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Doom’s day is coming
While you’re waiting for MF Doom ‘s highly anticipated Madlib -tweaked Madvillain project to drop, kick back with a copy of DayByDay Entertainment ‘s DIY-style retrospective mix, Best Of MF Doom & MF Grimm. Conscious head-nodders like KMD ‘s What A Niggy Know, WWIII and Doomsday show that Doom is one of the most exciting hiphop MCs not from the South, while added freestyles and exclusive tracks – so exclusive they don’t have titles – will appeal to headz who already own all the vinyl. Check www.daybydayent.com
Spanish hookup
Funky jazz fusion joints of Spanish origin almost never turn up on dance-floor-geared rare groove comps, and if they do it’s usually something obvious by Pedro Ruy-Blas or Jayme Marques . That’s why the HiTop label’s well-researched and brilliantly mastered Improvisto! series is such a godsend. The second volume digs deeper than the first to uncover jazzy club killers by the mysterious El Currante , Pepe Sanchez y Su Rock Band and Orquesta Greg Segura along with an unreleased modal mover from Toldos y Su Grupo . Funk fanatics will also be thrilled to get the Brothers ‘ sought-after classic Brothers Groove on wax for under $400. Bring on volume three!
Dutch touch
For those fans of Holland’s amazing 60s beat, garage and punk groups not satisfied with the hits of the Outsiders , Motions , Q65 and Golden Earrings collected on the essential five-disc Nederbeat 63-69: Beat, Bluf & Branie box, there was the follow-up two-volume Nederbeat 63-69: B-Sides set. But for serious Nederheads, even that’s not nearly enough. So now there’s Nederbeat 63-69: Dutch Nuggets (Universal), collecting previously uncomped pop and soft-psych tracks from Decca and Philips label nutters like the Beat Buddies , Short 66 , the Sound Magics and mighty mods Het . It’s not quite as cool as the Waterpipes & Dykes (Distortions) set, but still worth checking.
Ace discovery
Not unlike the fabulous Big Beat label anthology She Wants A Piece Of You, which turned many people on to the garage delights of overlooked 60s girl group She , the Ace of Cups ‘ It’s Bad For You But Buy It! disc rescues another amazing band from the depths of obscurity. The R&B influence that shines through on the disc’s soulful opener, Music, and the funky flip of Mongo Santamaria ‘s Afro Blue suggest the Ace of Cups were not your average Haight-Ashbury hippie chicks. They never released a recording during their mid-60s run, but thanks to Big Beat, they’ll get some overdue props.
