This is a pivotal time for music. A pivotal time. While everyone else is wondering what Kanye is going to call his new record, or trying to fault an artist for speaking up on something they believe in on a platform they have, or actually caring that a well paid athlete walked out after a bad performance, musicians are making good music. They DGAF about this nonsense. They’re focused. They’re serious. They’re reaching deep down in their soul and putting in blood, sweat, and tears to expose the world to their art. Major labels are scrambling to re-release their back catalog on vinyl, clogging up pressing plants and hurting the indie label, who need to get their stuff pressed more than anyone. It’s a shame. because god damn it, there is good music out there that people have no idea about. Well, thanks to the good folks over at Redefinition Records, we are all in luck with this effort. Their latest release is from California native and instrumentalist Sebastian Fraye. A graphic designer by trade, a love of music and making music started at a young age. His debut record, Vol. 1 on Redef is a showcase of instrumentals he made and produced between 2009 and 2014. Blending live instrumentation and sampled material, this 24 track album is a thing of beauty. Making music like he does designs, he tied everything together through the use of vinyl records. Not just sampling them, but the album artwork was made from stickers off of the records in his collection. Some of them came from records he sampled on this very album. You have to love that. Another reason vinyl records rule.

Besides the artwork, which just screams vinyl record / DJ culture as well as “make me into a print!”, this record can be described in one word: DOPE. The twenty four tracks are short (the longest just under three minutes), but it’s a bastion of different genres: funk, soul, hip hop, spoken word, world music, and beyond. Deep bass lines, drums that snap, and vocal stabs with tight scratching permeate like a good blunt smoke through the vents of the overall record. It’s exactly what a seasoned crate digger, hip hop head, or sampling champion can get down to. Don’t get us wrong, anyone can get with it, but it’s one of those records that if you know what went into making it, it sounds that much better. That’s the blood, sweat, and tears we are referring to. This was not an easy record to make. Short tracks or not, this is a lot of work. File this under instrumental hip hop, abstract beats, and very good use of live instruments and sampling. This is on heavy repeat here in the studios of FleaMarket Funk, and after a first listen, it will be for you too. It’s been released in a very limited 250 pieces, so if you want to get on with a dude before many others, we suggest you do it now before the word gets out. Because it will get out, dude is that good.

Get the record here.

Keep Diggin’!