Review: Mr Bongo restock a brilliant 7" in their signature Brazil 45s series. The nineteenth to grace it, this blue-starred slice of small wax shone a light on Wilson das Neves' brilliant cover of Average White Band's 'Pick Up The Pieces' on the A, as well as a Mr Bongo fave on the B, Som Tres' potent samba-funk overflow 'Tanga'. The former flexes the historic muscles of a mythic Brazilian percussionist and vibesman, lending fidgety soft feels to AWB's already lull-lifting concoction; then 'Tanga' contrasts to this sense of measuredness with pure animal verve, as Tres' calls out to his bandmates commandingly amid whirlwinds of piano and drums.
Review: The Extra Soul Perception label held a first ever writing camp in Nairobi in 2019 and Lynda Dawn was one of the pupils. She has already released 'Roses' on the label's New Tangents...Vol. 1 EP with other music from the UK, Kenya and Uganda. But this was the standout track so now it makes its way to its own 7". It is the sort of heart achingly beautiful slow motion disco-soul that will be perfect end of the night send home or early evening warm up for more cosy dance floors. There is a slightly more beefed up version from XL Middleton to complete this tidy 7".
Review: Lisa Decker makes a return with two new singles here that are taken from her upcoming album which is due in May of this year. It comes two years after her debut with the Japanese jazz trio Nautilus and marks something of a conceptual shift in her sound. 'Love & Hope' finds her turn in a stylish jazz vocal with funky bass loops and organic drums and percussion that straddle many different genres. 'Summer Child' then sinks into a nice smooth jazz-funk vibe with soft focus chords bringing a touch of class to her breezy vocals.
Review: Delvon Lamarr has been working his magic on the organ for years, backing up artists from Lucky Brown to Dog Shredder and The True Loves, but these days he puts his keys front and centre with his own sure-shot trio. Hot on the heels of 2021's widely celebrated I Told You So, Lamarr and his band are back once more with Cold As Weiss. As well as the sweet organ flexing, Jimmy James holds the groove down on drums while Daniel Weiss chops it up on the guitar. Seriously smooth and funky as hell, Lamarr brings it full force on this latest crucial cut.
Review: During the first half of the 80s, Andy Sojka and Richard De Jongh wrote and produced countless UK jazz-funk, electro, soul and boogie jams, working with both obscure and relatively well-known acts (Atmosfear included). They also released a handful of singles of their own under aliases, including this one as Distance. Long out of print and finally getting a reissue courtesy of Freestyle, 'Just One More Kiss' is a superb chunk of breezy, synths-and-drum-machine driven chunk of British electrofunk featuring sweet lead vocals from Janet Halley. Over on the flip you'll find the original instrumental/dub version, 'Just One More Mix', a fine alternative take that wisely concentrates on the groove, guitars and synths and largely avoids cheesy 80s production trickery and stuttering edit effects.
Listen Love (original Funkhut instrumental) (6:44)
Listen Love (Funkhut dub) (5:02)
Review: Funkhut Records is proud to bring to you the anticipated release by DjPope & The Funkhut All Stars Feat. Kenny Wesley "Listen Love". With all the live instrumentation along side Kenny's extraordinary interpretation of the great Jon Lucien's original, "Listen Love' makes this release a must have for any music connoisseur. Produced, Mixed and Arranged by DjPope. Additional Mixing by David Sussman, Mastered by Joey Hernandez, Bass : Irv Madden Guitar: Karlos Brickhouse Drums: PJ Spraggins Congas: Kevin Pinder Keyboards: Charles Dockins.
Review: Duca Bianco is back with one of its special various artists' releases, and a mighty fine one it is too. This one finds four guest producers all with their finest studio tools sharpened and ready for action. Two of the artists are well known but use new alias - one is Israeli synth and psyche wizards Red Axes who work their magic as Der Sexa on 'Gabi Plane' and another is Beauty & The Beat party man Cedric Woo as CW. He gets nice and twisted here while the other two cuts - one from Italo king Franz Scala who builds slow new wave funk, and one from Manchester's renowned edit kings Talking Drums who offer some lovely leftfield madness on 'DMNB', all make for crucial listening.
Review: Jonny 5 is known for his superlative edits as well as heading up the Bahnsteig 23 label and here he returns from time out becoming a father to kick off this new one from Duca Bianco. 'Joy riding' is loopy disco-post-punk for a peak-time trip. Multi Culti man Dreems then brings the Afro party vibes with his 'Bususua' which is packed with dub fx and steeped in fun. Miserymix then throws in their Italo-licked post-disco and punk sounds on 'Adjust Your Love' before a big finale by Black Bones. They offer a deep and dubby house that has been a secret edit for a while but finally gets unveiled here to great effect as it worms its way into your brain.
Review: Disco bossmen HiFi Sean and David McAlmont return with their new album, Daylight, on Plastique Recordings and a fine one it is too to follow up their acclaimed 2023 debut, Happy Ending. Daylight features twelve exhilarating tracks that celebrate the essence of summer and do a good job of capturing its vibrant colours and joyous moods. This is the first of two albums from the duo in 2024, with the nocturnal counterpart, Twilight, set for release on December 1 and therefore likely to be a celebration of the moods of winter. In the meantime, your days will be long and bright and full of dancing with this one.
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