FEATURED CD

VADIM - U Can't Lurn Imaginashun $37.95

Respected beat head DJ Vadim returns with his latest long player for th BBE imprint following from his 'Soundcatcher' set a couple of years back. His current sound has moved on from his early 00's prime to a faithfully "old-skool" friendly mash of well dug samples, lite funk and bitten soul with a supporting cast of low profile MCs and singers including Big Red, 5nizza, Juice Lee, Heidi Vogel, Pugs Atomz, Sabira Jade and longtime spar Yarah Bravo.

RECORDKINGZ - Heavyweight $37.95

Juliano Creator’s name may not ring bells in the mainstream’s citadel, but one glance of the contributions from his solo debut Heavyweight reveals his Hip-Hop respect is paid in full. Aiming to put some verbiage back into the art, the U.K. producer enlists the likes of American MCs such as Little Brother, The Beatnuts and Mobb Deep for a global appreciation of the culture.

Compilation albums generally don’t fare without diversity and luckily enough, Recordkingz’ production talents carry the gene of versatility. “This Is 4 My People” sports a breezy riddim combined with a staccato drum pattern for Evidence to give out universal shoutouts while the frenetic “Rock Ya Shoulders,” puts some spark in the notoriously absent Beatnuts. And naturally, Juliano promotes his turntable talents with the various “Skits” sprinkled throughout the LP.

BROTHER ALI - The Truth Is Here $29.95

Some have called Brother Ali’s Shadows on the Sun a powerful album; a stellar release full of raw potency that showcased a breakdown of self with introspective splendor. His follow up, The Undisputed Truth, took the broken pieces to rebuild Ali, tying loose ends, answering questions and showing the joy of a man who succeeded despite hardship. In between, The Champion EP was a bridge to that victory. Now, The Brother is unveiling The Truth is Here, a new EP containing the next chapter of this celebrated emcee’s career, where he is able to unwind with rhymes still as intricate as ever.

SURVIVAL - Survival LP $39.95

As a familiar name on the play charts of many of drum’n’bass’ top DJs recently, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Survival is a new artist; but you’d be wrong. In fact Steve Kielty has been involved in both producing and engineering since the inception of drum’n’bass back in 1993/94 when he kicked off his musical career as a studio engineer. It was around this time that he paired up with Roy Mcabe under the guises of Akustic Research/Banaczech, releasing records on two very prolific labels between 1995 and 2003: Vinyl Addiction and Partisan Recordings. From there he took a short break from producing and worked as a Studio Manger for West Row studios until 2005 when he re-emerged as a solo artist under the alias Survival. With a plethora of well received releases on labels such as Creative Source, Exit Records, DNAudio, Quarantine, Play Music and Shogun Audio, Survival’s deep, organic sound has rapidly earned him a reputation as one of the true craftsmen of modern drum’n’bass. Collaborations with Break, Silent Witness, DBridge, Fierce, Sabre and Zero Tolerance clearly illustrate the respect he commands from his peers, and with his newly launched Audio Tactics label providing a focused outlet for his productions, his fan base is expanding as rapidly as his discography. 15 years deep in this music, 2009 is the year in which Survival will release his first album.

ED RUSH & OPTICAL- Travel The Galaxy $39.95

From the sci-fi opening 'City 17' onwards, the trademarks are there. The beats are unrelenting and yet somehow less static and more organically funky than most of today's d&b. There are sonic echoes of techno and old hardcore rave, certainly in the mind boggling intro to 'Temper' and the pulsing analogue keyboard stabs that underpin the superlative 'Padded Cells', 'Move It, 'The Kindred' and many others here. It's become a cliche, but there are parallels with the heart tugging swoops and soars of the 'Bladerunner' soundtrack, especially on 'Chubrub', and the futuristic, sci-fi influence that gave 'Wormhole' its name is present throughout. As ever, it's the friction between thess sterile, ice-cold sonics and the fresh energy of the drums and bass end warmth that provides the thrills.

VARIOUS - The Way Of The Samurai $29.95

The first LP/CD release project for Samurai Music, ‘Way of The Samurai’ presents a panoramic vision of global drum and bass music circa 2009. The brainchild of Internationally respected, New Zealand-based drum and bass pioneer Geoff Wright (DJ Presha), ‘Way of The Samurai’ is an artfully curated collection of progressive drum and bass from New Zealand and abroad. The album is a triumph of musical depth and intensity over the formulaic sounds sometimes present in commercial drum and bass. When looked at holistically ‘Way of The Samurai’ represents the creative vision of Samurai Music, as designed by DJ Presha. Featuring exclusive material from New Zealand drum and bass producer’s State of Mind, The Upbeats, Dose, Menace, Trei, Luca and Mosus with equally unique material from Europeans Klute, Hobzee, Zyon Bass, Zero T, Soul Intent, Stress Level, TC1 & Julen, ‘Way of The Samurai’ traverses the full gamut of drum and bass flavours over the course of its twelve track running order. Be it the atmospheric and upfront sounds of ‘Divinity’ by Klute, the haunting and urgent cries of ‘SFX’ by The Upbeats , or the almost cosmic tones of ‘Carbon Black by Zero T & Mosus, the common threads of quality and diversity through this album become quickly apparent, even after the most cursory listen.

PITCH BLACK - Rhythm, Sound & Movement $24.95
Hard to box into a single audio 'genre', Pitch Black is a combination of musical journeys. Their sound is distinctive; ranging from organic ambient beginnings and layered soundscapes to skanking keyboards, cutting acid riffs and thumping rhythmic grooves.

Rhythm, Sound and Movement is a collection of remixes of tracks from Pitch Black’s Rude Mechanicals album, which, reflecting the duo’s wide ranging tastes and styles, encompasses nearly every genre of electronica and dance music there is.

PARALLEL DANCE ENSEMBLE - Turtle Pizza Cadillac $23.95

Yam Who? proudly present their new record label ISM & its debut release from the Parallel Dance Ensemble. Already getting major attention and rightly so the PDE have all the potential to be 2009's underground crossover act. The brainchild of Robin Hannibal from Osuwu & Hannibal fame on Ubiquity Records this is his penultimate creation. Slightly reminiscent of the 80's groups Tom Tom Club, Pop Group and the Bush Tetras but sounding totally futuristic like MIA or those upstarts the New Young Pony Club. "Pizza Turtle Cadillac" features Coco Solid, a New Zealand born MC who has been rocking the airwaves for some time whilst also performing alongside the likes of Sway, Spankrock and SA-RA. The hilarious tongue in cheek joint "Weight Watchers" has all the hall marks of the early Soft Cell material with Cindy Ectasy. Slightly sinister, funny as hell, with a funky lyrical flow and damn sassy too! Rounding up the package are the Yam Who? reworks. Ruff electronic disco funk is the only way to sum up their production for PDE. Retro, futuristic with touches of magic cosmic love dust and already receiving play from James Murphy (LCD), Maurice Fulton, Horse Meat Disco, Faze Action, Lindstrum, Prins Thomas, Metro Area & Daniel Wang.

JULIEN DYNE - Pins And Digits $24.95

Pins and Digits is Julien's long awaited debut album, following the critical acclaim of his first release Phantom Limbo EP (2007).Pins and Digits features guests spots from some of New Zealand's most talented musicians including Jonathan Crayford, Paul Dyne, Lewis McCallum, Jeremy Toy (Opensouls), John Bell, Isaac Aesili, Steph Brown and stand out tracks from the fresh vocal talents of Mara TK (Electric Wire Hustle) and Parks (Ladi6).Julien’s first release, the Phantom Limbo EP introduced Julien as a producer and served as a platform for him to showcase his sizable percussion and production skills. Lead single 'Maddingos' was nominated for a bnet award 2007, and remains a local anthem for DJs. Stylistically Pins and Digits combines the big bass, brass and beats aesthetic of the Phantom Limbo EP with futuristic keyboards and synthesised sounds.

OPTIMUS GRYME - Eclipse $26.95
Optimus Gryme (aka Charlie B) has spent two years creating his debut album entitled Eclipse. The album showcases 11 original works and features remixes and collaborations with Billy Fluid, Truth, Organikismness, Fiona Soe Paing and Maraku Rewiti.Charlie fondly refers to the album as, "2 years of heart and soul morphed into 60 minutes of audio for your listening pleasure". It was Charlie's focus to create an album that people of all musical tastes could enjoy, whether it is relaxing at home on a Sunday afternoon or rocking it out in a club.100% New Zealand Music.

Martyn 'Great Lengths' $35.95

Martijn Deykers been making waves in both the techno and dubstep communities with his previous releases as Martyn, impressing Francois K so much, for instance, that he was invited to take over his Deep Space party in New York for the entire night. However you might classify the music that he produces, Martijn is keen to avoid pigeonholing his own material. "I think what makes music interesting is when an artist incorporates his/her influences and translates it into a unique sounding style," he explains. "Although it might sound a tad arrogant, I'd like to think of my music as 'Martyn music.' I try not to think of it as dubstep or techno, or house or drum & bass—it's not about genres, it's about music. This way I feel more freedom to make the music I want to make."

VARIOUS - Soul Jazz Singles 2009 $42.95

Some of the finest artists around have chosen to work with Soul Jazz records in the last two years and the label is proud to present their exclusive tracks here. As well as featuring the cream of the UK's dubstep producers such as kode 9, digital mystikz and cult of the 13th hour (kevin martin aka the bug and space ape), this release also features many second generation artists such as pinch, cotti, ramadanman, kutz and more. The first 1000 copies of this compilation will include a third mixed cd which includes some material not featured on the first two discs. Soul Jazz have always continued to release the very best in new, forward thinking electronic music. Be it glitchy house, baile funk, italo-disco by the likes of subway, matias aguayo, tetine (with a killer remix by css), secondo. This album brings together all the exclusive 12" vinyl releases on soul jazz records over the last two years