KRS-One
Keep Right

Love Adventure is the debut modern funk EP from Austin, TX native and ABC founder Danny Spence. The album is a vision of beach boogie through an exotic lens; a warm combination of modern funk, hip-hop, and jungle sounds. The album is a chill yet funky listening experience, eliciting visions of summer afternoons and evenings by the beach.

The fourth solo album from NYC's Tony Simon, The Music Scene comes nearly six years after his much-loved Ninja Tune debut Music By Cavelight. In addition to his solo instrumental work, Simon's made a name for himself producing tracks for the likes of Aesop Rock, DJ Signify and Murs among many others, but he undoubtedly has an ear for threading together standalone works from manipulated samples. Apparently, on The Music Scene, Simon found himself more able to elaborate on his compositional approach thanks to his use of Ableton, which saw him shunning the more traditional sampler-driven approach to beat dissection in favour of heavy layering. Ecclecticism lies at the heart of this record, and each track seems to usher in a new multi-dimensional collage, finding an early peak with the crashing drums, grainy brass and soulful electric piano phrases of 'Which One Of You Jerks Drank My Arnold Palmer?". Keeping with the eclectic theme, for a brief moment 'Pity Party' features a spot of whistling that evokes the intro to The Scorpions' 'Wind Of Change', but then it's a track that seems to switch persona repeatedly throughout its four or so minutes. Further standout moments come during the Four Tet-like folk-hop of 'The Daily Routine with its scrunched acoustic guitars and string samples and the exploitation movie referencing 'Hell Camp', which offers timelessly bluesy, trip hop style beats and progressions.

Mandala is the fourth Mello Music Group compilation – previous compilations include Mental Liberation, Helpless Dreamer, and Self Sacrifice - featuring Oddisee, Apollo Brown, L'Orange, Quelle Chris, Murs, Milo, Georgia Anne Muldrow and more.The album showcases the ever-evolving roster of top-tier producers and rappers on MMG, many of whom (e.g. Oddisee & Quelle Chris) fill both roles with equal dexterity. Additionally, it features several artists nearby MMG, a testament to their commitment to working with those who possess singular sonic and lyrical abilities.Mandala is at once compact and comprehensive. There is not a minute wasted and not a miss in sight. It is diverse and yet somehow cohesive, tailor made to rock your car speakers and your brain stem. It is MMG's reminder that hip-hop is alive and well, and a reintroduction to a label that's tried never to forget what makes music compelling.With a multitude of producers behind the boards, the soundscapes on Mandala cover the map and the album is all the better for it. Oddisee helms the opener and tracks throughout with a musicality like few in Hip-Hop today. L'Orange brings subtle, jazzy suites to the table, and Quelle Chris provides dusty samples looped over hard-hitting drums as well as anyone else. Each beat is far richer and more inventive, able to play on its own and provide the perfect complement to the raps at hand.As far as the rhymes are concerned, the rappers on Mandala leave nothing to chance. The MCs on the comp are intelligent and self-aware, capable of the comic, tragic, and in-between at the sound of a snare. They have an old-school reverence for rhyme with a modern state of mind and modern problems. Come-up or comedown, shine or shadow, friend or foe – they are fearless in confronting all fears. Above all, Mandala is a sign of the great and innovative music in the history of MMG.