New Grooves Volume II: Aug 10th - 16th

Second edition of our weekly feature highlighting the grooves that are tickling our ears this week.

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VA - Echo Expansion (Porter Records)

(Flying Lotus, Ras G, Gaslamp etc)

It's hard to ignore the fact that there seems to be a lot of spiritual soul searching from the more thoughtful quarters of the American instrumental hiphop scene right now, with a bright spotlight of spectral sunshine breaking the clouds and focussing on the City of Angels. Recent records from The Life Force Trio and Flying Lotus among others have really displayed a yearning for something a little deeper, even extending to the psyche obsessions of Gaslamp Killer and Alfred Darlington's many guises. Dublab and Porter Records have succinctly compiled the best of these spiritually connected producers with 'Echo Expansion', dividing a group of 13 artists into two sides, 'Future' and 'Roots'. On the 'Future' side we have 3 tracks from Alfred Darlington (aka Adventure Time, Blank Blue and Daedelus), a psyche rock gem from Gaslamp Killer & The Gonja Sufi, plus a pure bomb track from Flying Lotus, and more from Ras G, Dimlite, DNTEL and The life Force Trio. On the 'Roots' side we have Languis, Jahbitat, Kutmah, Hashim B, Take, MatthewDavid and Andrew Pekler all exploring psyched variations on an elevated theme. It's a lovingly crafted and beautifully presented package that any of the more cosmically inclined heads will lap up. Very good indeed. (Boomkat)