Back catalogue: Broken Beat/Nu Jazz/Nu Soul

Review: Well Curated is a series of releases and parties that - in its own words - "reflects the ethnomusicology of the last 50 years of music" - and aims to reach into all genres, merging classic styles and breaking down barriers. Steve Spacek occupies the A-side with the breezy broken beat and soul-in-space of 'Alone In Da Sun', while Lukid's 'Hair Of The Dog' is a more intense counterpart, with wobbling sub-bass and swirling, surging atmospherics hovering above.

Review: Musica Solida sampler 1 marks a thrilling celebration of 40 years of Flexi, the venerable record emporium that has stood the test of time in the ever-evolving music industry landscape. As the label weathered storms and celebrated triumphs, it has remained a beacon for vinyl enthusiasts, and this compilation embodies its enduring spirit. Curated by Flexi Cuts, Musica Solida promises a series of carefully selected singles spread across multiple 12-inch samplers, showcasing the talents of cherished Flexi-affiliated artists and producers. With a vision to cultivate a movement of sublime tunes, the compilation aims to uphold the commitment to quality that Flexi has exemplified within the Italian music scene and beyond. Musica Solida sampler one sets the stage with an eclectic lineup of artists, each bringing their unique flair to the table. DJ Rocca stands as a stalwart of the clubbing scene, while Club Soda delivers live electronic ensembles brimming with house-flavored jams. Lex & Locke bring a touch of Greek sophistication to the mix, showcasing their groovy sound destined for future acclaim. Hiroyuki Kato emerges as a Japan-based multi-instrumentalist with a punchy debut track, and The Mechanical Man (feat. Bob Vito) adds a raw, gritty energy to the compilation. For those that are adventurous in finding unique music, you will want to check out this great release.

Review: There ain't much that Matt Early and Lee Jeffries cannot do, and they have more than proven that with the music they have dropped this month alone. There have been four or five essential 7"s on Sonic Wax In Da House and its new sister label Disco Edits and this latest one is another bomb. It finds the duo taking Afro banger 'Rhythms Of Africa' and flipping it with their own Jazzphonic mix. It takes the original into new sonic realms with jazzy, dancing keys, restless drum funk, lashings of percussion and plenty of manic flutes. The instrumental is no less busy nor effective.

Review: Five years on from their debut collaborative EP 'Frisina Meets Toco', modern Brasilian dance artists Gerardo Frisina and Toco return for a second faceoff, this time with liaising artist Luzia Dvorek serving as ringmaster. Centring on samba-infused jazz and deep house with mystical and folk influences, "deixa passar" translates from Portuguese to "let it pass", though the mood is certainly not outright passive. This delectably quartered slice of carnivalesque dance music is rather rich in sonic papaya juice, charting sustained vocal contrasts between Toco and Luzia against smoky and furnaced beats. Aperient track 'Deixa Passar' leans heaviest on languid piano, whilst dozier mists emerge on the B-side in the form of 'Ile' and its rework by Gerardo Frisina, bringing pan flutes, strings, breathy vocal counterpoints, cabasa shaker, and subtle bass undercurrents.

Review: After her magnetic debut EP for Running Circle in 2017, Nottingham's Yazmin Lacey lands on our charts with her follow-up 12", a piece of work that sounds deeply accomplished and expansive for being her second EP to date. Largely roaming within the jazzo-sphere, When The Sun Dips 90 Degress is a beautifully seductive five-tracker, with the artist's voice reigning supreme over the cascading showers of piano keys and subtle electronics, somehow tapping into the Alice Coltrane sort of vibe. There's no harp here, but plenty of soulful charisma. Fear not thy devout jazz fanatic - this can get real deep and real smooth. It's a broken beat fan's dream some true. More from Lacey is, indeed, expected in the remainder of the year. Marvellous stuff.

Review: A few years back, legendary Alt-jazz saxophonist (and original Philip Glass Ensemble member) Dickie Landry handed LCD Soundsystem's Korey Rich a tape of a very NYC-sounding punk-funk track he recorded in his native Louisiana way back in 1986. Finally out, 'Hang The Rich' sounds like a long-lost downtown dub-disco gem that joins the dots between Patrick Adams' more eccentric disco productions, Bristolian punk-funk mavericks Maximum Joy, and McFadden & Whitehead after a fistful of psychedelics. Optimo's JD Twitch provides the obligatory 21st century dancefloor tweak - a stretched out, DJ-friendly revision blessed with bonus jacking drum machine rhythms and some trippy synth motifs. It's breathlessly brilliant, as anyone who has heard him and Optimo partner Jonnie Wilkes DJ over the last three years will confirm.

Review: If It Ain't Jazz, we don't know what it has! Back, after a punctuated pause, the label return to dazzle us with their enduring, distinctive brand of instrumental disco-soul razzmatazz, and here we hear Laroye and Aroop Roy rub two heads' choices up the right way, both into phattened, globular, kick-boosted anthems. First comes 'You're A Star', an electroni-cization of Aquarian Dream's 1978 disco explosion, to which Laroye brings much extra shimmy and sway. Then there's Roy's 'Let The Music Play', sampling an unknown (to us) number that - don't get caught off guard - certainly *isn't* Shannon's freestyle hit from 1983. Whatever it is though, it's a banger too!

Review: Last time we heard from Cleon and Jazzy Pidjay, otherwise known as Last Bongo In Paris, was back in 2013 on EDR...and here they are back on the same label, and out the bottom of a hat. Similarly to last time, "Bahia Swing" manages to conjure the right balance between jazz, funk and something a little more tropical, a sound and panache that is carried through to the following four cuts of juice. Our favourites are "Ritmo Loco" for its Latin energy, and the delightfully broken "Jarumba". If you're looking for something a little jazzy and saucy, but that pushes beyond the genre's natural confinements, this is it.

Review: The consistently excellent Game label is back with more of its ageless dance floor goods, this time in something of a deep house vein. Lay Far is behind the two grooves on this 12" and both are meticulously well-crafted hits. The first is a tweaked version of 'Without You' which has some psyched-out 60s guitar work and classic Philly strings soar high above a deep and dusty disco-house beat. Lavish vocals add an extra elegant feel while 'Our Connection' then features on the flip. It is a similarly smooth and infectious groove, this time topped with noodling jazz keys and some magical Rhodes vibes

Review: The third volume in Colpo Grosso's edits series amounts to yet another slinky slice of sensual post-Italo disco sundries. With each original artist and track title on the record respectively lent a three-letter and N-letter abbreviation, we'll leave it to you to piece together the puzzle as regards to whose source material is being reworked here. On this occasion, the hired hands are Massimo Voci, M.B. Funk, Wandevogel and Legowelt, each of whose takes on the various steam-downs and sweat lodgings of the genius genre that is Italo amount to four farther, slammingly sexual condensations of the sound. Our fave has to be Vandevogel's version of 'PRNDLCS', which starts out dramatically downcast before launching into a well-placed implantation of baritone sax and *bonne brisse* vocals.

Review: After two long years, Dailysession has decided to reboot its popular DSR House EP series. As with its' three predecessors, volume four is a split affair. Montreal-based Jonattan Levingstone, co-founder of Parages Music, handles side A, first delivering a deep, immersive, dubby and space-heavy epic (the soft-touch, sunrise-ready hypnotism of 'Licorella') before doffing a cap to Japanese great Sprinkes and Italian ambient house of old on the gorgeous and enveloping 'Nufsaid'. Label head honcho DJ Monchan takes over on the flip. 'Eyes', a decidedly Balearic collaboration with Alfonsso Bottone, sits somewhere between musically detailed Kyoto Jazz Massive style nu-jazz and blissful deep house, while 'Tears From Stars (DJ Monchan Remix)' sees him turn a lesser-known version of a familiar song (Sting's 1987 number 'Fragile') into a Balearic house shuffler.

Review: The artwork for this new 12" from the System 108 label is eccentric enough to make you want to check out the music even if you don't know the artists. It's the sort of cover that suggests the music will be left of centre and quirky and that it is. 'Sao Januario' is a deep and lazy groove with sunny chords and jazzy keys that take you to the global south. 'Sunny Villa On A Distant Planet' is a twisted disco cut with house leaning drums and big cowbells under intergalactic synth lines. 'Rolando Nascer Do Sol' then rides a crisp electro breakout to keep you on your toes and 'OWL WCS' slows down for a cuddly back-to-mine style closer.

Review: Mother Tongue sure knows how to serve up some beautifully escapist and Balearic sounds and that's exactly what we have here with this seductive new 12" from Tiombe Lockhart feat. Georgia Anne Muldrow. This welcome return to the label from Lockhart comes as a teaser ahead of her new album Going Forth By Day. On this evidence, it's going to be a real doozy because 'An Osirian Dream' is utterly angelic. The vocals soar to the heavens next to celestial melodies over a gentle rhythm. Also included a beatless version and a couple of T's takes which get more jazzy.

Review: Loftsoul's Re Works series is back with a sixth chapter that gets decidedly deep, not least with the opener 'Deep Poem'. It is just that - a smoky mix of dubby and slow-motion drums, wispy synths and spoken words that make for an intimate vibe. 'Euro-Express' brings rickety Kraftwerk rhythms and sleek synths right up to date with bigger low ends, then a classic piece of Ryuichi Sakamoto ambient gets a remix with some more crunchy textures but the same sense of melodic gorgeousness. Four useful sounds for constructing late-night mixes.

Review: What better way to open your New Year that with a heart swelling soulful house tune that cannot fail to swell you with emotion. Gerald Mitchell aka Los Hermanos's 'Another Day' is just that, a sweet coming together of acoustic string work, a perfect soul sample that is dusty and aching, and claps and kicks that roll for days. From the gospel tones of the opener we head to the electric techno-jazz of 'Binary Funk Infusion' featuring Bob Rogue its finally on to 'The Billy Love Experience (Let Love Live)', a jazzy house workout with Sun-Ra synths and noodling Rhdoes that are utterly life affirming.

Review: It would be fair to say that post-disco outfit Unlimited Touch's 1980 single "I Hear Music In the Streets" is one of the greatest boogie/electrofunk records of all time. Louie Vega clearly agrees, because late last year he decided to gather together the remaining members of Unlimited Touch and record a fresh 2020 version. The A-side "Touch Mix" is the bomb. It features a more organic-sounding disco-boogie groove than the 1980 original, with delicious guitars, bass and electric piano/organ underpinning seriously good group vocals from the sometime Prelude-signed outfit. Over on the flip, Vega serves up an electric piano solo-laden dub mix, as well as a "Classic Boogie" take that naturally sounds very similar to the band's much-loved original version.

Review: Theo Parrish has green-lit a couple of back catalogue reissues from his Sound Signature label this month and this one originally came back in 2010 and found him on production duties and Bilal Love on the vocals. The Melloghettomental EP is an archetype Parrish offering - dusty, lo-fi beatdown and house fusions with muted but meaningful chords and aching vocal hooks. You get all that on blissed-out opener 'Can't Keep Running Away', superbly soulful live bass work on 'U Bring Me Up' and heavier, more griding grooves but still sublime vocals on 'Why Wait'. The title cut is an off-grid mix of sci-fi melodies and diffuse chords, shimmering drums and low slub bass. Sublime.

Review: Rooted in New York house traditions,Lovetempo is an exciting new band from Brooklyn that fuse deep house, disco and funk, driven by by former The Rapture man Mattie Safer's seasoned touch. The title track delivers a Chicago house gem with an uplifting, jazzy feel and an inspirational message. 'We Can Make It Happen' dials things down into a lounge-infused jam, balancing disco and house with a relaxed, breezy energy. 'Part-Time Love Affair' leans fully into funk, highlighting the band's tight musicianship and rhythmic flair. On Side B, Eric Kupper reworks 'Live Or Die By Love' into a dancefloor house cut, extracting vocal samples from the original and flipping them into a hypnotic hook. His instrumental remix strips it back further, focusing on groove and texture. With its mix of live band energy and classic house sensibilities, 'Live Or Die By Love' is a promising statement from Lovetempo.

Review: Low Leaf's Red Moon is a strong three-song release that shows her dynamic artistry. The album opens with a live rendition of Alice Coltrane's 'Blue Nile,' enveloping listeners in its swirling, ecstatic sounds. The subsequent tracks, 'Innersound Oddity' and 'How to Open a Portal,' are Low Leaf originals that feel strangely familiar yet innovative. 'Innersound Oddity' builds to a frenetic climax, while 'How to Open a Portal' blends flute and harp over an airy rhythmic bed, offering soothing vibes with daring climactic surprises. Low Leaf's musical trajectory reflects spontaneity, freedom, and intuition, evident in the multifaceted meanings of her moniker. The album feels like a transmission from a dream realm, echoing her experiences of receiving harp lessons via lucid dreams. A snapshot of Low Leaf's artistic evolution, blending elements of free jazz, astrology, hip-hop and eco-spirituality.

Review: Beastie Boy Mike D Edit has decided to rework Malian artists Idrissa Soumaoro and L'Eclipse De L'I.J.A. and their track 'Nissodia' - from the 1978 album Le Tioko-Tioko - for this new one on Brighton label Mr Bongo, the second time it has landed on the label, having previously been on The Original Sound Of Mali in 2017 Both tunes are pumping, full flavour Afro jams with screeching melodies and big, jangling, angular guitars all powered by funky beats. Each one is guaranteed to light up any cultured dancefloor.

Review: It would seem we're back on the Christmas card list... 2000 Black supergroup comprising the likes of Dego, Mensah and original Bugz members Lord and Tatham have been slowly ramping up their releases again and this year has seen their largest output yet. Following "Two Way Here One Way Go", "Simmering" proffers three more sublime and silky instrumentals from deeply decorated foursome. "Simmering" is a tight jazz funk jam with a sprung guitar groove spine and a blissful switch into soothing flutes midway, "Private Life" flips for a sunnyside digidub, all spacious and rippling with its breezy keys while "Climb The Sun" brings us back to the funk root note but with rising synth insistency that's bruk to the bone. Simmering now, boiling tomorrow...

Review: The rightly acclaimed Thundercat put out his latest album It is What It Is on Flying Lotus's Brainfeeder earlier in the year. Now a lead single from it gets offered up as three different versions. The album version is a romantic track with mellifluous chords rippling over lo-fi and subtle drums while the vocals bring the vibes. The always on point Floating Points then reworks it for the dance floor with airy drums that float in mid air as the keys get a bit busier and the vocals remain in place to bring the soul. An instrumental and acappella mean all bases are covered.