JUSTICE “+” ED BANGER
“For kind of a musical touchstone—it’s like Daft Punk with a rawer vibe. It’s a super-exciting supergroup of French DJs who started their own label, Ed Banger. The whole album is good. It’s pretty much all dance anthems. The song ‘D.A.N.C.E.’ is a total club anthem in Europe and it’s catching on [...]

DIAMOND D STUNTS, “BLUNTS AND HIP-HOP” MERCURY
“Diamond D’s been around for a long time, even though most people might not have heard of him. He started as a DJ in 1979 with the legendary Jazzy Jay, so even though he’s known as a producer, he is really one of the pioneers of hip-hop. He was [...]

DAMIEN DEMPSEY “TO HELL OR BARBADOS” UNITED OPPORTUNITY
“Damien is an Irish singer/songwriter, and this is his third album. I heard his other albums and I wasn’t all that impressed. His last one, Seize the Day, doesn’t even sell well. But I picked this up when we got it in the store, and I can’t get [...]

Chrisette Michele “I Am” Def Jam
“Chrisette is a brand-new artist on Def Jam, but she’s not a rapper. L.A. Reid and Jay-Z personally signed her to the label, and she’s an amazing R&B singer and songwriter for people who like Erykah Badu, Jill Scott or Alicia Keyes. She was a featured vocalist on both Nas [...]

Lil Bam “Twenty Twenty Vision: Stating the Facts” V.I.P. Entertainment
“Lil Bam is a Long Beach native, and he self-released the album before V.I.P. Entertainment [the store’s label] started helping him out. He has the album set up like an interview. In between songs, he talks about why he does what he does, then it goes [...]

JEFF BECK “BLOW BY BLOW” SONY
“Jeff Beck is unbelievable, and this album, released in 1975, is no exception. It’s fully instrumental, first of all, which every once in a while I totally enjoy. Most instrumentals get old after a while, but not Jeff. This album is funky and a little jazzy; and even though it’s [...]

PISSED JEANS “HOPE FOR MEN” SUB POP
I’m really into this record. It’s on Sub Pop. They’re from Pennsylvania. It sounds like a lot of the late ’80s early ’90s hardcore stuff, like Jesus Lizard or Scratch Acid—just good, heavy, stompy, punk rock, screamy stuff. It also reminds me of some of the late ’80s [...]