Back catalogue: DJ Tools

Review: French house duo Cassius are undersung stars of the genre. Their cuspate millennial smash 'Cassius 1999' marked out well the fervour of the time, fizzing against our ears with its liminal "don't" vox, creep-in bass, brushup rides and stinger Morricone chords, which all build to a laggard but crucial French house wahher. A full-length album followed, exploring the same themes: and now the duo share a new "tool" version of the record, which pares the each of said debut LP's tracks to their barest bones. An "homage to our early experiments with endless loops", 1999 DJ Tool celebrates the long-form, live set cutup approach necessitated by their many European tour dates during the early noughts.

Review: Aldebaran Records presents Murder Patternz, the brainchild of legendary DJ D-Styles, renowned for his contributions to turntablism with groups like Beat Junkies and Invizibl Skratch Pklz. This quadrilogy of battle tools kicks off with volume one, featuring skipless effects at 100bpm on the A-side and a 133 bpm rendition on the B, encouraging the exploration of ultra-pitch techniques. With only 300 copies available, this limited edition release promises to delight turntablists and scratch enthusiasts alike. D-Styles' mastery of the craft shines through in every track, showcasing his unparalleled skill and innovative approach to scratch music. Murder Patternz is not just a collection of breaks but a testament to the enduring influence of DJ D-Styles on the world of turntablism. Whether you're a seasoned scratch artist or a newcomer to the scene, this quadrilogy is a worthy addition to your collection, offering endless inspiration and creative possibilities.

Review: Talk about a time capsule. While the obvious nostalgists out there scour and share their cassette eight packs, desperately converting the mixes they contain to digital files before the inevitable unspooling renders the original recordings obsolete, here comes Death Is Not The End - a record label that lends its name to (well, hosts) a show on NTS Radio - with the ultimate trip back to a time many weren't lucky enough to live through.

As the name suggests, this is literally a collection of no less than 40 radio adverts that appeared at some point or other on London's once-plentiful pirate radio stations between 1984 and 1993. Many are poor quality in terms of production, a good number use samples from some of the biggest dance tracks of the day, loads namecheck some legends of the UK rave scene, and every single one would be loads of fun to drop into a mix or use as a sample for productions. Not that we're recommending doing anything without license.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve slightly damaged, records slightly warped***


William Tramontozzi aka. DJ JS-1 first released this battle tools compendium as a DVD-r edition sometime circa 2000. Scratch Roulette aimed at one goal and one goal only: to compile all the best slices of samplerific sass onto one medium. Now reissued via Ground Original in 2xLP form, we're now met with several hundred sound effects, phrases, hits, drums and tones on wax. There are no redundant loops or beats here: only scratch sounds and phrases (if you want drums, go sift them out of a record like the best DJs used to do). Time-capsuling an era into a distinct sonic bottle, this one's yet another compendium proving that certain genres aren't just made by form, tempo or rhythm alone; it's often the embellishments, the specific sounds used, that make a classic a breaks, hip-hop, or garage classic.

Review: Woodwurk serves up a record here that is purely for the adventurous and dexterous hip-hop DJs who might be out there: It is a series of apparently skip-proof scratch loops from DJ Robert Smith. It takes the form of several short scratch words and phrases as well as full sentences split across 39 tracks all under a minute in length. These ultra-pitch tools are ripe for experimentation and will bring some undeniable old-school hip-hop cool. This useful long player comes with a cool illustration by skate industry legend Mark 'Fos' Foster.

Review: The arrival of the Acapellas Anonymous series in the mid/late '80s was a massive gamechanger, giving immediate access to DJs and producers to hundreds of vocal samples that would have taken a fortune (and a lifetime) to collect. Edit king Mr K has rebuilt, remastered, and carefully portioned them onto a five disc set of 7-inch singles, "including all the classic vocal bits that became iconic samples," and more than a few new additions to bring things up to date. You'll know more than a few of these on first listen, others you may have never even realised were samples, but no-one will underestimate the power of a great vocal sample dropping in the right way in the right mix. An absolute essential.

Review: Roughneck Jihad and Symatic are back with their first full-length album, The Decomposition Ray. After their 2022 Simon Bar Sinister EP and the 2018 lathe-cut 7" Wonder, the duo continues to evolve their unique mix of experimental beats and unconventional lyrics. Crafted with a loop station, tape echo, and Cut & Paste Records scratch tools, the instrumentals were passed to Roughneck Jihad for lyrical infusion. The album's artwork is hand-printed by Bethanien's Dust in Belfast, while each of the 150 vinyl records is splatter-pressed with a unique design, making each copy a true collector's item.