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Buscrates
Blasting Off
Bastard Jazz Recordings - Cat No: BJLP30
- updated:2025-11-11
The 2020 debut solo album from Buscrates aka 16BIT ENSEMBLE — the Pittsburgh-based producer/keyboardist/DJ known as ELQ, manipulator of EAST LIBERTY ENSEMBLE, whose credits include work with Mac Miller, Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y — "Blasting Off," an elegant masterpiece of '80s electro-boogie, funk, soulful post-disco, gets its first LP repress in five years!!!
Track List
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A1. Believe (feat. Anda)
03:40 -
A2. Five Days (feat. DJ Epik)
03:29 -
A3. Lost and Found (feat. Sally Green)
03:40 -
A4. Evergreen (feat. Tony Ozier)
03:12 -
A5. Take A Ride (feat. JP Patterson)
02:36 -
B1. Eight-Nine (feat. Sally Green)
03:16 -
B2. Sure Shot (feat. DJ Epik)
03:04 -
B3. How Ya Gonna Do It (feat. Kate Moe Dee)
03:35 -
B4. Cruise Control
03:15 -
B5. Turn It Out (feat. Brothermartino)
04:51
Pittsburgh native Orlando "BusCrates" Marshall continues the city's legacy of genre-defining talent with a sound rooted in hip-hop grit and synth-soaked funk. A DJ, musician, and producer since childhood, BusCrates grew up immersed in records and rhythm, inspired by the sounds pumping from his father's sound system. His music channels two core energies: classic boom-bap hip-hop and vibrant, post-disco boogie-funk—both shaped by a legendary record collection and a studio arsenal that includes gear like a Fender Rhodes, Hohner Clavinet, and vintage Moog synths.
Originally released in 2020, Blasting Off marked a breakthrough moment in BusCrates' evolution and quickly became a sought-after title among collectors and DJs alike. With production credits for Mac Miller, Wiz Khalifa, Curren$y, and Phonte & Eric Roberson, BusCrates has earned the respect of peers and pioneers. His weekly Twitch sets reach over 13,500 engaged followers, and his music has received international radio support from stations like KEXP, KCRW, WFMU, BBC Radio 6, FIP, and Triple R. Championed by tastemakers such as Jazzy Jeff, Dâm-Funk, François K, and DJ Spinna, this long-awaited repress is essential stock for shops serving fans of modern funk, soulful beats, and forward-thinking analog grooves.
“Blasting Off is the kind of record built to be played on a loop”
Bandcamp Daily Staff — Bandcamp
“Buscrates makes songs and compositions that fit contemporary and peak 1980s oeuvre.”
John-Paul Shiver — 45 Hills
“A specific cross blend of boogie, modern funk, pop-locking paradise arrangements, and smoke-‘em-if-you-got-’em deftness.”
John-Paul Shiver — Treble Zine
Originally released in 2020, Blasting Off marked a breakthrough moment in BusCrates' evolution and quickly became a sought-after title among collectors and DJs alike. With production credits for Mac Miller, Wiz Khalifa, Curren$y, and Phonte & Eric Roberson, BusCrates has earned the respect of peers and pioneers. His weekly Twitch sets reach over 13,500 engaged followers, and his music has received international radio support from stations like KEXP, KCRW, WFMU, BBC Radio 6, FIP, and Triple R. Championed by tastemakers such as Jazzy Jeff, Dâm-Funk, François K, and DJ Spinna, this long-awaited repress is essential stock for shops serving fans of modern funk, soulful beats, and forward-thinking analog grooves.
“Blasting Off is the kind of record built to be played on a loop”
Bandcamp Daily Staff — Bandcamp
“Buscrates makes songs and compositions that fit contemporary and peak 1980s oeuvre.”
John-Paul Shiver — 45 Hills
“A specific cross blend of boogie, modern funk, pop-locking paradise arrangements, and smoke-‘em-if-you-got-’em deftness.”
John-Paul Shiver — Treble Zine
A celebrated 2020 album that put BusCrates on the map, championed by legends such as Jazzy Jeff, Dâm-Funk, François K and DJ Spinna, and supported by respected radio stations worldwide including KEXP, KCRW, WFMU, BBC Radio 6, FIP and Triple R.
BusCrates himself handles drum programming, percussion, Rhodes electric piano, vocoder, ARP String Ensemble, Hohner Clavinet D6 and a bunch of synthesizers, with support musicians adding bass, guitar and flute. The warmth of vintage '80s synths and his soulful melodic sense strike an exquisite balance — this is the work of a man who calls himself a "true synth nerd," building a refined electric, soulful and funky sound reminiscent of '80s legend Kashif while fusing it with the bouncing, hip-hop-flavored beatmaking of DJ Spinna, proposing a whole new world of modern funk.
Highlights include the moody, smooth, urban-mellow opener A1 "Believe" (sample1) featuring vocals by Anda, which recalls Paul Hardcastle's jazzy electro-lounge style from the Jazzmasters era onward; A2 "Five Days" (sample2), a Dâm-Funk-style G-funk instrumental boogie co-written with drum programming ace DJ Epik; B2 "Sure Shot"; the first single A3 "Lost And Found" and B1 "Eight Nine" featuring vocalist Sally Green; the supple, refined R&B-soul second single B3 "How Ya Gonna Do It" (sample3) featuring singer Kate Moe Dee, evoking the Sunburst Band and Rene & Angela; and the breezy jazzy funk of B5 "Turn It Out" featuring Brothermartino on flute. 10 tracks in all. (Original Japanese text by COMPUMA)