few bits my way. His label is a 'simply good music' affair that cares not for rigid genres and fads. Although they've dabbled in anything from Funk 45s to hip hop, Will Sessions are, loosely speaking, on a jazz fusion tip – no surprise given the presence of Tribe tenor Wendell Harrison on this excursion. In fact, Dominic tells me that he recorded the 'Kindred' album release party, which featured the band performing covers of Weather Report, Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock. And Mr Amp Fiddler sat in on the set, playing keys. Easy now… Also, look out for the indie synth pop of Silverghost. Soon come.

>> http://thefewrecords.com/thefew_v1


5. DAS RACIST (featuring Vijay Iyer) – Free Jazzmataz [CDR]

"Das Racist is a Weed Edge/Hare Krishna Hardcore/art rap/freak folk music trio based in Brooklyn, New York." So reads the biog. Bizarre. They're certainly off the reservation. lyrically speaking. A configuration of cLOUDDEAD and Mike Ladd, Taken from the recent ‘Sit Down Man’ mixtape, this track is notable for the appearance of jazz professor pianist Vijay Iyer – an intellectual who's not afraid to blow circuits with the hip hop fraternity. Vijay first connected with them on Twitter. "I didn't even meet them in person until last month," he said. "But we've been corresponding, just kicking jokes around, basically, which is what Twitter's good for. And they're pretty good for jokes." There's humour and ambition in equal measure here. Enjoy.

>> dasracist.net


6. IGOR BOXX – Fear of a Red Planet (Ninja Tune)

One of many stunning tracks on the forthcoming debut solo album from Skalpel band member Igor Boxx. 'Breslau' tells the tale of the 1945 siege of Festung Breslau undertaken by the Red Army. Over the course of this album sounds are used to depict the massive force and fury of Bolsheviks' attack and the determination of the terrorised population of the city (now known as Wroclaw) to hold on. Dramatic, maudlin but defiant, 'Breslau' is no downer album – it's actually quite uplifting.

>> www.myspace.com/igorboxx


7. SARA MITRA – Sunday Morning [Impossible Ark]

Another promising female jazz vocalist on the rise in the south of England, coming to you via Ben Nostalgia 77's Impossible Ark records. Her name is Sara Mitra and she's releasing her debut album 'April Song' on 1 November, "a collection of folk and jazz tales that explore the tensions of living in Britain from a young woman’s perspective." The arrangements, co-written by the wonderful Riaan Vosloo, are sprightly and help to add the extra zing that mellow music of this nature often requires. Other musicians featured besides bass man Vosloo include James Allsopp (sax, bass clarinet), Philip Hochstrate (piano, organ), Fulvio Sigurta (trumpet, flugelhorn) and Ross Stanley (Hammond organ).

>> www.saramitra.com


8. ELAN TAMARA – Find a Way [Bokkle]

Quite simply, Elan Tamara is one of the most exciting singer songwriters in British music right now. 'Oranges', taken from her debut EP 'Gold Fishes' was a big favourite of mine earlier this year – heartbreaking and operatic music, a whirl of emotion. Think of her music as daring, high-altitude pop, the kind that Kate Bush makes at will, and the likes of Bat For Lashes aspire to. Produced by the equally crucial Kwes, Elan's 'Shadows' EP reveals itself to be a lot more propulsive and direct, whilst no less melodic, inviting repeated listens. She performs with her band 'The Bakery' on this one and the extra energy adds a physical quality and warmth to the tune as it reaches its dramatic climax.

>> www.myspace.com/elantamara


9. COURTNEY DOWE – Serenade [Counterpoint]

Maryland-based artist Courtney Dowe is my kind of vocalist. Call her soul, call her folk … one thing's for sure; she's raw emotion all the way. It's rare that someone combines that integrity of performance with sparse backing (her guitar) and a bag of oh-so-catchy torch songs. Yes, the Tracy Chapman resemblance is there, a little Joan Armatrading perhaps, but Dowe is her own woman. All fire and truth. Respect to Countrerpoint for picking up this album after it was criminally overlooked in the US. No surprise there.

>> www.counterpointrecords.co.uk/docs/display_album.php?id=25
>> www.myspace.com/courtneydowe


10. ANDREYA TRIANA – Something in the Silence [Ninja Tune]

Drey is perhaps the worst kept secret in music. A beguiling, sensuous vocalist whose songwriting is maturing at a staggering pace, she's already chalked up memorable guest spots with everyone from FlyLo to Mr Scruff and Bonobo. The latter has taken the helm of her debut album and it's a winner. This tune gets me every time with those changes and the bridge, which strikes like an arrow to the heart. I booked Drey for the Basement Soul first birthday in 2007, where she supported Omar with just a loop pedal station to keep her company.Three years later I attended the album launch at Cafe Oto – a joy to see how she's evolved. Lots more to come. Catch her on tour in Europe this October and hen throughout November in the US with the Bonobo live band.

>> www.ninjatune.net/andreyatrianaAndreya Triana


11. HYPE WILLIAMS – The Throning [CDR]

A delightful oddity off a limited edition 7" from London-Berlin duo Hype Williams. Yes, that is Sade's 'Sweetest Taboo' you're hearing. Only it's the 4am version, all undulating, yearning pains at the point of breakdown. The flip is also worth checking out – ‘Ooovrrr’ "pitches Drake’s vocal to nightmarish depths, couching it in reedy synths and sloppy, syncopated lo-fi rhythm," as one reviewer wrote. This is the third record Hype Williams has released this year, following Han Dynasty I 7″ on De Stijl and their untitled seven-track album on Carnivals. Coming next year: a release on Hippos On Tanks, the US label that’s home to Games (featuring Oneohtrix Point Never), White Cars and Von Haze.

>> boomkat.com/vinyl/338442-hype-williams-do-roids-kill-e-rything
>> www.myspace.com/hypheewilliamsFoe


12. FOE – A Handsome Stranger Called Death (Paul White remix) [CDR]

This mix from producer Paul White is so trippy – a departure from his patented offering of obscure prog-influenced beats. I know very little about Foe but check the links below for her thoughts and her influences.

>> http://showmethesars.tumblr.com/
>> http://soundcloud.com/thisisfoe


13. BILAL – Move On [Plug Research]

I still remember seeing Bilal's insane set at Fabric a few months ago. Painfully loud, so blues heavy and confirmation that the man is still one of the true voices in soul music. After the disappointing false start of previous album 'Love For Sale' is good to see the Soulquarian overcome his label woes and strike out with a new sound, new look (love that fro top, bro) and a sack full of energy. 'Move On' is classic Bilal, however: lovestruck, plaintive purveyor of killer hooks and harmonies.

>> www.plugresearch.com/artists/bilal Cee-Lo


14. CEE-LO – I Want You [CDR]

No one conveys the dizzying ebb and flow of love quite like the 'Soul Machine' Cee-Lo Green. 'I Want You' is the tune that Gilles Peterson pleased with producer Jack Splash (of Plantlife) to send him mid-interview a few years ago – one of the best soul tunes he'd ever heard, no less. It's taken a while but finally this one is close to release. Uplifting in equal measure to current Cee-Lo smash 'Fuck You', this tune has a killer arrangement thanks to Jack, a man who's mastered his horns, drums and basslines like a modern day Barry White. And pop needs his shine right now. After Alicia Keys ('Wreckless Love' is my tune – www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQKiRbVEnKQ) Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Hudson have come knocking. He deserves it.

>> www.ceelogreen.com


15. JAVELIN – Intervales Theme [Luaka Bop]

New York in full effect once again. This duo have produced the most 'up' music of the year with their 'No Mas' album on Luaka Bop. Stripped down boom box tomfoolery with a charming Tom Tom Club vibe. It's the sound I'd expect the Muppets to come up with if they were let loose in studio of vintage gear: soontaneous, mischievous and cheeky.

>> luakabop.com/javelin
>> www.myspace.com/hotjamzofjavelin


16. oOoOO – Hearts [Tri Angle]

Dreamcore sounds from San Francisco's latest space oddity. Listen and make up your own minds. All I'll add is this reply to a question from a Vice Spain interviewer about the psychotic yet sweet nature of oOoOO's music: "It's interesting that you think so, cuz a good friend of mine once told me that oOoOO sounded like the score for a film scene in which a man has just walked into a crowded restaurant in Mumbai, shot everyone up, and is now walking, in slow motion, in a heavy rain, in the middle of the night, through the city’s filthy streets, crying and tortured with remorse for what he’s done. That’s actually where the name for 'Mumbai' came from." Like I said: suspend judgment until you've taken a listen…

>> pitchfork.com/news/39569-new-release-ooooo-ioooooi-ep
>> www.myspace.com/wkwkwkwkwkwkwkwk


17. LUNACE – Fancy Forty [LuckyMe]

Big thanks to Dom @ LuckyMe once again for sending another zip of fresh sounds – some grimey, others gnarly … but all asking questions and testing my open-mindedness. Lunice is a 21-year-old hip hop and hyphy producer and dancer. He's stood in for Mike Slott at Sonar in front of 8,000 people. He's done Red Bull Music Academy. He's become a YouTube sensation thanks to videos of him dancing to Addison Groove, The Dream, Mike Slott and Nosaj Thing, among others (www.youtube.com/user/Lunice2). Now it's time for his own music to do the talking. Official remix coming from Rustie.

>> www.thisisluckyme.com/html/1music/artists/lunice.html
>> www.myspace.com/Lunice


18. SILKIE – 80's Baby [Deep Medi]

An insane tune from Deep Medi's Silkie, sitting somewhere between Joker's Purple sound and Herbie Hancock's retro-future fusion. If you haven't checked his more 2-step and house-oriented debut 'City Limits Vol 1' then you need that. City Limits Vol 1.2 is the first release in a series of four singles in the run up to his new and highly anticipated album City Limits Vol. 2 scheduled for release early 2011. City Limits Vol 1.2 will not feature on the album and will be available on limited 12” and download. So grab it all.

>> boomkat.com/vinyl/340897-silkie-city-limits-vol-1-2-bass-junkie-80-s-baby
>> deepmedi.com/artist_Silkie.html


19. ORIOL – Memories [Planet Mu]

It only took one listen to fall completely for CDR graduate Oriole's 'Night & Day' album, a jukebox of the best club music over the past 20 years, which runs the gamut from 80's vocoder boogie to 2-step, techno, house and drum n' bass. Hard to believe that Oriol is a Berklee music graduate and seasoned sax player who's only been making his tunes in Logic for about six years. The musicality of his productions is striking, though. And I'm sure the best is yet to come.

>> www.beatportal.com/feed/item/album-of-the-week-oriol-night-and-day/
>> www.planet.mu/artists/oriol


20. DONSO – Djama [Comet]

In theory, mixing African roots with the more weighty and abstract qualities of electronic music sounds like a winner, but you'd be surprised how tasteless some of those projects can be. Not so with Donso, a collaboration between four talented musicians coming from France and Mali: Producer Pierre Antoine Grison (who also releases his own music on Ed Banger Records as Krazy Baldhead), Malian vocalist Gedeon Papa Diarra, Guimba Kouyate on Guitars and Djele N'Goni (traditional Malian string instruments), Thomas Guillaume on percussions and Donso N'Goni. Also featured on the album are other top Malian musicians Ballake Sissoko on Kora and keyboardist Cheick Thidiane Seck. Donso is an entrancing meeting of minds where n'goni and keyword find common ground – a highly rewarding African pop album for modern times. Can't wait to hear this reimagined live.

>> www.myspace.com/donso
>> vimeo.com/9017914


21. GERRY READ – Backward Step [CDR]

Another hotly tipped youngster breathing down the neck of guys such as Joy Orbison and Untold. Gerry is only 19 and has just moved back to the UK from Australia. Not sure why. It's a wonder of the digital age, where music, radio and production equipment are more readily available than ever before, that guys like Gerry can absorb all the sounds of the day – from Croydon to Croatia – and refract them through his ears. It's frightening but in a good way because it sounds so vital. He's got an EP called 'Patterns' forthcoming on Dark Arx records, and another EP called 'Aeolian' forthcoming with Hsuan records in 2011. Big tings! He's looking for DJ sets so message him on Soundcloud.

>> soundcloud.com/gerryread


22. GEORGE FITZGERALD – Weakness [Brownswood]

One of the standout tracks from this summer's 'Brownswood Electr*c' album, 'Weakness' throbs with a loving intensity as the beats hop, skip and jump for your pleasure. George is the first signing to Joy Orbison's Doldrums label and looks to be a chip off the old block at fusing techno, dubstep, 2-step and all other good steps…

>> www.myspace.com/georgefitzgeraldmusic
>> doldrumsrecordings.com
>> brownswoodrecordings.greedbag.com/buy/brownswood-electric/


23. WILEY & MJ COLE – From The Drop [CDR]

Simply devastating collab between one of the UK's premier MCs and the UK garage lynchpin currently enjoying a second life as a master blaster of tuff riddims. This one is dark and deadly running right down to the voodoo percussion as Wiley sounds off with his "top-notch" flow. Thanks to Matt for sending this one over. I can't stop playing it. Tuuune!

>> www.prolificrecordings.com
>> www.myspace.com/mjcole100
>> www.myspace.com/eskiboywiley


24. AFRICA HI-TECH – Said Speed [Warp]

Well worth investing in the double-vinyl pack of this fierce collaboration between Mark Pritchard and Steve Spacek. Badbwoy riddims, toasting, acid trax, dancehall, dub and sweet soul, all rolled into one leading-edge package. More straight-ahead tracks such as sound system favourite 'Too Late' and the rougher 'Blen' have been doing the rounds for a while now but it's tunes like this that really set the pulse racing.

>> warp.net/records/africa-hitech/hitecherous-ep-mark-pritchard-steve-spacek


25. FRANCESCO TRISTIANO – Single & Doppio (InFiné)

After 'Not For Piano' and 'Auricle Bio On', InFiné are set to release the third album from talented pianist Francesco Tristano. Recorded in the studio of Carl Craig in Detroit, 'Idiosynkrasia' is a mind-frazzling statement on the piano as "instrument of the future" – something Tristano is fascinated by. He tasked Craig with the job of making his instrument sound unlike anything familiar to the human ear – so neither acoustic not electric. A space drone if you will. The results are compelling, and while the album crosses all major nodes including solo movements, Detroit techno, house, ''Nobu'-era Herbie musings and clap-a-long jazz numbers, it's Tristano's key tension that really holds you. It appears that the former Juilliard student is as comfortable playing 'Strings of Life' in an Ibiza club as he is giving a recital in Paris; that's some range. The future ain't what it used to be.

>> www.myspace.com/francescotristano
>> www.infine-music.com/artist/6/francesco-tristano


26. FUNKINEVEN – Another Space [Eglo]

Another mental tune from the London producer – this time acid trax rave preshaah of the highest order. Honestly, this guy's strike rate is something else.

>> www.phonicarecords.com/product/view/65495
>> www.myspace.com/funkineven


27. RICK WILHITE – Get On Up (Theo Parrish's Late Night Dub) [Rush Hour]

A typically deft yet stomping Parrish rework of a classic Wilhite jam, taken from Rush Hour's essential CD collection of rare tracks and unreleased versions. Also look out for Wilhite's 'Vibes New & Rare Music' compilation, which gathers Glenn Underground, Theo, Rick, Kyle Hall and many more one one CD (or four 12s). Deep club music that only Chi-town or the D could serve.

>> www.rushhour.nl/store_detailed.php?item=54409


28. COSMIN TRG – Sores of Attraction [Rush Hour/Direct Current]

Then again, TRG is fast becoming a major player on the deep house and tech scene. Hear this in the club on a decent system and y'all lose your mind.

>> www.rushhour.nl/store_detailed.php?item=56215


29. SOIL & PIMP SESSIONS – Pop Corn (Doc Daneeka Remix) [Brownswood]

Another percussive banger from British funky producer Doc Daneeka, turning a typically frenetic SnP tune – this time more cocktail jazz or go-go beat than death jazz – and transforming it into a completely different sort of workout.

>> brownswoodrecordings.greedbag.com/buy/pop-korn-remixes