Today Only: Broken Beat/Nu Jazz/Nu Soul sale vinyl

Review: Earl "Damu the Fudgemunk" Davis returns with Peace of Action, the latest addition to Def Presse's KPM partnership series. Known for his standout Conversation Peace in 2021, Damu builds on the momentum, delivering nine fresh, fully instrumental tracksihis first purely instrumental project in over seven years. With no vocals and an absence of guests, Damu dives deep into KPM's archive, unearthing new sounds while breaking his own creative boundaries. Peace of Action blends jazz sensibilities with hip-hop techniques, crafting a dynamic, story-driven album where each track stands alone yet ties into a broader, transformative theme. From the meticulous crate digging to the rich textures, it's an intricate exploration of rhythm and sound, reflecting the accelerated changes of the past few years. A masterclass in storytelling without words, Damu reimagines jazz through a contemporary lens, rooted in the tradition of classic samples but with a fresh, forward-thinking approach.

Review: DJ Katch is a core part of the Resin Dogs and a mainstay of Australia's hip-hop scene. He pops up here to mint the new Members Only label with Abstract Rude. A-side jam 'Make My 45 The P Funk' is classic old school boom-bap with tight bars and cuts By Deejay Toby Gee. It's playful and booty-shaking and sure to get any floor full. On the flip, Katch gets deep on a more jazzy and late night number as he edits The Resin Dogs's 'Jazz Crimes', especially for this 7".

Review: When Nostalchic was first released in 2013, Lapalux was already well established as a central figure in the booming LA beat scene orbiting around Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder label. Given how entrenched in the 2010s that whole movement was, the music itself has matured beautifully over the past decade to become a heartfelt benchmark in a sub-genre that thrived on innovation and unexpected swerves. It helps that there are some choice detuned synth lines which fold time across the ages on the likes of 'Guuurl', proving Lapalux was always about the feels more than the shock and awe of the beats. Having only a modest run the first time around, now the album has been repressed for the first time as a limited edition on clear vinyl.

Review: Marvin Gaye was extremely proud of his pioneering film score for the "blaxploitation" film "Trouble Man". In 1982, he commented: "The "Trouble Man" film score was one of my loveliest projects and one of the great sleepers of all our time. I'll probably be dead and gone before I get the probable acclaim from the "Trouble Man" album, musical track, that I feel I should get. And put to a symphony, if someone took my album and did a symphony on it, I think it would be quite interesting." American musician Daniel Zelonky (AKA "Low Res") had been captivated by this record for decades. Given the opportunity to recreate and conduct the entire film score live with a 36 piece orchestra at Voohuit, a beautiful classical venue in Gent, Belgium he set about meeting this daunting challenge: to be faithful to the feeling of the original and yet to create something "new", to expand upon certain elementts in a formal way, no "jamming" on the themes. After a very successful performance, the resulting recordings were augmented in studio with additional instrumentation, and with the vocals of Blackwolf, singer of the late, lamented "Kings Go Forth" (Luaka Bop Records). We think that the crate-digging denizens of the original soundtrack, and the curious Marvin Gaye fans alike will find much to enjoy in this 50th Anniversary tribute to Marvin's Blaxploitation masterpiece!

Review: Mister Modo of "Modonut" returns with Music For Bugs which comes on a hand-numbered and hand-stamped record with an autographed sleeve signed by Mister Modo himself. This magnificent conceptual album has been inspired by the world of insects and showcases the obsessive digger's unique take on hip-hop and r&b. It is basically a mutant beat tape that weaves together dark, powerful loops with a cinematic and emotional rap atmosphere. This ultra-limited record is a great collector's piece with only 222 copies available worldwide.

Review: Skygaze has some recent tunes remixed on this new Flumo Limited 12" and the results are nice and varied. The opener is from Allysha Joy who flips 'Night Heat' into a lively broken beat run through with warming and soulful synths and a sprinkling of percussion. 'Gimme Five' (Jailed Jamie & Lorenzo Soria remix) then ups the ante with a party-starting house vibe and fiery stabs. 'Wagwan' gets a fresh dose of broken beats from Divorce From New York that will have you flailing your limbs in all directions and Sofatalk & Footnote then keep things a little deeper with their jazzy and sun-kissed take on 'Minor Mood'. 'City Cathedratics' is the final cut and becomes a cosmic and heady, percussive and shimmering late-night sound thanks to the work of Karmasound remix.

Review: Unchained is the longstanding solo project of Nathaniel Davis. Gabbeh is his latest offering to the world, a suite of blissfully introspective tracks that envelop the soul in a blanket of soft, delicate moods, their sole purpose to comfort aching heads. Remarkably, dedicated fans will know you can trace the artist's lineage to noise mix tapes on CD-R, although more recent excursions into Bossa nova influenced tones perhaps help bridge the gap between then and now. Recorded at home over a three year period, from 2020 to 2023, Grenoble, Switzerland, played a big part in end results here. "I think certain songs reflect, in ways, Grenoble's natural surroundings. 'Drac' is named after the river that flows from the mountains down to the city - 'Dru' is the name of a well-known peak near Chamonix," Davis has explained. That as may be, nevertheless there's something more transportive than that here - songs feel as though they would be at home anywhere green, slow and thoughtful.