When L.A. based Erik Rico and Marc Mac (4hero) hooked up in the studio this summer, “Direct Soul” was born. The Direct Soul EP was really captured in a moment of time with all 4 tracks recorded in one late afternoon session in Marc’s small Bedfordshire studio. The only guideline was not to let the boundaries of tempo & style limit the creation. Marc’s Afro-Latinic frame fused with Tech-Soul forms the bedding for Erik’s unique vocal style. A real modern day fusion many musical stylese and stretching our perception of SOUL! Available via right now and via their Bandcamp page.

Erik Rico & Marc Mac – Destiny [112kbps]

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written by nilez \\ tags: 4hero, bandcamp, bedfordshire, destiny, direct soul, ep, erik rico, lifenotes music, los angeles, marc mac, soul

Saturn Never Sleeps (consisting of King Britt and his fiancé Rucyl) has been working on a proper full lenght release for the beginning of 2011. While in the lab trying out ideas that come from their live performances, Rucyl, wrote a song over the Soul Litchfield beat, “Lightning Bug”. This was the birth of the their EP entitled “Black”. Also included is a short but sweet tune, “Stuck in You” and an ode to the infamous video game “Galaga”.

Saturn Never Sleeps – Stuck In You

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written by nilez \\ tags: black, ep, galaga, king britt, lightning bug, rucyl, saturn never sleeps, soul litchfield, stuck in you

One of the standout tracks from ‘None An Island‘ combines Lorn’s trademark overt emotionalism, brutality and bleakness into something transcendentally beautiful. Brainfeeder labelmate Samiyam then takes ‘Brainwaves’ and converts it into a lowriding, limping journey into paranoia and fear. Lorn ups the ante yet again by returning with two new original tracks, ‘Never Enough’, which uses a distorted, rasping, alien voice to syncopate its rhythms, and ‘Until There Is No End’, which shows that Ortega’s grasp of melody is never compromised by the sheer heaviness of his tracks. You can buy Lorn’s ‘Nothing Else’ album HERE. None An Island will be released September 13th. Brainfeeder

Lorn X Samiyam – Brainwaves

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written by nevill \\ tags: brainfeeder, brainwaves, ep, lorn, none an island, nothing else, samiyam

Brooklyn-based Machinedrum is hard to describe and ranges from four to the floor electronic music with heavy synths to funky soulfull beats that Jesse Boykins can sing to. On his new “Many Faces” EP, which is being released through LuckyMe, he shows a side that I personally haven’t seen/heard before. I only heard a few songs from Jesse’s upcoming album, but never knew this producer was so versatile. Perhaps it’s best described as innovative club music, but you have to be open to new sounds and harmonies.

There’s a limited vinyl edition (100 copies) including a Tee + cassette tape + 12-inch EP (more info soon). All you digital heads, please visit to get your freak on.

Machinedrum – Carry The Weight

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written by nilez \\ tags: brooklyn, carry the weight, electronic, ep, glascow, itunes, jesse boykins, limited edition vinyl, luckyme, machine drum, machinedrum, many faces, new york, snippet

We told you about Def Chronic before and guess what…Seinabo Sey and Frank Nobel are back with their debut “Def Chronic Vol.1 EP”. Enjoy this FREE download and spread the word please. I have a feeling you’ll be hearing a lot more from both this year. One luv to all the Swedish ladies out there looking hella fine!

Def Chronic – OH!

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written by nilez \\ tags: def chronic, ep, fatima, frank nobel, free download, oh!, seinabo sey, sweden

Better known to friends, family, and Friends of Friends, as the 20-year-old Henry Laufer, the SF-by-LA producer Shlohmo returns with Camping, a digi-EP celebrating the May 24th first-run vinyl release of this year’s Shlohmoshun Deluxe LP. Having already headlined LA’s premiere beat-based party, Low End Theory as well as being featured by XLR8R, the BBC (Mary Anne Hobbs), LA Times and more. As far as titles go, Camping is particularly apropos; the outdoor and indoor collide as Shlohmo’s selection of found sounds rub up agianst the technology of 8-bit blap & subwoofer stress tests in three new tracks. Additional amenities include remixes from hotly tipped LA music maker Baths and fellow up-and-comer Asura (on the AWESOME new LA label, Non Projects) as well as recent Ghostly International signing Shigeto. The EP will be available on June 15th!! Source: FoFMusic.

We were asked to push this back a little, so that’s why this is the second time you see this post. Enjoy..

Shlohmo – Spoons (Shigeto Remix)

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written by nevill \\ tags: asura, camping, camping ep, ep, ghostly international, los angeles, shigeto, shlohmo, tomato smash

Welsh production crew Darkhouse Family aka Don Leisure and Metabeats drop their debut “Family Trees” EP via Fat City. Heavy synth-work, syrupy melodies, processed sample snippets is what you can expect. You all must know about that banger “Stay Blazed” as featured on the Producer #2 album and on “Mein Atari” they asked Mr. Dibiase to flip the shit out of it in his very own style. Also loving the Bonus Digital Cut “Mediation” which has that Darkhouse flava of dubwise-blunted Hip Hop. Check out the snippets and buy if you like what you hear!

Darkhouse Family – Mein Atari (Mr. Dibiase Lo-Fi Flip) [snippet]

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Darkhouse Family - Meditation (Digital Exclusive) [snippet]

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written by nilez \\ tags: 8 bit, beats, bonus digital, darkhouse family, debut, dibiase, electronic, ep, family trees, fat city, hip hop, mediation, mein atari, mr dibiase, producer no. 2, Samples, snippets, stay blazed, synths, wales

After releasing “Blen” Steve Spacek and Mark Pritchard are about to drop another one on us. Africa HiTech‘s first EP is called “Hitecherous” and I can assure you this new 6-track banger is going to wake people up. With their futuristic dub inspired sound combined with the bass bubbling and synth soothing skills, I think this could appeal to a huge audience. Watch out for this to drop late June on Warp Records!

Africa Hitech – How Does It Make You Feel

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Africa Hitech – One Two

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written by nilez \\ tags: africa hi-tech, africa hitech, bass, blen, electronic beats, ep, futuristic dub, hitecherous, how does it make you feel, mark pritchard, one two, steve spacek, synths, warp records

Homegirl Seinabo Sey and Frank Nobel from Sweden bring it again. Under the name of Def Chronic they drop some sweet, taste “Apple Juice” on us straight of the “Def Chronic Vol. 1″ EP. This FREE download is for all the Swedish hunnies out there looking sexy as hell.

Def Chronic – Apple Juice

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written by nilez \\ tags: 80's, apple juice, boogie, def chronic, def chronic vol. 1, ep, frank nobel, free download, funk, future funk, seinabo sey, sweden

UpMyAlley is dropping the third installment of their producer compilation series “Beatnicks Vol. 3″. This six-track EP contains music from Powell, O.Boogie, Desto, fLako & Berghem, Rez and ex RBMA participant Ki En Ra. The guys over at UpMyAlley hooked us up “Way Back” of Ki En Ra’s “City of Moment” EP available on OneSense Music. The Estonian teams up with SelfSays on this one (who can make something out of nothing). Enjoy and give Beatnicks Vol. 3 a try…it got some heat on it. Pressed as Limited Edition handsprayed vinyl (probably limited to 500 copies) and available for pre-order at Rush Hour.

Ki En Ra – Ghanacondor

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Ki En Ra – Way Back Ft. SelfSays

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written by nilez \\ tags: 2008, beatnicks vol. 3, berghem, city of moment, desto, ep, estonia, ex-participant, flako, ghanacondor, handsprayed, ki en ra, limited edition vinly, O.Boogie, onesense music, powell, pre-order, producer compilation series, rbma, rbma barcelona, red bull music academy, rez, rush hour, rushhour, selfsays, something out of nothing, upmyalley, way back