KingUnderground

High Pulp - Bad Juice - album release date TBA. 

Originally released in 2018 as a small vinyl run but pulled because the band weren’t happy with some of the mixes. Deluxe 2LP on magenta & yellow transparent vinyl available soon. Next Friday, they drop the single “Hookai”. 

High Pulp are an 8-piece band that emerged from the Royal Room, a legendary Seattle Jazz club where they held “Funk Church” jam sessions in 2017. Their signature sound is a Psychedelic fusion of Hip-Hop, Funk, Jazz, and Soul which come together with complex, well thought out arrangements and progressive style. After successful sessions and premieres with prestigious station KEXP, and being at the forefront of the Seattle music scene. 

“Bad Juice answers the new millennium’s post-trip-hop, ambient, drum & bass call - contemporary with vinyl sharp grooves, macramé arrangements, and session-level instrumentation. The form is asymmetric, but the effect is magic”. - Earshot Jazz

Karl Morgan has a bass and drum sample library called Hidden Cymbals coming out July 17. 

VINYL available online in the KingUnderground store and Karl’s Bandcamp on June 5. Use coupon code JUNE5 on checkout (Bandcamp only) and get 10% off until midnight PDT.  

This is our third music Library release. This time Karl Morgan, shares his skills on the drums, with Daverage on bass. The guys worked with Lewis Parker to record and engineer the project, with Pete Norman behind the mastering and Bee Graphics continuing with the artwork cover series. Karl has been a passionate musician for 20 years and played in bands of almost every genre. He’s also a drum teacher and session musician in London, UK.

The KU Recorded Music Library series blends influences from new school sample libraries, as well as iconic labels of the 70s, such as De Wolfe and KPM. With Hidden Cymbals, we’re sticking to those high standards, using high end gear, recording equipment, and top of the range studios. You get 7 compositions, instrument stems, fills, one shot hits, and 15 bonus breaks perfect for the producers and DJ’s, or musicians that would like to play along, or use in their own productions.

Coming May 22. Pre-order Apr 17 at KingUnderground >> 

VINYL 1LP w/ printed inner-sleeve

COLOURED VINYL | KU Exclusive - 150 copies

ALBUM BUNDLE 1LP + 45 (3 tracks, not on album)

‘Be Yourself’ by The New Mastersounds is on vinyl for the first time since its initial release in 2003. The new version is available with or without a bonus collectors’ 45. The first 150 copies are on ‘natural-coloured’ vinyl, with printed inner sleeves, original shots of the band, and brand new artwork. 

The Leeds band has played gigs in Mexico, Europe, the USA, and all over the UK, with highlights including the legendary Jazz Cafe in London, Chicago's famed House Of Blues, and backing Sax legend Lou Donaldson. 

Other career highlights include being sampled by Dj Shadow, remixed by Kenny Dope, as well as providing the soundtrack for the Commonwealth Games in 2002.

One of the standout cuts, with a gem of a feature from pre-Grammy-winning, platinum-selling Corine Bailey Rae, is ‘Your Love Is Mine.’ The sublime soul ballad, in a similar vein of a classic Al Green or Minnie Ripperton song, would fit perfectly at a summertime BBQ.

Photo of Corine Bailey Rae 

LISTEN >>

‘You’ve Had It All’ sounds like an updated KPM Library banger, with its prominent Hammond organ and monstrous guitars. Diggers and beat heads also get a nice treat with the huge, hard-hitting drum break halfway through. 

‘Better Off Dead’ takes a page from Sitar Funk virtuoso Ananda Shankar’s book with a trip through India on the Psychedelia-tinged track, which also includes another killer drum break and more Hammond Organ.

‘Do What You Gotta Do’ is an uptempo dance floor-filler that boasts lavish acoustic piano in a nod to Ramsey Lewis.

Limited edition bonus collectors’ 45 

With their staggering combined raw talent and roaring Funk in the territory of classic Meters grooves, moments of subtle pop tendencies, and a dash of downtempo beats a la Portishead, some of the rambunctious grooves would feel right at home in a Guy Ritchie gangster movie.

Overall, the album shows diverse musical influences ranging from Library music and cinematic funk to yacht rock, with elements of contemporary Jazz and Soul, as well as a broad range of instruments including wild synthesizer effects, Sitar, Hammond Organ, and electric piano.

The New Mastersounds are still very active today, and here they celebrate a milestone with a fresh look at their second album; although now close to 20 years old, it has aged brilliantly.

Torb announces a repress of his debut album, Tape Echo: Gold Floppies due Apr 17 on deluxe blue & black vinyl. 

There’s a short feature film and two singles, Tre Seks Fem & Tokyo already out. 

Floppy Mac Space is a mountain hermit who loves coffee, knitting, and talking to neighborhood animals. In his free time, he collects sounds from his environment—the sound of fires and chopping wood—which he then turns into woozy beats that he bakes into floppy discs and sells from a small cabin near his home. Like any young creative, he has a corporate nemesis: Supermonster, the CEO of big-box retailer Full Flop, who moved into Mac Space’s small town, intent on undercutting Mac Space’s business by selling cut-rate beats on flimsy floppies at radically reduced prices. The two have been locked in battle for two years now, a classic struggle between art and commerce.

One more thing about Floppy Mac Space, in case you haven’t figured it out yet: Floppy Mac Space isn’t real.

Floppy is the creation of Torbjørn Flopperud, an Oslo, Norway native who has gone by a number of aliases since he first got involved in the hip-hop community: T-Killa, Torb The Roach, and now, Floppy Mac Space. Flopperud’s induction into hip-hop began when he started breakdancing under the name T-Killa around 1999. He quickly made a name for himself on the European competitive circuit. As a b-boy, he was known for his improvised uprocking, and his style emphasized breakdance’s close kinship with more “traditional” forms of dance. At a time when many were focusing on power moves, Torb won battle after battle with lithe, rhythmic maneuvers. When the scene became increasingly interested in energy drink-driven acrobatics, Flopperud lost interest, turning his attention to making music instead. “I was very into [breakdancing] for a good 15 years,” he says. “Now, I just focus on having fun, digging for new sounds to get down to with my friends in Oslo.”

By the time he started producing, he had already switched his name to Torb The Roach, which he says “came from my [b-boy] crew, The Kakaroaches.” He released his first single under that name in 2016 on U.K. label KingUnderground Records. The song, titled “Hembrent,” immediately established his sound; a blend of lo-fi loops, spacey sound effects, and electro flourishes. Interestingly, the single’s cover art features a photo of Floppy Mac Space, even though the character would not be officially introduced until the “duo’s” debut, Tape Echo – Gold Floppies, in 2017.

Tape Echo – Gold Floppies was accompanied by a short film that lays out Floppy’s origins, and introduces the character of Supermonster and the war between Floppy and Full Flop. In the movie, Mac Space’s DIY get-up (highlighted by a sun-like crown adorned with floppy discs) is worn by a stand-in who could interact with Torb making the character more convincing. “Floppy just came to me naturally and he’s been there ever since,” Torb says. “He’s a heavy-hitter on drums and bass, and a real floppy disc master. Some say he was sent from a galaxy far away by the almighty Treeman, an Oslo underground wizard.” Tape Echo – Gold Floppies reveled in dusty, obscure samples of old East Asian records, and its plentiful use of breakbeat drums. (See “Tusen baht” and “Tokyo” for prime examples of the sound.)

Now comes Torb The Roach & Floppy Mac Space’s sophomore offering, Square Wave Adventures, which marks the next step in Torb’s production skills. Relying less on chopped-up samples and more on vintage synths, Square Wave is the natural evolution of the Norwegian mad scientist’s already distinctive sound. The album also serves as the soundtrack to a fully realised 8-bit video game, which continues Floppy’s crusade against Supermonster and his artless, mass-produced Muzak. “The video game is a continuation of the universe in the Tape Echo – Gold Floppies movie. It’s a collaboration with Nilski from Stockholm, who programmed and designed everything. We were working on it daily for about 10 months. Nils really killed it with all the details and crazy levels. [It’s a] unique way to experience an album and a good tribute to ‘80s and ‘90s arcade games.”

Square Wave comes armed to the teeth for that battle: “Varm Luft,” Danish for “Hot Air,” combines warm ambience and playful blips and boops; “Firkantbølge” is a clear homage to ‘80s hip-hop with its soul claps and dominant bassline. And while Flopperud could have simply produced his brand of heavy groove music under his Torb The Roach alias, Floppy Mac Space gives this Norwedish knob-twister an outlet to explore his more eccentric ideas. Although Floppy has managed to best the insidious Supermonster on film and in 8-bit, the question now is: Will the colorful character triumph against the plastic tunes churned out by big, soulless labels in real life?

By Jordan Commandeur

Magic In Threes 'Stay In Your Lane' limited edition Record Store Day 7-inch single. Find this in UK official Record Stores Sat, Aug 29. 

* 500 copies * Record Store Day, UK release * Dinked 7-inch    

The Nashville crew are back with even more top-shelf vintage-tinged funk. The limited 500 pressing dinked 45 is their 6th seven-inch record, this time showcasing a superb horn section with sleazy bass permeating the groove.

‘Stay In Your Lane’ bursts through with a dramatic cadence of slick guitar, aggressive bass, subtle wah-wah, and a soulful bridge section - smooth and cinematic library-style funk at its finest. ‘Measly Peace’ shows off a hypnotic groove with tight drums, lush chords, and a driving rhythm reminiscent of a 70’s cop show theme, but with some new age flair.

Black or deluxe magenta vinyl >> 

The album was previously released digitally in 2016 by the band’s own imprint, G.E.D. Soul Records. Now newly remastered and released on KingUnderground. 

The music would make the perfect fit in movies like the recently released Dolomite revamp, and the now cult classic Black Dynamite. But it doesn't fit into a blaxploitation soundtrack style box alone. You could imagine iconic rappers like Ghostface or Black Thought using these soundscapes. ‘3’ would even fit comfortably next to classic KPM or De Wolfe library releases from the mid 70’s, just as well as current indie trio, Khruangbin.  

A heavy drum break intro and trippy wah-wah guitar licks accompany cinematic strings and stirring horns on ‘Finnish Funk,’ followed by the killer sleazy bass and fuzz guitar of ‘Breezy Day’, two standout cuts both included on previously released 45’s by KU.

Contributing to the scene of classically-tinged soul and funk beats with contemporary class, MI3 display a smooth burst of colourful moody grooves with lush Rhodes keys and soulful head-nod breaks.

Dominique Fils-Aimé “The Red” EP. This track is “Love Of Yours”.   

We did our first show on Balamii Radio w/ Micky Hack.