MANTRONIX
MANTRONIX: THE ALBUM
DEMON
★★★★
Kurtis Mantronik was a hip-hop visionary, determined from the get-go to lift rap both out of the ghetto and away from its lazy early dependence on (usually James Brown) samples. When his organic production and turntable work met the slick flow of MC Tee in 1985, they crafted a debut so ahead of its time that it found a way forward for hip-hop. The joy of this 180g vinyl reissue is that Needle To The Groove and UK Top 40 hit Bassline sound both quaintly dated and defiantly futuristic, as fresh as they did back in the day.