Monday, August 10, 2009

Funky Flipsides: Melting Pot Music


MPM has been making a name for themselves ever since DJ Olski founded it in '02. The German based label consistently releases some of the finest modern day funk/jazz/hip hop instrumental grooves. A quick skim through their catalogue proves this and also shows why the name Melting Pot is so befitting. You got talent such as DJ Day from LA, Lefties Soul Connection from Amsterdam, Kutiman from Tel Aviv, Marc Hype and Jim Dunloop from Berlin...I can keep going. In short, their roster shits on your favorite label. From MPM's discography, you'll see that the good majority of releases are in the form of vinyl singles. If you haven't done so yet, cop both of the compilations which collects a good amount of these singles into 2 full length releases. Melting Pot caters. The following samples are b-sides (not available on either comp.) to some of my favorite wax selections from the label.



1. Upskiboo: Summer Heat (12", 2006)


You may recognize the name from the first 'Nobody Beats The Beats' compilation (great album by the way.) Upskiboo is a producer from Copenhagen, Denmark, and there's seriously not enough material floating around by this guy. This track's called 'Up Is Down', and it can be described as psyche-groove, easy tempo hip-funk.






2. The Phobos Peepl:

Bike Ryder B/W Weightless Step (7", 2006)


Also affiliated with the 'Nobody Beats The Beats' pack is The Phobos Peepl from the same area, Copenhagen. This is actually one of those 'solo artist uses a misleading multi-person alias' type deals, as it's only Martin Dejean behind the boards. He's also DJ Fresco from Stylus Force, and he crafts succulent beats. The B-side here is very spaced out, mellow, and jazzy.






3. The Koliphones: Voyage Into The Sun B/W Jungle Concerto (Moog) (12", 2008)


Check the ill artwork on this donut, you can expect the sound to be crazy. The Koliphones is a trio coming straight out of Israel with some real dirty music. Kutiman handles the percussion - not much else needs to be said. I'll leave you with an excerpt from their page: Joined by our love [for] rare psychedelic grooves, dusty 45's and hard hitting bass, we teamed up to create an all analog experimental funk project, recorded on tape, using 100% analog gear, with mostly moog and drums as instruments.




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