Afu-Ra - Whirlwind Thru Cities B/w D&d Soundclash - 7-INCH SINGLE [7 inch Vinyl Disc]

When it comes to the pantheon of hip-hop movies, 'Wild Style' is number one. While the actual plot carries about as much weight as 'Beat Street' or even the Fat Boys vehicle 'Disorderlies' - and the acting is also nothing to write home about - the soundtrack is an indelible classic.What the film and it's soundtrack caught was a moment in time and some key performances from genuine pioneers instrumental in the nascent hip-hop scene. And the influence has passed down through the ages, with rhyming couplets from the 'Wild Style' album still cited today, and Nas drawing on a snippet of the film for the opening track of his one true classic album, 'Illmatic'.What's unusual about the soundtrack - and evidenced on the tracks showcased here, available for the time on 7Inch since a 1983 Japanese - is that it didn't draw on the tried-and-tested breakbeats that many of the artists featured on it would have cut their chops on. Charlie Chase, whose slithery scratches adorn both sides of this record, would have been used to going back to back on the records captured later on the 'Ultimate Breaks & Beats' compilations. Instead, the music is produced by Chris Stein of Blondie in collaboration with Fab 5 Freddy, drawing inspiration from those earlier breakbeats, with drums provided by one Lenny Ferrari. Here, Grandmaster Caz of the legendary Cold Crush Brothers is at ease over both sides, the music evoking the sound he would have rhymed over at the block parties where he built his reputation. It's a moment trapped in amber - you can't listen to this 7Inch without imagining a graffiti strewn subway car in New York.

Mr Bongo Official Hip Hop ReissueMelvin Bliss' iconic 'Synthetic Substitution' (1973) has been sampled hundreds of times. Gracing records from Naughty by Nature's 'O.P.P' to Public Enemy's 'Don't Believe the Hype', it's one of the foundations of hip-hop. However, there's a school of thought that says the sample could have been retired forever after Ced Gee used it for 'Ego Tripping'. It was the first song to use those wonderful Bernard Purdie drums, and arguably the best.Their first on Next Plateau Records, this instant 1986 classic slams from the first bar, that hard-as-hell beat underpinned by stabs and the breathy 'ultra-magnetic-magnetic' chant beneath. Meanwhile, Ced and future legend Kool Keith go to town with pseudo-science and a thinly veiled diss of Run DMC - 'Say what, Peter Piper, to hell with childish rhymes'. It's a song shot through with promise they'd more than fulfil on their debut album, 1988's landmark 'Critical Beatdown'.The flip, 'Funky Potion', doesn't coalesce with quite the same genius but is still more than a curio, with the MC's doubling down on their futuristic nonsense approach to lyricism. Rufus Thomas Do the Funky Penguin' is the base for yet more stabs, discordant scratches and a kitchen-sink approach that shows just innovative the group were prepared to be.

Limited seven inch vinyl with seven bonus tracks not available on Fredfades's Warmth solo debut album. 300 copies in a white disco sleeve with a PVC cover. Mastered by Christian Obermayer at Strype Audio in Oslo. Design by Even Suseg.