#RUF Records

[myvinylplaylist]

Samantha Fish: Belle Of The West (2018)

Ruf Records

[rawrampmag]

ASHLEY SHERLOCK is Just A Name

ASHLEY SHERLOCK Just A Name

ASHLEY SHERLOCK is a Manchester-based guitarist/singer-songwriter who cites his inspirations as Jeff Buckley, The Marcus King Band, The Cadillac Three, and Gary Clark Jr. His highly anticipated debut album “Just A Name” will be released by Ruf Records on Friday 16 June 2023. “The whole recording process was a real learning experience,” explains Ashley, chatting about the album created at…

[planetmosh]

Krissy Matthews Releases New Video for ‘May Day’

Krissy Matthews Releases New Video for ‘May Day’

Krissy Matthews Releases New Video for ‘May Day’ Taken From His Album ‘Pizza Man Blues’ British-Norwegian guitarist and bandleader Krissy Matthews today releases a brand-new video for his single, ‘May Day’. Taken from his album ‘Pizza Man Blues’ (on Ruf Records), the video shows the band performing the track with much gusto, passion, and enjoyment, “’Mayday’ is a song I wrote about the…

[longagoitwastuesday]

I was watching the Podalydès version of Cyrano de Bergerac this time from start to finish and... I'm so stupid xD

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week - May 15, 2023

🐕 - Now It's a Paw-ty

1. World's oldest ever dog celebrates 31st birthday

Bobi was born on 11 May 1992, making him 31 years old, in human years. A big birthday party is planned for Bobi today, according to Guinness World Records.

It will take place at his home in the rural Portuguese village of Conqueiros in Leiria, western Portugal, where he has lived his entire life.

2. The FDA has officially changed its policy to allow more gay and bisexual men to donate blood

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that they’ve eased restrictions on blood donations by men who have sex with men in an effort to address blood shortages. The new policy recommends a series of individual risk-based questions that will apply to all donors, regardless of their sexual orientation, sex, or gender. Gay or bisexual men in monogamous relationships will now be permitted to donate blood.

3. Illinois passes bill to ensure community college credits transfer to public universities

The Illinois General Assembly has passed a bill that would help community college students transfer to public universities.

It would ensure that certain classes taken at community colleges could be transferred to any higher education institution in the state. Some schools currently only count community college coursework as elective credits.

4. Brazilian President Lula recognizes 6 new indigenous territories stretching 620,000 hectares, banning mining and restricting farming within them

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has decreed six new indigenous reserves, banning mining and restricting commercial farming there. The lands - including a vast area of Amazon rainforest - cover about 620,000 hectares (1.5m acres).

Indigenous leaders welcomed the move, but said more areas needed protection.

5. More than 1,000 trafficking victims rescued in separate operations in Southeast Asia

More than 1,000 trafficking victims were rescued in separate operations in Southeast Asia over the last week, officials in Indonesia and the Philippines said. 

Indonesian officials said Sunday they freed 20 of their nationals who were trafficked to Myanmar as part of a cyber scam, amid an increase in human trafficking cases in Southeast Asia. Fake recruiters had offered the Indonesians high-paying jobs in Thailand but instead trafficked them to Myawaddy, about 567 kilometers (352 miles) south of Naypyidaw, the capital, to perform cyber scams for crypto websites or apps, said Judha Nugraha, an official in Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Ministry.

6. A peanut allergy patch is making headway in trials

An experimental “peanut patch” is showing some promise for toddlers who are highly allergic to peanuts. The patch, called Viaskin, was tested on children ages one to three for a late-stage trial, and the results show that the patch helped children whose bodies could not tolerate even a small piece of peanuts safely eat a few.

After one year, two-thirds of the children who used the patch and one-third of the placebo group met the trial’s primary endpoint. The participants with a less sensitive peanut allergy could safely tolerate the peanut protein equivalent of eating three or four peanuts.

7. Critically endangered lemur born at Calgary Zoo

The Calgary Zoo has released pictures of its newest addition, a baby lemur. The zoo says its four-year-old female black-and-white ruffed lemur, Eny, gave birth on April 7. The pup’s father is eight-year-old Menabe. The gender of the pup has not been confirmed but the Calgary Zoo says the pup appears bright-eyed and active and is on the move.

The black-and-white ruffed lemur is registered among the 25 most endangered primates in the world, due mostly to habitat loss and hunting.

----

That's it for this week :)

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Buy me a coffee ❤️

Also don’t forget to reblog.

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[mmmn-thirsty-for-vinegar]

hamuko, full of joy unaware of what awaits her and naoto: maybe we can find minato! ohh, i might record it too, that'll be a great moment to remember hamuko, a little ruffed, clearly no-longer joyous:..we're going to blow up the ergo research group.. uhh im the same guy who keeps asking abt this au..i need an anon name..-guy whos wayy too into mentally unwell cyborgs

FRR

They are not having a Good Time fr fr

Also make yourself comfortable here, I too love mentally unwell cyborgs ^3^

[thetudorslovers]

Lucrezia Panciatichi, born Pucci, also known as Lucrezia di Sigismondo Pucci, was the wife of the Florentine academician Bartolomeo Panciatichi. Her hand rests on a book of daily offices, turned to prayers to the Virgin Mary, and the words on her outer gold necklace say Amour Dure Sans Fin. She looks us straight in the eye, but her face shows no emotion. As she sits in waxy perfection, her long fingers touch the book of prayers sensuously. Sensuality triumphs over religiosity as Bronzino renders every glimmer of light on her ruffed-up sleeves, every nuance of color in her dress. By contrast with the dark background, her neck and face look porcelain-like, offset by the deep shadows.

"The face of a young woman, all magnificently drawn, down to the hands, and magnificently dressed; a face almost livid in hue, yet handsome in sadness and crowned with a mass of hair rolled back and high, that must, before fading with time, have had a family resemblance to her own. The lady in question, at all events, with her slightly Michelangelesque squareness, her eyes of other days, her full lips, her long neck, her recorded jewels, her brocaded and wasted reds, was a very great personage — only unaccompanied by a joy. And she was dead, dead, dead." - Bronzino: Renaissance Painter as Poet by Deborah Parker

[pommpuriinn]

₊˚𓂃 ★﹒₊‧ ★・⸝⸝﹒₊˚ THE NAME CHAPTER: FREEFALL

REALITY

outfit | makeup | hair | nails

⟢ joohyung’s look is a whole 180 and moas are loving it! Seeing their favorite it girl in a red brown color wolf cut with actual piercings and tooth gems sent them in a coma along with being a trending hot topic for days

⟢ making theories are being made the second these photos came out since she’s the only one not using her umbrella along with giving a creepy vibe with the third photo

⟢ netizens did complain about joohyung’s photos since she is holding a cigarette in one of them and in the video teaser

⟢ moas seriously can’t get over joohyung’s short hair and even some kmoas started calling joohyung ‘jooie oppa’ on weverse which joohyung teasing answer them ‘yes cutie’

⟢ in the concept video there’s a clip where it’s raining and joohyung runs her fingers through her wet hair while making eye contact with the camera which instantly went viral

⟢ another viral clip is her and yeonjun laying on the floor while the rain is pouring down on them

MELANCHOLY

outfit | makeup | hair | nails

⟢ this has to be joohyung’s favorite photos she has taken because of the cute wolf they got to work with

⟢moas just couldn’t get over joohyung’s new look and how much it suited her along with seeing that joohyung’s piercing might actually be real since she herself hasn’t posted a recent picture nor has said anything on weverse

⟢ many are saying how she looks like a horror protagonist character with the whole look

⟢ the second these photos released many fans started immediately recreating the makeup look and even got a tiktok trend going

⟢ in the concept video joohyung got to showcase some of her acting skills, as she destroying everything around her and starts crying while hysterically laughing then her face turns scary serious and stares at the camera

CLARITY

outfit | makeup | hair | nails

⟢ moas loved how this concept goes back to their older days with CYSM photos and joohyung couldn’t agree more

⟢ many live for goth joohyung with all the looks she be giving them

⟢ this concept video had some of the members messing around with joohyung’s hair like ruffing it up on purpose

⟢ since beomgyu had the camera recording the members he would zoom in on joohyung’s face and her snake bite piercings

⟢ joohyung would sit on the edge or lay down by the edge of the building along with lay on the members laps

GRAVITY

outfit | makeup | hair | nails

⟢ gravity was another one of joohyung’s favorite photos to take because of all the pretty glitter and the aesthetic of it

⟢ moas love how joohyung could really do both boyish and girly looks, like with the football helmet and glove with the little cuts then joohyung cover in glitter and the fairy lights with her sparkly outfit

⟢ after these teaser photos came out joohyung finally posted on ‘x’ behind the scenes pictures including the caption saying ‘yes they’re real 🤭’ referencing her snake bite piercings

⟢ even posting closer pictures on her instagram leaving the fandom in chaos with this new information

Im using insta: @ninonekw photos for joohyung’s new hair look

ㅤ ㅤ

[leahsflwer]

Crowley and Aziraphale with a teen angel reader who sees them as father figures or such??

Of course my love :) I can sure try haha

Aziraphale and Crowley as parent figures ❣️

Warnings: Some harsh topics, mostly just fluff and cute shit, protective father figures, etc.

Crowley and Aziraphale as fathers to a teen Angel

You bring a partner home -

Aziraphale:

He would glare at the person and adjust his glasses, taking in the details of your new partner. Asking them questions such as your favourite colour, food, activity, if they are good or bad. After they answer well enough to his standards he would stand up, fix his outfit up and shake their hand. Giving them a sweet smile and showing them around the bookstore.

Crowley:

The moment he saw you being touchy feely with your new partner he would shake his head and separate the pair of you. Walking around him as he death stares him. Not trusting him at all and grabbing them by their shirt, until he hears Azi clear his throat beside him. He would angrily sigh and let the person go, he would finish it off by threatening them.

“You hurt them and I will spilt you into two, got it?” He snarled

Them finding you crying -

Aziraphale:

His heart would break, he is so soft and immediately hugged you, moving your hair from your face and kissing your forehead. Asking what had happened. Gently rubbing your hands as you slowly explain what had made you into such a mess. Nodding with each sentence to let you know he is listening well. He would let you calm down after some of his advice and make you a warm cup of tea or hot chocolate, getting cakes from Nina’s cafe. He knows how hard the rules of heaven can be for you.

Crowley -

At first he looked around to see if Aziraphale was around but took things into his own hands. Kneeling in front of your chair and lifting up you chin, looking into your eyes and wiping away the tears. Not really sure how to start. But smiled at you making you feel safe and tell him what was on your mind. He listened quite well actually and nodded. Saying that’s why he prefers to not listen to either heaven or hell. He told you to be yourself. He ruffed up your hair and stood back up.

Random things they would do for you -

Aziraphale:

He is always sweet and mature. So he would give you the parent talk when you’re getting into trouble, making sure you’re alright all the time. Giving you small gifts like books to read, hot beverages when he makes some for himself and Crowley, but you little cakes and snacks. Suggest you human food and drinks often. Taking you around to the record store to pick out music you had never even seen before. He would just love to teach you about Earth and guide you around often, making sure it’s never too much.

Crowley -

The demon fella always has his eye on you, he knows you’re excited to learn but it doesn’t help your also clumsy, he needs to know you’re safe. His love is slightly more tuff then Azi. But still the more fun father. He would take you out on drives in his sweet baby (his car), showing you different locations around earth. Quizzing you on earthly things to see if you have been studying and keeping track. He would stand up for at all times and always take the blame. Letting you try his VERY strong coffees and laughing when you hate it and spit it out.

[things-about-cars-in-posts]

went to a sim racing facility for the first time!! having never raced or driven in my life, I set a somewhat ok 58.1 in a Fiat Abarth 500 Assetto Corsa around Brands Hatch Indy.

In honor of this, do you have any Fun Fiat Facts?

Whipped out me sim rig to find out how good a time that was, and it must have taken me around ten laps to manage less (a 57.8)! (Gamer excuses for this sessions are a framerate barely at illusion-of-movement levels and some clutch mapping issue that made most shifts crunch.) For someone who never even drove, that's quite good! Now, maybe not "Run get a sim wheel right now for the good of humanity" good... but maybe "Finding out a used Logitech G25 is Christmas-present cheap may enrich your free time" good.

As for the Fun Fiat Fact request, it's denied: not only because I've already written about Fiat -and for my very first post no less- but most importantly because that car is not a Fiat! Indeed, since 2007 Abarth is, officially, a brand unto itself, that sells models like the 500 and the 124, just like Fiat sells models like the 500 and the 124. Now, I don't think anyone is going to try and pretend the similarities are just a coincidence or that an Abarth 500 is in any way not objectively a Fiat - but it's not a "Fiat 500 Abarth" any more than the one below is a "Chevrolet Cavalier Toyota".

That's right, there once was such thing as a Toyota Cavalier. Oh, brand engineering.

This is a rare but not completely isolated arrangement - see for example Ruf, German brand that makes vehicles based on Porsches, best known for the Ruf CTR -nicknamed "Yellowbird"- that bested the Ferrari F40's incredible top speed record.

Be careful who you call ugly under the 200mph barrier.

But yeah, all that is to say, I am not going to give you any fun Fiat facts. >:(

Let's give you fun Abarth facts then! Let's talk about fake exhausts. Big engines move a lot of gas -that's kind of the point- so they have big exhaust pipes for all that gas to leave, and high-tier exhausts are made of fancy materials that shine.

This -and our love for fancy shiny things in general- makes people like big shiny exhausts. But exhausts are very long, and making them big and shiny is costly. So people figured, what if we only make it wide at the end, where you actually see it?

After all, if the tip is large enough, it will satisfy regardless of what the rest of its length is like - sure, people may think it looks a bit weird when you take it out, but that only happens by the time you've already scored, doesn't it. But now, back to exhausts.

If you can just attach a bigger tip to the end of your exhaust, surely you can attach a tip of a different material and have a bog standard exhaust with a cool shiny tip, that now you can also shape to your designer's content!

(Fun fact: an aftermarket exhaust system that only replaces the components that come after the catalytic converter -which, contrary to the popular misconception that confuses it with the muffler, is mounted right beside the engine- is called a "catback exhaust". Picture unrelated.)

But then, if the tip material is completely separate from the exhaust pipe, you can now just make it a plastic part of the bumper and it doesn't need to withstand temperatures as high and is even cheaper and easier to style!

And now that they're not mounted on the tip of the exhaust, they don't have to coincide with it, so you can split the exhaust into two tips, which is cooler because they're more! Hell, you can also do that by just making the exhaust coincide with one tip and have the other blanked off!

But at that point, why even have the exhaust show up back there at all? Just make the tips blank and make the exhaust go down behind them!

And at that point why not just fuck it up to the point where you need this exhaust evolutionary biology 101 course to even recognize it is meant to be an exhaust, if we can kill God who's left to stop us from dancing on his corpse.

Well, the Abarth 500, as you might have guessed by now, has fake exhaust tips. But here's the weird thing: the real exhaust tips are not any less shiny and prominent than the fake ones. See for yourself in this sound video.

Oh also, I hope the devil got some killer stuff from the deal he made with the Abarth exhaust engineer, because if he only got a piddly little soul in exchange for the ability to turn 500 engine noise into this he got majorly screwed over.

Links in blue are posts of mine explaining the words in question - if you liked this post, you might like those!

[myvinylplaylist]

Samantha Fish: Chills & Fever (2017)

Ruf Records

[etes-secrecy-post]

Hi, before I explain my post, I want to say something important.

• What you see my blog has become a major overhaul. And despite the changes, I decided that my 2nd account will be now my artwork blog with a secret twist.

⚠️NEW RULE! (W/ BIGGER TEXT!)⚠️

⚠️ SO PLEASE DO NOT SHARE MY 2nd ACCOUNT TO EVERYONE! THIS SECRECY BLOG OF MINE IS FOR CLOSES FRIENDS ONLY!⚠️

• AND FOR MY CLOSES FRIENDS, DON’T REBLOG IT. INSTEAD, JUST COPY MY LINK AND PASTE IT ON YOUR TUMBLR POST! JUST BE SURE THE IMAGE WILL BE REMOVED AND THE ONLY LEFT WAS THE TEXT.

⚠️ SHARING LINKS, LIKE POSTS, REBLOG POSTS, STEALING MY SNAPSHOT PHOTOS/RECORDED VIDEOS/ARTWORKS (a.k.a. ART THIEVES) OR PLAGIARIZING FROM UNKNOWN TUMBLR STRANGERS WILL IMMEDIATELY BE BLOCKED, RIGHT AWAY!⚠️

😡 WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT EVER LIKED & REBLOG MY SECRET POST! THIS IS FOR MY SECRET FRIENDS ONLY, NOT YOU! 😡

Okay? Capiche? Make sense? Good, now back to the post…↓

#OnThisDay: Sept 18th, 2019

Title: WMMT5DX+ to WMMT6 Changes w/ Riya's TRUE IMPREZA

IMPORTANT NOTE: I haven't posted my recent Wangan Maxi Tune experience, this month. So maybe, I could post at least once before doing some art stuff? Who knows? 🤔🤷‍♀️ Anyways, let's head over to my throwback...

The changes between 5DX+ and the No. 6 installment weren't as thin as before. 🤏 While the gameplay and graphics haven't changed since WMMT4 (well, kind of...?), the features from transferring data from 5DX+ to WMMT6 were a bit of a mixed bag. 😕 Like the "Extreme" VS Player mode was gone (which is an excitement challenge), and other body parts were removed, like "Body Stickers." The latter was my main concern for my 350Z and the Speedster's Impreza cars (GDB-C & GDB-F). Take Riya's Impreza Car [GBD-F].

• ABOVE PHOTO 🖼️📲: (Jan. 12,2019 at World Of Fun Arcade, SM Megamall) Here could you see her car itself was a custom body from "Racing Stripe 2" with pink color, GT Wing (3D) 1, Aero Parts C, Enkei Racing WRX TARMAC EVO Limited Edition FORGED Wheels, and FRP Bonnet A. All of them are equipped on her except her color because I need to unlock the "Light Blue" color (which is her color choice) by playing it many times.

• BELOW PHOTO 🖼️📲: Six months later, the WMMT6 was finally in the Philippines, and here's how her car was without all of the customs bodies except the Aero Parts - I picked the letter "H" for a different look. So why all of her custom bodies are wiped out except the entire Aero Parts are completely unlocked? Well because BNA (Bandai Namco Amusement) had a plan to return the level-up unlock body parts (after you beat a ghost car opponent(s)) which I've seen before in WMMT3DX+ among with predecessors, seems that in exchange for wiping off all custom cars to newly features like upgrade to 840HP when I finished the 100 episodes of "Story Mode" (that's also returned from previous Wangan Maxi installments), replacing RUF cars to Porsche brand, purchased a fully tuned ticket/ Mazda MX-5 RF RS [NDERC]/ Nissan Leopard with my Maxi Points, an improved "Online Ghost VS Battle" etc... So tbh and my opinion, well bit disappointing but very understandable so I respect that.

To this day, the developers of Wangan Maxi Tune are ongoing with updates and changes for both 6RR and 6RR+. And the latter installment has yet to be proven if it shipped to Southeast Asia 🇵🇭🇸🇬🇲🇾🇮🇩🇧🇳🇻🇳🇹🇭, and selected regions like Australia 🇦🇺, New Zealand 🇳🇿, and India 🇮🇳. North America 🇺🇸, on the other hand, still had the old (yet vanilla) 5DX+ installment... 😐😑

Riya 🐰🏎️ [wearing Teenager Hoppy and Teenager CatNap's clothes combined]: *Sigh* Yeah, and I bet we won't see our signature "Twin Stripes" sticker body, anytime soon. 😥 Even the launching 6RR+ installment to us, it won't happened. Curse you, BNA! 😐😑

BTW: If you haven't seen my recent Wangan Maxi Tune experience, then pls click here → [CLICK ME! #1], [CLICK ME! #2].

Edited & Photography by ME! Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune series (Wangan Midnight) © Bandai Namco Amusement, Inc.; © Michiharu Kusunoki/Kodansha Ltd.

[lalalenii]

11, 19 & 23? 👀✨

11. Something you want to do again next year?

Get pierced 🪡

19. What are you excited about next year?

I have a few concerts lined up but also the Record Release Party for Ruf der Krähen and Bobcast Live 🥹

23. If you could send a message to yourself back on the first day of the year, what would it say?

Listen to yourself and to your needs

[thedaysofdisorder]

J.S. Bach: Orgelbüchlein, BWV 599-644 Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639 (Arr. Thomas) Fred Thomas · Aisha Orazbayeva · Lucy Railton From the album J.S. Bach: Three Or One - Transcriptions by Fred Thomas (2021, ECM Records)

[airadam]

Episode 172 : Yield To None

"Do you wanna be dope, or do you wanna deal it?"

- Common

All Hip-Hop at a nice steady pace - but a varied platter of vibes - for this episode, as I celebrate my birth month! 

Great personal news : I'm very proud to be included in the new "Hidden Histories : Black in Manchester" resource by Parise Carmichael-Murphy - have a read!

Twitter : @airadam13

Twitch : @airadam13

Playlist/Notes

Meyhem Lauren & DJ Muggs : GT3

From the car-themed "Members Only" 2019 collaboration between Meyhem and Cypress Hill DJ/producer DJ Muggs, this track integrates the sound of some very angry engines as an additional instrument/element of what is otherwise an extremely sparse bit of production - drums and bass only. Meyhem is laid-back and comfortable at this pace, crafting a track that even those of us without a Porsche on the driveway can appreciate - well, as long as our speakers or headphones deliver the goods!

[RZA] Raekwon : Can It All Be So Simple (Remix Instrumental)

You might detect a little sonic garbling where I was using Serato's "stems" feature to try and remove the vocal samples in the hook, but other than that here's the glorious sound of a hard-to-come-by RZA instrumental of a track from the monumental "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..." LP. Rae, Ghost, and RZA took their track from the Wu-Tang debut LP which was already a classic and subtly made it a little darker, a touch rougher and a little less nostalgic. A masterful remix and rewrite.

Roc Marciano : Ridin' Around

A very different kind of rider music to the opening track, but still with an ominous bassline which helps carry the vintage crime vibes perfectly. This is a deep cut from Roc Marciano's seminal solo debut "Marcberg" album, with his gangster wordplay on full display atop a track with more drum action than on much of his later work.

Showbiz & AG : Trapped

This is one of those records which, despite being by a highly respected group, has likely slipped under your radar. The DITC production legend Showbiz is here under his original name (you can find much of his other work credited as simply "Show") alongside his day one MC AG on this late-night creep number from the 2012 "Mugshot Music" album.

Planet Asia ft. Prodigy : Stick & Move

If you love your dark, underground NYC Hip-Hop, you might have heard this sample used elsewhere, but for the current episode this is the slow, menacing, bi-coastal track that gets the nod. Fresno and Queensbridge in combination as Planet Asia and Prodigy (RIP) go back and forth over an Evidence beat on this 2005 release. Not even a hint of going for the pop audience here, just gutter from start to end. Got to respect it.

Mud Family : Itchy Town

I've been holding onto this one for absolutely years! I first heard this on a "Radio Zero" show courtesy of Dave The Ruf, and it's a dark, brooding piece of UK boom-bap from this highly-regarded north London crew. Centred around the MCs Chester P, Skinnyman, and Mongo, they released their core work in the late 90s and early 00s, with this absolute beast being on their very first wax release, 1997s "The Mud Files, Vol. 1". Production on the EP as a whole is credited to Deckwrecka, Firebomb Fritz, and Mad Money Wah - not sure who did what on this cut, but I applaud them for cooking up a track that still bangs after over twenty-five years!

DJ Premier : Dee Ell P

It's been over a decade since DJ Premier gave us a "Beats That Collected Dust" collection, but there's a good reason for that...as he correctly points out, the beats that end up included have to be given time to collect that dust! With that said, the third edition is out now, and is a good digital pickup while the (likely pricey) vinyl works it's way through distribution to the shops. As for the title of this selection from the new release, I haven't deciphered it yet. "The LP"? Was it a track meant for Large Professor, perhaps? Probably overthinking it - just enjoy the master of the MPC 60 going back into his vaults.

Mabanua ft. Kev Brown : Holdin' It Down

I had completely missed this but was introduced to it by none other than Kev Brown himself when he played it on one of his "Beats 'n' Stuff" shows on Twitch! While he drops plenty of unreleased material, he'll throw in overlooked gems from his discography like this one, a collaboration with Japanese beatmaker Mabanua. Given that Kev is on the mic all the way through, I can only assume that Mabanua did the production here - even though it has that Kev Brown feel in spades!

De La Soul ft. Common : The Bizness

An old classic from some of the greats. If you don't already have De La Soul's "Stakes Is High" album, you can now easily buy digitally or stream it, so get on that! This track has, apart from one regrettable homophobic reference from Common which the label partly censored, bars upon bars of heat on a self-produced track that you can't help but nod your head to. I can also think of at least three Hip-Hop tracks that sampled/scratched lines from this one, which is a sure sign of a piece of work that has your peers paying attention!

Blu & Exile : Berries and Juices

You can't help but bop to this, Exile's beat has an undeniable bounce and while Blu does say "beat so sweet that I ain't even gotta do s--t", he unquestionably lifts it to that next level with a couple of chilled verses. Bonus points for the "Coming To America" reference 🙂 Take heed to the title of the album this is drawn from - "Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them" - and apply that sentiment to not only this duo but all the artists you enjoy!

pH7 ft. Access Immortal and DJ Roger Rekless : New York

A long-lost track that only resurfaced for me during the Great Digitisation of 2020-2023! A trans-Atlantic collaboration with German artists pH7 (Cologne) and DJ Roger Rekless (Munich) coming together with Bed-Stuy MC Access Immortal for a jazzy number with solid boom-bap underpinnings, tight cuts, and an overall clean and refreshing sound. You can find this on the somewhat obscure "Blazing Heat" EP,  

Ilajide : Ayerloom

Taking it back (ok, not that far back) to 2015 for a beat from "Latex", the first solo LP by one of my favourites, Ilajide of Clear Soul Forces. That drum beat could have come from an 80s Hip-Hop classic, as could the rest of the sounds on the track - and yet, as a whole it doesn't seem of that era. This Detroit beatsmith isn't afraid to go after a certain sonic hardness that other producers might shy away from in the modern era, and it's that banging aggression that helps set him apart.

Kuartz : Glitch In The Ghost

Local beat legend Kuartz released his new LP "Hybrid Dialects" this month, and it's a collection of bassy, techy, angular production that is well worth spending your hard-earned cash on! This was the first track I heard from it, which he debuted earlier in the year at Manchester's WORKINONIT beatmakers event - it was so raw that I had to ask him for an advance copy 😁 I've played it on Twitch a couple of times but now here it is as a taster for the album.

Grand Agent ft. Liv L'Raynge : Ooh-La-Lah

I hadn't heard this for absolutely ages until pulling it out earlier this month, which is a sign that no-one I've been listening to has been playing it either! Grand Agent collaborated with Oxnard production wizard Oh No on the "Under The Circumstances" LP which this track is drawn from, and the album has the husky-voiced MC Liv L'Raynge as the featured guest - with this track being her standout performance. She burns it down on the opening verse over Oh No's heavy beat, and really steals the whole show to be honest!

Coyote ft. Shaquille O'Neal : 3 Lokos

I first heard an excerpt of this on Instagram - not sure it was on Shaq's page, but either way it sent me to go ahead and find the full version of this new single! Coyote is the pairing of Ladies Love Guapo and Ricky Blanco, neither of whom I know already but they both spit rugged on this track, which they produced alongside Brian Lee and on which they were specifically going for a hardcore 90s feel. I know, I know...you want to know about Shaq. Well...he kills his verse. The doctorate-holding four-time NBA champion has been recording since 1993's guest appearance on "What's Up Doc?" by the Fu-Schnickens and his "Shaq Diesel" LP, and despite a long break he comes out spitting with that hunger! 

K-Otix : World Renown

Classic underground Hip-Hop right here from 2000, and now available along with the rest of the "Universal" LP on Bandcamp, so no reason not to put some dough in the artists' pockets! You might hear this record and think NYC, but nope - this is a Houston record! It might have been releaed on Bronx Science record, but the skills are all Texas-raised. The incredibly memorable beat comes from the man known as The ARE, who has also done some amazing work outside the crew, and Damien and Micah take the vocal reins. Big record.

DJ Spinna : Surely (Instrumental)

As we move with the wind-down, here's a beautiful track from the studio of DJ Spinna, taken from the instrumental release of his solo debut on BBE, "Here To There". With Ovasoul7's vocals gone, the guitar of the late UK jazz guitar legend Ronny Jordan and the programming work of DJ Spinna get to take centre stage, giving the track a different dimension.

Method Man ft. Ghostface Killah : Afterparty

An appropriate record to end the show with! A dope sing-songy exchange between Meth and Ghost starts the track off, and the melodic approach pops up throughout the track in between straight up bars over a smooth beat from a producer credited simply as "Q", but better known to most as Qur'an from Da Youngstas (sorry, can't bring myself to put the incorrect apostrophe in!) Still my favourite track on "Tical 0 : The Prequel", just as it was on first listen.

Please remember to support the artists you like! The purpose of putting the podcast out and providing the full tracklist is to try and give some light, so do use the songs on each episode as a starting point to search out more material. If you have Spotify in your country it's a great way to explore, but otherwise there's always Youtube and the like. Seeing your favourite artists live is the best way to put money in their pockets, and buy the vinyl/CDs/downloads of the stuff you like the most!

Check out this episode!

[stradarecords]

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