Ghetto Superstar
Pras
Ruffhouse

Let the Fugee reign continue. Pras drops a wicked full-length that, although not a concept album like Wycleff’s or Lauryn Hill, should contain a string of hits. Check out the current “Blue Angels” or “Watcha Wanna Do.” Then there’s “Get Your Groove On” and “Yeah Eh Yeah Eh.” With 14 tracks rounding out the collection, The Refugee camp is in the house. — Phil Turnipseed

 

Not For Threes
Plaid
Warp/Nothing
As two-thirds of Black Dog, Ed Handley and Andy Turner played
a major part in Bytes and Scanners, two albums that in the early 90’s reclaimed techno from the province of hardcore and endowed it with minimal bleeps and lush, languorous orchestrations. Their reputation for rhythmic imaginativeness is reconfirmed on Not for Threes. Check the symphonic snortle of farm animals underneath a gorgeous harpsichord melody on “Kortisin.” A steel drum Caribbean vibe is downloaded to “Myopia,” a pan ethnic exercise, and “Ladyburst” has Top 10 written all over it –
in a distant galaxy. Too melodic for ambient, too strange to be consigned to soundtrack fodder, and too good to be passed up.
— Brian O’Connor

 

“E.Q.”
Sheila Brody
Kult
Glorious house treat toasted over with a sultry and gritty
vocal by an underground treasure. This upscale late-night house track is full of funk and flavor with savory bits of guitar, savvy,
deep bass and beat wrenching aptitude, wrapped in a blanket
of smooth grooves, sensuous rhythms and an endless
supply of garage wonderment. Timeless.
For more information
contact (212) 564-7165
— Peter A. Colon

 

Next Millennium
Bounty Killer
TVT
Full-length blast from hip hop reggae’s newest king is chock gull of tough grooves and streetwise vocal flavor. With guest vocalists like Mobb Deep, Noreaga, Nona Hendryx, Third World and Wycleff, this full-length is hit-bound out of the box. Some cuts to look out for: “It’s a Party,” “Heartbeat,” and “A Love That’s Real.” All 13 tracks will keep the jeeps bumpin’ and your party jumpin’. — Phil Turnipseed

 

“Sunrise”
Wet Dreams with Kenard
Twisted
Cevin Fisher goes all out on this new double 12-inch. Deep and pumping, and all of these six cuts will work your crowd. Whether it’s the percolating disco of “CF Sunrise 2000 Mix” or the bumpin’ “CF Original Dub” or “Rick Phifer’s Soopa Vox Mix,” which is deep and jazzy, or even 95 North’s in-you-face housey “95 North Mix” – this cut pushes all the right buttons –- you can’t go wrong. Fierce. — Phil Turnipseed