Go Now Wetiko (feat Americo Brito & Mariseya) (5:59)
Roi Salomon (feat Mariseya) (5:24)
Duncan Truffle (3:14)
Review: Niels Nieuborg is Arp Frique, an artist who made a bold and brilliant debut on Rush Hour a few years ago and has never looked back since. His 2018 album Welcome To The Colorful World of Arp Frique showed off his fresh take on disco with a host of collaborators and now he once again lays down the beats while various guests appear on this new EP on Colourful World. Elements of zouk, highlife, Afro-disco and many more worldly rhythms lend these cuts their unique and characterful style. Analog drum machines, kick rhythms and psyched out synths all sit next to great vocals for a kaleidoscopic trip like no other.
Review: Vintage funk fans rejoice because this classic mid-60s collection is now available to you once more. James Brown's appropriately entitled Night Train - Mighty Instrumentals album is a high-class assembly of plenty of potent, hard-hitting funk as well as more tender and slow-burning soul sounds. These timeless, loveably lo-fi joints have plenty of low end heft to cut through modern dance floras while also offering up some authentic and original funk allure. It comes on nice heavyweight wax so sounds brilliantly loud and clear.
Review: Athens of the North originally contracted obscure 80s boogie artist Billy Bruner about reissuing two of his rare, sought-after singles - "The Tulsa Song" and "The Dream" - but instead raided his tape archives and putting together what's effectively his debut album. Combining previously released tracks (including some made as part of similarly obscure outfit T'Spoon and the gospel-leaning band The Davis Family), unheard extended versions and previously unreleased songs, the album is warm, soulful, slick and summery. Highlights include the stuttering P-funk flex of "Cats Meow", the sizzling dancefloor heat of "School Dance" and the deliciously extended version of glassy-eyed '80s soul jam "Never". If sparkling, synth-heavy '80s soul is your thing, this is one surprise retrospective you won't want to miss.
Funkentelechy (Where'd You Get That Funk From) (20:32)
Review: If you've ever had the privilege to witness George Clinton & The P Funk Allstars live, you know they bring it, each and every time. After all, the magic of Parliament and Funkadelic's imperious catalogue lies in that in-the-room, jammed out madness where anything could happen at any moment, which translates to the stage so beautifully. This collection pulls together some of the choicest live cuts from recent times, as stone-cold classics like 'Let's Take It To The Stage' and 'Cosmic Slop' collide with 'Atomic Dog' and 'Funkentelechy'. Of course the tracks take on whole new dimensions in the live setting, stretched out and freaked up even more than in their original form, making this a must-grab for any P funk devotee.
Review: A veritable French fusion institution; classically trained Cameroon musician Eko Roosevelt Louis was responsible for a catalogue of exciting jazz funk, disco and afrofunk records throughout the 70s and remained active touring Europe until the 90s when he returned to Cameroon to inherit the role as tribal chieftain from his grandfather. Released in 1979, Funky Disco Music was his third album and packs some of his most powerful compositions. The triumphant title track says it all; laidback, charming and full of positivity it sets the scene for the whole trip. Highlights include the rock-tinged soul chugger "Une Chanson Sans Paroles", the highlife uplift of "Doi Da Manga" and the smouldering showstopper finale "Emen Ango". Dig deep and enjoy... Africa Seven promise more Eko reissues in the near future.
Review: During the various pandemic lockdowns of 2020, BBC Radio Wales suggested to multi-instrumentalist Carwyn Ellis that he joined forces with their National Orchestra of Wales and Brazilian band Rio 18 for a one-off, audience-free concert. In the end, Rio 18 were not permitted to travel, so instead their contributions were recorded remotely and assembled by Ellis and his producer Shawn Lee, to which the orchestrated parts were then added live. Despite this complex recording process, the results are stunning: sublime songs, sung in Welsh, with an attractive mixture of Brazilian rhythms and instrumentation, soaring orchestration and attractive melodies aplenty. It has a conceptual theme - it's meant to be a sort of musical day in Rio - but that doesn't really matter; what matters is the music, and it's uniformly spellbinding.
Review: Belgian-Moroccan singer Aicha Haskal is at the heart of this fabulous project which sees her joining creative forces with super-talented musicians from the Belgian scene. Between them, the group has a mad diverse spread of backgrounds and influences which means their music too is broad in scope - psychedelic sounds and funky grooves, Arabic melodies and European rhythms all feature in this album as do rap and parlando. Egyptian poet Abdelhamid Farag penned their first single 'Ghalat' and now this album expands around that with music that fights the oppression of women and fights for revolution.
Review: Jazz saxophonist Tony Lavorgna, sometimes known as Captain Bad, recorded Chameleon with the St Thomas Jazz Quartet in 1982. The title track is a cover of Herbie Hancock's classic from Head Hunters, given a fresh lick on this superlative album of incredible renditions of long time favourites. Ray Charles' 'Georgia On My Mind', War's 'The World Is A Ghetto' and Dave Brubeck's 'Take The 'A' Train' all get a look in, given a soulful treatment which goes down very smooth indeed. On the strength of these, it's a shame the group never recorded more music together, covers or otherwise.
Review: The glorious Athens of the North label will always be one of our favourites. It is pretty much buy on sight for lovers of soul, funk and disco and this month it is serving up two more unmissable long players. Here it is Ike and The Uptights and their superb sounds which make, what me might bravely, say, could be one of this always high class label's finest releases. Formed by Henry Bradley in Forrest City, The Uptights recorded for Memphis label Action Records and here we get a perfect window into their world of raw and guttural funk.
Review: Having previously reissued Pasteur Lappe's sought-after 1979 sophomore set, No Man Pass Man, the crew behind the Africa Seven label has turned its attention to the Cameroonian artist's similarly impressive debut, We The People. It's a vibrant and hugely entertaining six-track set, with Lappe offering up a range of dancefloor-ready cuts that variously touch on heavy Afro-disco ("More Sekele Movement (Papa Ni Mama)"), horn-heavy tropical funk ("Dora"), saccharine English language ballads ("Watcha Get Ma Day Dreams"), thrusting disco-funk righteousness (Clav-happy smasher "Sekelimania (Nku Bilam)" and "The Sekele Movement") and laidback, Steely Dan style West Coast jazz-rock ("As Far As I Can Remember").
Andy Cooper - "Chasing The Funk" (Paul Sitter's version) (3:47)
B-Boys Impressions (3:39)
Its On Like That (feat Dr Syntax) (3:27)
Bollywood Cannot Carry Double (2:51)
Nothing Gonna Change (His Way) (3:10)
Outro (1:49)
Review: Breakbeat Paradise indeed! British breakbeat producer Paul Sitter might as well stand in for Saint Peter at this rate, as we'll happily ascend to the place after death. This new LP, we imagine, is what plays in the background, as we float on upwards: with collaborations with some of the dopest MCs on the planet, such as Craig G, Andy Cooper, Birdapres, Chrome and Dr Syntax, the album is a celebration of the tidal forces of old skool hip-hop and breaks that later fed into one of the best dance genres to grace our ears over the last 40 years. Packed with exclusive vocal cut-ups, mix-disturbing scratches, and mega-raw b-breaks constructions, Hip-Hop Delivery is an incredible tribute to the era.
Let's Get Together For The Wrong We Have Done (2:54)
Whatcha Gonna Do About It (3:54)
You Are The One For Me (3:05)
Oh Baby Why You Want To Make Me Cry (2:55)
You Talk Too Much (3:59)
It's You Girl (4:00)
Review: It's time for another one of Athens of the North's magnificent reissue albums, this time with Arthur Ponder in the spotlight. The Georgia resident started singing in the 1960s, at first replacing Otis Redding in Johnny Jenkins & The Pinetoppers after Redding left. His first recording came in 1970 after years spent gigging hard and then he carried on well into the 80s making great tunes. It is that decade which is represented here with some solo tunes and some alongside local group Side Show. She are unreleased, some have previously been on 45 pm, all are gold.
Review: Another highly anticipated reissue from the vaults of the legendary 70s label TSG here that has already been put out late last year by P-Vine Japan. But Reality's unknown classic Disco Party is always going to sell out quick so we're certainly happy about another pressing. Almost nothing is known about the band apart from their association with TSG, the label had a divine touch in picking out the best unknown musicians from New York's bustling funk and soul scene. Their music is full of vibrant riffs and funky bass and cannot fail to detonate in the club.
Review: The third full-length from London nine-piece Soul Grenades distils over a decade of performance into slick, high-impact modern funk. Their sound - sharp brass, syncopated rhythm, deep-pocket bass - owes as much to the horn-driven grooves of the Meters as to the tightly orchestrated grit of early 2000s revivalists. But it's the band's songwriting, honed through years of gigging, that carries the weight here. 'Dopamine' is an instant opener, kinetic and bright, while 'Jealousy' draws from vintage soul drama with horn stabs and raw vocal flair. On 'Star Gazin'' and 'Be Mine', they shift into a softer register without losing rhythmic tension. 'Death At The Disco' ups the stakes, laced with cinematic flair, and 'Suga Mama' punches through with high-speed strut. Elsewhere, the slow-burn closer 'A Better Day' leans into gospel-funk catharsis, building tension in restrained waves. Everything is dialled in - arrangements tight, solos concise, vocal harmonies blended without fuss. While earlier records mapped out the group's energy on stage, this one moves with the confidence of a studio band in full control. As far as raw pleasure goes, they've hit the brief.
Review: Unhelpfully, there seems to be scant information out there about the identity of TBZ, a producer specializing in "raw cassette outtakes" whose previous output has been limited to a handful of appearances on compilations and multi-artist EPs. OG_Beers is the mystery artist's debut full length and contains 13 shots of hardware-heavy machine music. While rooted in electro and distorted machine funk, the set is notable for its alluring eclecticism. Those with a wide musical knowledge will be able to detect audible nods towards skewed cold wave, Moon B style boogie fuzz, Miami Fuzz, post-punk dub disco, mutant hip-hop, weirdo electronica and sludgy, guttural electronica - all smothered in oodles of tape hiss and analogue machine noise. Tip!
Review: Jazz Room Records is back with another high class reissue of an album that is considered to be a grail by those who know. The story goes that back in the late 70s in the Seattle area of the Pacific North West, Danny Ward & Reality were an oft called upon funky jazz collective for anyone throwing college or hardcore funk parties. Rather than just serving up covers of the day's big hits they offered proper musical trips though more considered fair from artists like George Benson. This album catches them at their best on one such mid-week gig in the summer of 1977.
We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you've provided to them or that they've collected from your use of their services.