Is Juj planning a return? “Summer” is the second new track uploaded to his Soundcloud in a month, which leads me to believe he might soon be ready to follow up Slack, one of the most essential beat albums to ever emerge out of the California beat scene, and one of my absolute favorites in 2010. Juj’s unmistakable way with disjointed drum patterns and bottomless basslines gives his sound a distinct thump, and should suffice in warding off the usual bloggy comparisons.
There’s a lot of sharing going on nowadays. Beat tapes and instrumental LPs are becoming exceedingly easy to find and often turn you on to people, labels and other things you never knew existed. These are 15 (16, actually) of my favorite digital releases that are either free or “name your price”. Shout outs to the people who work hard on their art and give it away. Please support them by buying a record, spreading the word or attending their show. Click the album art for download links.
