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Kid Koala Spins Into the Future With 'Space Cadet' Book, New Slew LP

Ninja Tune Turntablist and illustrator Kid Koala is, as the saying goes, a study in contrasts. He likes it very loud. He likes it very quiet. And more than 15 years into his career, he has no problem coming up with wildly inventive ways to do both -- no matter how long it takes. Coming soon is a typically ambitious book and music project ...

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Remembering Reggae's 'Cool Ruler' Gregory Isaacs

Andy Sheppard, Redferns / Getty Gregory Isaacs, who died today at age 59 in London, England, possessed one of the most recognizable and beloved voices in reggae over a career that spanned five decades. Though he'd been in ill health for a long time, he succumbed to lung cancer contracted in the past year. During the past couple of decades, his ...

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Ninja Tune Records Turns 20: An Oral History of a Legendary Label

Ninja Tune Ninja Tune's 'Beats 'n' Pieces' aesthetic, which colours virtually every artist on the 20-year-old British label, began when founders Matt Black and Jon More burst onto the international scene as Coldcut with their 1987 remix of Eric B and Rakim's 'Paid in Full.' The result was an abstract hip-hop landmark that augmented its slinky ...

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Toddla T Preps Second Album, Celebrates Ninja Tune 20th Anniversary

Girls Music Twenty-five is a bit long in the tooth to be described as a "Toddla," but Tom "Toddla T" Bell shows no sign of curbing the manic energy that's made him one of the UK's most in-demand DJs. The proud resident of Sheffield has been keeping up his torrid pace both in clubs and in the studio as he readies his much-anticipated second album, ...

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Roots Manuva's New Album 'Duppy Writer' Re-Versions His Old Songs

Big Dada Quite an odd character, this Roots Manuva. Long celebrated as one of the quintessential British MCs, he remains an unpredictable artist. You know there's going to be some combination of hip-hop, Jamaican riddims and English sensibilities in his music, but beyond that, it's a bit of a mystery. In a stroke of good timing, he's got a new ...

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Aphasia Try to 'Crossover' with Taiwanese Rock Sound, Help from Arts & Crafts

Arts and Crafts The four members of Taiwanese instrumental post-rock band Aphasia are crowded around a picnic table at Toronto's sunny, busy Harbourfront Centre. They're just starting to register the bustling activity of Toronto's waterfront, despite postures that betray jet lag made worse by a hotel fire alarm that went off at 6 AM. They know ...

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Biz Markie Talks Touring With Yo Gabba Gabba

Nick Jr. "I have been to the magical land!" bellows Biz Markie over the phone. "I'm always in the magical land!" In any other context, you might think the old-school hip-hop beatboxer is off on some kind of delusional rant. But that's Biz's everyday life on wacky kids TV phenomenon 'Yo Gabba Gabba.' And this fall, both kids and grown ups can ...

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