Hacienda - Sunday Afternoon (1996 Harthouse)

The third gem from the German downtempo scene surprisingly appeared in 1996 on Harthouse, a label known for high quality techno and hard house releases. The relaxed electric sound of Hacienda debut album Sunday Afternoon will be familiar to fans of another Harthouse artist Dadamnphreaknoizphunk.

mp3 I 320kbps I 69 minutes I 159mb I link in comments

Karma - Pad Sounds (1997 Groove Attack)

This brilliant debut album by Cologne duo Karma contains mostly material from the four-part serie of vinyl EPs released between 1995 and 1997. Although the Karma guys released two more albums, they've never been better than on Pad Sounds.

mp3 I 320kbps I 61 minutes I 141mb I link in comments

Liquid Lounge - Urban Soulscape (1995 Scat!)

Two weeks and no posts? Shame on me! Before we'll continue the Dorado series, let's take a short excursion into german downtempo scene of the 90's. Liquid Lounge was one-off project credited to certain J.J.Cooper while the real producers of the only album released under this monicker were in fact Alex Barck and Roskow Kretschmann, the real godfathers of nu jazz, better known from such projects as Jazzanova, Extended Spirit or Kosma. The recipe for Urban Soulscape (and many other albums that followed) is simple - take the live acid jazz band formula, chop it into pieces and then put the whole thing back together using sampler and sequencer. Done. Have a nice trip!

mp3 I 320kbps I 65 minutes I 150mb I link in comments

Mad Doctor X - Picnic With The Greys (1997 Freskanova)

There have been some requests for early Ninja Tune stuff and also for some 90's turntablism so here you go - this bunch of posts is dedicated to DJ Jason of Blapps Posse, a 2nd generation British hip-hop DJ and producer better known as London Funk Allstars or Mad Doctor X, who's been blowin' up the spot since 1990. Although Picnic With The Greys comes from his post-Ninja period, I'm sure you will agree it could have been released with zen cat. no. printed on the cover.

mp3 I 320kbps I 76 minutes I 175mb I link in comments

London Funk Allstars - London Funk Vol. 1 (1996 Ninja Tune)

London Funk Allstars is probably the best known project of DJ Jason and London Funk Vol. 1 is all-time trip hop classic, a true future rare groove with breakbeats melted into songs and cool Openmind cover design. Chun Li Vs. Wah Wah Man still works for me after all the time..

mp3 I 320kbps I 65 minutes I 150mb I link in comments

DJ Toolz - Break Beats'n'Grooves Volume 4 (1994 Ninja Tune)

When I started collecting Ninja Tune some 15 years ago, the four-part DJ Toolz series produced by DJ Jason was kind of holy grail to me - on vinyl only, popularity: high, availability: hard to find. Some years later I bought them all on wax plus this CD in a pawn shop for equivalent of 10 quids. Actually there's not much more beyond the title Break Beats'n'Grooves - a bunch of sampled, looped and replayed solid funk tracks. So bang your head to this or enjoy with a knowing smile... and stay tuned!

mp3 I 320kbps I 39 minutes I 90mb I link in comments

Brooklyn Funk Essentials - Cool And Steady And Easy (1994 Dorado)

 Brooklyn Funk Essentials is live jazz collective rooted in B'klyn, NYC. Their 1994 debut album Cool And Steady And Easy features Maceo Parker and Doug Whimbish, and contains the usual American-style acid jazz / hip hop mixture hardly distinguishable from other US acid jazz acts like The Jazzhole or Groove Collective. Unfortunately this is not the original Dorado release (which seems to be a hard-to-find these days) but the 1995 major reissue with some re-edits to make it more suitable for the US market.

mp3 I 320kbps I 65 minutes I 150mb I link in comments

Outside - Almost In (1993 Dorado)

In the beginning Outside was a monicker of acid jazz producer Matt Cooper. His debut album Almost In hosted a great list of respected guest musicians including Roger Beaujolais nad Ashley Slater, and also some shady figures like Neil Conti (ex-drummer for Prefab Sprout!) and certain Zinger AKA Rob Gallagher of Galliano fame. After all the years my fav is still If You Come With Me with that double drum track. The package also inludes the single Big City.

mp3 I 320kbps I 77 minutes I 190mb I link in comments

VA A Compilation (1992 Dorado)

West London's Dorado Records was founded in 1992 by Ollie Buckwell in the shadow of such giants as Acid Jazz and Talkin' Loud. During the label's four years classic period Dorado gained massive respect for its impressive roster of artists like Jhelisa, Outside, Cool Breeze, D*Note or Brooklyn Funk Essentials. This label compilation is the first offering and includes classic singles by D*Note (Scheme Of Things) and Monkey Business (Ain't No Fun).

mp3 I 320kbps I 43 minutes I 100mb I link in comments

Kid Loco - Blues Project EP (1996 Yellow Productions)

This debut platter from Kid Loco contains actually only four songs, one of which, Sister Curare, you already know from A Grand Love Story. The rest is rather abstract breaks'n'samples trip hop in 1996 fashion. A must-have for all Kid Loco fans.

mp3 I 320kbps I 30 minutes I 70mb I link in comments

Kid Loco - Jesus Life For Children Under 12 Inches (1999 Yellow Productions)

One of the best remix collections I know wrapped in the sexiest cover art since Electric Ladyland. Unfortunately the cover was found too dangerous and therefore heavily truncated for the US market, so our american friends, close your eyes and just.. listen.

mp3 I 320kbps I 69 minutes I 159mb I link in comments

Kid Loco - A Grand Love Story CD2 (1998 Yellow Productions)

Since I've posted the first Kid Loco album I've been receiving emails asking, requesting and demanding the second bonus CD. The thing is, I wasn't going to post it because it wasn't part of the 1997 promo copy I've ripped for the post. But anyway, after some serious digging I've found not only my regular 2CD edition but also some more Kid Loco goodies which I hope you'll enjoy as much as I had while listening to them after some 10 years. Stay tuned!

mp3 I 320kbps I 25 minutes I 56mb I link in comments