I first heard Kraak & Smaak on Annie Mac’s show back in the early summer. The track was the achey-breaky Sharem Jay mix of “Money In The Bag.” I looked for eons for a trace of it on the net but only managed to hunt down an MP3 of the original version. It’s funky, but it can’t touch the remix. Imagine my surprise when months later I came across Kraak & Smaak’s entire catalog for sale from London’s Jalapeno Records. Their sound is a mix of the white-bread nu-soul and finger-lickin’ breaks (like Groove Armada fleshed out by The Plump DJs). I’m pleased to say their second single, “One Of These Days,” is about as sun-drenched as you can get in rainy Rotterdam. The hook is bitten from a Ray Charles track that I haven’t yet discerned and is sung by K&S’ live frontman U-Gene of the Dutch group Liquid Spirits.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I stumbled across Beef or Chicken on the newly revamped Hollertronix board and after google searching and coming across a trove of Japanese sites, I figured out that it was not only produced by the a-list, but that it boogies like Fergie of BEP on crystal. The Japanese and English code-switched lyrics are a shifty palette for licks by DJ Premier, Just Blaze, Cornelius and a litany of other grungy beat-smiths. It seems that A Bathing Ape’s superstar designer, Nigo, is the DJ in this Def Jam-signed super group. I’m more interested in the booty-shaking potential than the cross promotional Nike trainers that will probably be released in conjunction with the album, but I’m torn as to what I should post. It’s between Blaze-produced You Know What Time It Is, with its shiny, proggy vocal sample mashed between the folds of a muted 808, and Dan The Automator’s Celebrity Death Match. The chorus on You is in English and the track comes off like a Roll-Deep b-side of the highest caliber, but Celebrity has the edge because its got a wicked sub-bass line like jungle on sizzurp AND features Theremin and a prominent bitch slap up front.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I’ve been looking for something to latch onto for a long time. And by latch onto I mean some type of seed to start a scene, to bring a flavor, and to wiggle some bottoms. Who knew that this shit was bubbling under the surface in good ol’ New England while I was away in Barcelona? I knew that Miss Fairchild had been doing their thing up in the PVD for a while but what I did not know was that one of their founders is not only the big bro’ of Get Him Eat Him’s Joe Posner, but also a member of Certified Bananas. They’re a local crew picking up where heads like Diplo are leaving off (presumably to do things like hop trains and film documentaries about the favelas). And the cherry, after all this reveletory trumpet blaring, is that I saw a great Boston DJ last night in Provi spinning sexy femme-vox grime and old UK garage. Big ups to DJ C for getting his U.R.A.Q.T. mix on the actual M.I.A. single, and also for replying promplty and courteously to my complimentary email today. He put this hot little ditty by dancehall queen Cecile on one of the mixes off his site (I believe it is the Bouncement one showcasing his 135 bpm take on the bashment tip). God I love that cure riddim!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.