And This... #6: D'Angelo

And This...
#6
D'Angelo

Enough said.

And This... #5: Matthew Larkin Cassell

And This...
#5
MATTHEW LARKIN CASSELL

There's a great story behind this. Read about his life, then read about how this album got to be released on Stones Throw Records. Lovely blue-eyed soul, funk, boogie and pop. And check the track 'All I'm Missing Is You', right here. Gold.

And This... #4: Leftside Wobble

And This...
#4
LEFTSIDE WOBBLE

Prolific as a DJ, producer, remixer and promoter for years now - and yet I don't know his real name - Leftside Wobble is one of the most consistently on-point people in music at the moment. While I've highlighted only one of this tunes on this page (his beautiful dub of Richard Earnshaw's 'Cry Me A River'), I strongly suggest you check out his soundcloud page, his mixcloud page and his blog, follow him on twitter and just basically soak up anything he has put his hand to.

Get in there and get your wobble on.

And This... #3: Titeknots + Tru Thoughts 15th Anniversary

And This...
#3
TITEKNOTS
+
TRU THOUGHTS 15th ANNIVERSARY

I'm a big fan of Tru Thoughts. Have been since the early days (don't they all say that?) and am proud to have repped them and their artists hard, both personally and professionally. One of my enduring memories of the label was the warmth, friendliness, free records and delicious food I was supplied with when I was lucky enough to get to Brighton - and even co-host a Breakfast Radio show with Sweetpants, and TM Juke, Natural Self with label-boss Rob Luis, from a flat in some leafy street in the seaside city.

They're celebrating their 15th Anniverary in 2014, and I'm bloody stoked for them. Consistently strong releases and a willingness to press wax at every possible opportunity continues to win me over. Getting Alice Russell back on board was always going to be a winner, too. Talk about enduring memories.

Anyway, I could've picked any one of a number of tunes to highlight the milestone for the label, but I've gone with one from the compilation 2CD you can pick up now. It's a track with a whiff of early-Quantic to it, but it comes courtesy of one of the label's more recent signings, Titeknots. This young UK producer has released a string of bangin' singles, all twisting house music into some bloody interesting - and increasingly danceable - shapes. I like. I reckon you might, too. Listen to the single 'Hummingbirds' here, or in the player below.

Titeknots website.
Tru Thoughts website.

And This... #2: Chloe Martini

AND THIS...
#2
Chloe Martini

I don't know a lot about Chloe Martini, and the little I do know is gathered from her soundcloud page. So now we're even.

The 21yr old Polish producer has put out a bunch of sideways remixes of folks like Alicia Keys and Gwen Stefani, and they're worth a listen, but it's her own stuff which has really lit a fuse for me. Particularly this moody lil' beast below, 'Temptation'. Yeah, sure it's almost a year old and she has a new EP about to drop, but it's compelling stuff, and has really switched me onto the soulfulness that is sadly not often enough found in bass-heavy music.

How do you say 'that's awesome!' in Polish...?

And This... #1: Leonard Charles

AND THIS... 
#1
Leonard Charles

And This... is a new thang where I'm going to highlight a tune, or an artist, or a label, or something or rather, that has caught my ear during the week. The idea is to update weekly. We'll see how we go with that. The intention's good, anyway.

First up, Leonard Charles, a side project of the multi-limbed Jeremy Toy. Created as an outlet for music made while healing from a cowardly king-hit outside an Auckland bar where he'd just finished performing, Leonard Charles' trip is all loose-limbed, funky-ass, head-nodding goodness, which you absolutely need to wrap your head around. Below is his version of 'The Look Of Love', and it's a stone cold classic.

I've always taken a keen interest in Jeremy's music; be it on his own as Ota, with the Opensouls band and with She's So Rad, or his forays into production, dude is one talented guy. It sucks hard when anyone is involved in an unprovoked assault, but it always seems to sting more when it happens to a real good fella.

Check out Leonard Charles on soundcloud here, or bandcamp here. Also take the time to visit She's So Rad's bandcamp page and website; and From The Crate Records' soundcloud page.