Soil & Pimp Sessions return after their quality debut album ‘Pimpin’, which featured the full on jazz classics ‘fuller love’ and ‘harbor’, both of which eventually found their way onto a limited 12″. With the release of ‘Pimp Master’, it seems they have finally found the attention they deserve, but that could be due to the big knob djs finally seeing what was right under their noses. Intense right from the moment ‘No Taboo’ kicks off, you know you’re in for a roller coaster of a ride with yet more dancefloor anthems and modal numbers to give you a chance to get your breath back. This is proper jazz music for 2005 and I can’t wait to see them live.

Simon Harrison

For me Jazzman Records and BBE have dominated funk compilations over the last few years, with DJs like Gerald Jazzman, Keb Darge, DJ Shadow and Kenny Dope etc digging deep. Now Perfect Toy has enlisted Tom Wieland to hunt into his extensive record collection to compile volume 2 of Creative Musicians. Here are 19 outstanding recordings, released some 30 years ago in very limited quantities, or never receiving a commercial release at all. Rather than spending hours searching the net, warehouses and paying big bucks, just get down to your local record shop and buy.

Simon Harrison

to date this is my favourite album of 2005, and I will not quote that The Vanishing System is the next hiphop artist who is trying to push the boundaries rather than keep within the standard ‘jiggy’ hiphop, as we all know who they are by now. Produced by Jason Todd and DJ Epcot Center, this is about as mad as things get. The lyrics are truly brilliant and the production is as mad as a cow with a certain disease, miss at your peril. Jason has a truck load of music on the way, so keep your eyes peeled.

Simon Harrison