Karl Hector & The Malcouns

Stones Throw's funk imprint, Now-Again, follows up the mind-blowing Heliocentrics album with this desert continent disc from neo-afro funk collective Karl Hector & The Malcouns. First, a quick who's who of the principals: Karl Hector (vocals & percussion) has, up to this point, only recorded his skills on one 7-inch back in '96 with the Funk Pilots; Between Jay Whitefield (Poets of Rhythm), Thomas Myland and Zdenko Curlija (The Malcouns) a wide swath of instrumental ground gets covered. Six more musicians round out the collective. "Nyx" stands out as a faithful sampling of Sahara Swing as a whole. Its gritty groove breaks down into raw african percussion about a minute and a half in, after which a fog of free jazz rolls past until the guitars resume their call and response riffs. It's like overhearing a conversation that you can't stop listening to because you want to hear the rest of the story. And the rest of the story about Sahara Swing goes like this: it'll be one of the hottest additions to your summertime party playlist.

Nyx [MP3, 4.4MB, 160kbps]

www.stonesthrow.com/Now-Again
www.myspace.com/themalcouns

Rae Davis

I so need this right now. Lately my brain has been swelling at the seams as I work through my first year of teaching (in the face of pending budget cuts that may very well force me into retirement decades too soon), grading (English teachers do too much), and, the really hard part: snowboarding, skateboarding, biking, legoing, and birthday-partying with my kids. Just as I'm about to lie down to sleep (quick usage lesson) I came across this chilly gem. How chill is it you ask? As chill as a stay-cold pillow my friend Mitch talks about developing. I'm gonna cozy up to these beats and deep, bone-shaking bass plucks, and pass out. Like this photo of Mr. Davis himself. You're about to be schooled in the ways of quality downtempo and quality down time courtesy of this up and coming Texan.

Yesterday's History [MP3, 5.6MB, 192kbps]
This I Dig of You [MP3, 5.6MB, 192kbps]

www.antipop.net

Sneaky

Sneaky is the double-bassist from the UK pluckin' and scratchin' outfit Fingathing. His debut EP Feel Like a King is due sometime this spring and promises more pluckin' than scratchin'...natch. The lead track, "Beduija," has a nice curried flavor to it.

Beduija [MP3, 4.7MB, 192kbps]

www.thisissneaky.co.uk

The Sugarman Three

We really dig what Daptone's been up to this year. But they've been working at reviving soul for some years now; their comeuppance is due. One of their earliest releases is an album from The Sugarman Three, an outfit built around saxophonist Neal Sugarman and a Hammond B-3 organ. It's a crying shame that tracks from their debut album, Sugar's Boogaloo, aren't available, and that your first taste of the band comes in the form of remixes, but you just shouldn't take another breath until you get yourself a lil' Sugarman action. These remixes are from a complete remix compilation that's been freely available for a couple weeks courtesy of Daptone and friends. Dig deep from the Daptone well friends.

Bosco's Blues (Bull Jun Remix) feat. Large Professor [MP3, 5.7MB, 192kbps]
Take It As It Come feat. Charles Bradley (Afrodisiac Soundsystem Remix) [MP3, 6.3MB, 192kbps]

www.daptonerecords.com

The Harlem Experiment

The Harlem Experiment isn't a band, but a collective of music (specifically jazz, funk, and hip hop) fiends rustled together by Aaron Levinson to pay homage to the variety of sounds eminating over the years from, yes, Harlem. This is the third in Ropeadope's "Experiment" series. They experimented with Philly and Detroit first. "It's Just Begun" begins with a classic funk track by Jimmy Castor and The Castor Bunch, which DJ Arkive dismantled, re-cut, re-worked and scratched up a bit. From there, Eddy Martinez (keys for Tito Puente and Run D.M.C.) stepped in and laid down a screaming keyboard track. Their goal was to maintain the timeless quality of the original track. Do you think they hit the mark? The ears of this novice funkateer say, "we likey, a lot-y."

It's Just Begun [MP3, 3.4MB, 128kbps]

www.ropeadope.com
harlem.ropeadope.com

The Heliocentrics

I can't promise you these tracks will be up long, so get 'em while the gettin's good. Malcolm Catto leads the nine-piece Heliocentrics for a crazy, funked-up ride into the far reaches of jazz's space time continuum. I don't know what that means either, but it'd take up way too much space attempting to pin down The Heliocentrics sound. They didn't call it Out There for nothing. It sounds retro, like a James Brown outtake, but Catto's been spending the present-day diggin' deep for funk 45s, drumming for DJ Shadow and Madlib, and releasing a solo LP on James Lavelle's Mo' Wax Records (the "Untitled" track below is a sample of an unreleased song from those sessions). "Sirius B" is just 1/24 of the electro-free-jazz-space-out The Heliocentrics have unleashed on an unsuspecting and unworthy world.

Sirius B [MP3, 7.1MB, 192kbps]
Malcolm Catto - Untitled [MP3, 2.4MB, 128kbps]

www.stonesthrow.com
www.myspace.com/heliocentrics

Hasch'm'Méneum

This is a fun mystery.

Having stumbled upon Hasch'm'Méneum through the backalleys of Last.fm, I have yet to find any more information on them. The best source of information comes in the way of the “electrojazz” tag given to them on said social music network. Normally we at Moodmat shun genre names, especially those of the hastily taped- and stapled-together variety. But this one ain’t bad. Hasch'm'Méneum’s “jazz” has a blues-y chug to it, and their “electro” bubbles a bit under the surface. So songs like “Heliotrope” wouldn’t be out of place in a Jazzanova set, and “Slide” evokes the “future sound of Hull,” a.k.a. Fila Brazillia. Who are these masked men? And why did they leave us two free albums to download?

Dan Sicko (special guest to 3hive.com)

Heliotrope [MP3, 4.1MB, 128kbps]
Slide [MP3, 4.1MB, 128kbps]
Christerium [MP3, 4.2MB, 128kbps]
Red Sniper [MP3, 4.0MB, 128kbps]

www.last.fm/music/Hasch'm'Méneum

Artanker Convoy

The best way to describe Artanker Convoy is downtempo funk jams. Slowed-down grooves that go on and on as if the earth's rpm's have dropped down a notch and no one's in a hurry to get anywhere or do anything but c.h.i.l.l. An air of improvisation takes center stage as each member of this Brooklyn sextet lays down their perspective track, often tinged with the music they've been listening to lately whether it's east Asian dub, Nashville soul, jazz, Bowie or The James Gang. Their new album (pictured), out now, features a DVD with videos of live performances, animations, and abstract op-art by art collective MUX, who frequently perform live with the band. Most of the MP3s here are unreleased demos, but still offer a good idea of what Artanker Convoy is all about. As a point of band history, Arthur (aka Artanker), drums and percussion, used to rock out in the early '90s with James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, in the Jinx Clambake Explosion. Drop that bit of knowledge at your next soiree for major indie-cred points.

Truck Stop [MP3, 7.2MB, 1600kbps]
Black Dolphin [MP3, 10.0MB, 192kbps]
Sway Bar [MP3, 8.5MB, 192kbps]
Pretext [MP3, 8.1MB, 128kbps]
Backfire [MP3, 4.8MB, 128kbps]
Journey to the East [MP3, 3.2MB, 192kbps]

www.thesocialregistry.com
www.myspace.com/artankerconvoy