Back catalogue: Funk

Review: Best Records do it again, dusting down a searing slice of robo-funk from the early 80s that will pop your lock every which way. B Funk was a one-off project from Mario Boncaldo and Tony Carrasco, best known for their incredible work as Klein & MBO. They released the "Magic Spell" album in 1983, and it was loaded with richly produced Italo disco and proto house sounds - there's a good reason the original release has been fetching such crazy prices on the second hand market. Now Best have cherry picked two of the finest cuts from the album, sought out the extended disco versions from Carrasco's vaults, and given them a glorious new pressing.

Review: Original pressings have been previously spotted passing hands for well over L1000: Big Apple Band's 1976 deep funk classic has been rarer than hen's teeth for most of its 41 year life. Its sought-after status accelerated by Keb Darge for last 15 or so years - that and the fact it's an out-and-out soul-stirring, honey-vocalled, low and slow funk burner - AOTN have finally unleashed it in it full length for all of us. And we should all be eternally grateful.

Review: Danish nu funk artiste Badboe comes through with four cuts of cut n paste breakbeat that are primed for house party spillage. Proceedings open with a reshuffle of Gil Scott Heron, marrying his distinctive vocals to a taut funk groove augmented by plenty of B-Boy samples, whilst "Make The Floor Burn" slips classic hip-hop samples over a filtered disco loop backing. On the flip you get two versions of "I Believe", with the vintage disco subtleties of the latter Smooth Disco Mix proving to be most satisfying.

Review: Kalita Records are proud and honoured to announce the first ever official reissue of the four choice tracks from Randolph Baker's privately pressed sought-after 1982 disco album 'Reaching For The Stars', plus an unreleased instrumental take of 'Party Life' sourced from the original 24-track analogue master tapes.

Originally recorded at Jim Morris and Rick Miller's Tampa-based Morrisound Studios, 'Getting Next To You' features both a mixture of both local Florida talent plus jazz superstar Nat Adderley and bassist John Lamb at their finest. Originally pressed in a limited run of just one-thousand copies, with no distribution and most copies being sold in the local city and on Randolph's own merchandise table at the back of live gigs, original copies have long been sought-after by both collectors and DJs alike, acknowledged as a true grail and masterpiece in the disco scene and deservedly demanding extortionate figures to those lucky enough to find their own.

Here, in collaboration with Randolph, Kalita Records have chosen to re-release the four choice tracks from the album: 'Getting Next To You', 'Jazzman', 'Callin' Me' and 'Party Life'. The former is an in-demand horn and chant-filled disco masterpiece, which, as Randolph explains, concerns unity and "everyone on the same level in other words, everyone just loving life". It is arguably the song that Randolph is most well-known for in the disco and funk scene and perfect for the modern discerning dance floor. 'Jazzman' is an instrumental track with prominent trumpet and saxophone solos working with funky basslines to produce a truly great jazz-funk groove. It was "a tribute to Nat Adderley and Duke Ellington's bass player, John Lamb, for being so generous and saying yes to the project". 'Callin' Me' is a soulful disco number featuring the lead vocals of Laurie Erickson and is "about being on the road and ensuring loved ones that you will always come back home no matter what. It was like a promise to ensure loved ones they didn't have to worry". Lastly, 'Party Life' is a joyous disco track with a strong funk bassline and horns. As Randolph recalls, it "was the joy like after an actor finishes a movie. There was nothing but joy. It's finished; let's celebrate big time. Where everyone in the studio yelled at the top of their lungs - The End!" Here, with access to the 24-track master tapes we have been able to include the original version plus an unreleased instrumental take, allowing us to focus on the infectious bassline and make it even more ready for the modern dance floor.

Accompanied by extensive interview-based liner notes and never-before-seen photos.

Review: Australian band The Bamboos have been holding down things on the funky side of town since 2001, gaining fans all over the world with their authentic, dirty funk nuggets. In the same vein as bands like El Michels Affair or Breakestra, these guys are students of the classic breaks that underpinned the sample-hungry glory days of hip-hop. They've also had the incredible honor to back up some of funk's most revered names, notably New Orleans hit-machine Eddie Bo, Syl Johnson and Eddie Floyd.

Ahead of their new album 4 comes single "On The Sly", a perfect slice of mid-tempo joy, which has the same rollicking cowbell-driven vibe as classic UBB staple "Get Me Back On Time, Engine Number 9" by Wilson Pickett. Soulsides MC and singer Lyrics Born joins them on 2nd cut Turn It Up, another popcorn funk winner complete with chicken-scratch guitar parts worthy of James Brown stalwart Jimmy Nolen. Hanging out with the Aussies seems to have rubbed off on the Californian MC, as he even sings "Turn it up mate" at one point! DJ's get taken care of with an accapella and an instrumental too, making this release a good way to put some funk back in your trunk.

Review: Jumping from his own Bombastic Jam label back to Jalapeno suggests Basement Freaks is set to release a new album. Exciting. Especially considering the raw power and interesting diversions this new material has taken. "Work It Out" is reminiscent of Nextmen with its grizzly distorted riff and lyrical impact. "A Blues Thang", meanwhile, lives up to its name with harmonica-swallowing splendour and "That Little Thing You Do" oozes 80s funk boogie power. And while "Gotta Make Me A Gun" might sound aggressive, trust us it's not... it's as soft and playful as Rick James and Bootsy having a cuddle and kiss with a Moog synth.

Review: New on Jalapeno, Greece's breaks master George Fotiadis drops a new single along with some top-name remixes on the side. The first release from BF's album, "Something Freaky" is a slow and brilliantly funky joint, featuring crotch-grabbingly high falsetto vocals and some huge breakbeat drums. Spanish breaks don Colombo speeds things up nicely and sets the funk on fire on his mix, while Pimpsoul keeps the tempo but fleshes out every bar with hyped sequences and plenty of bass. Jalapeno regular Max Sedgley also drops a heavyweight nu-funk reworking to round off a mighty single.

Review: Japanese edit series Jolly Jams calls up Felix Dickinson for an exercise in subverted versionism. Tightly trimming - and in some cases completely repurposing - Coach House Rhythm Section's "Nobody's Got Time". Track one is the most authentic cover as the vocal stays intact but the electro disco is switched for a bluesy, sweaty party version. Track two sees Felix get busy in the dub department as the bass-based groove rattles with flabby, immersive funk. Finally the entire original is twisted to fit a slap-bass bashing Balearic dynamic, complete with new female vocals. Three really interesting versions that each stand alone as original tracks.

Review: "Get Into Your Life", despite being a masterful piece of late 70's Soul, failed to hit and sank without a trace at the time. Since then it has been a big track in soul clubs in the US and UK. This track has all the right ingredients - pleading vocal, soaring strings and a bumping beat. The b-side is more of a mid-tempo affair, in the style of the best old 'ravers' tunes as spun on the soul scene. Both sides are ideal for today's soulful dancefloors.

Review: Killer South African disco inclusion from the International Feel label backed with a remix from Todd 'will his golden patch ever end ?' Terje! The story behind the label's latest deviation from people's expectations goes that Bepu N'Gali's glorious afro disco posse cut "I Travel To You" was passed on during a vinyl shopping expedition in Buenos Aires by a fellow British digger who'd been handed a tape from N'Gali himself on a previous pitstop in Botswana. As with all International Feel releases the music matches the story that precedes it with N'Gali and some 12 musicians combining to deliver the finest example of South African musicianship since the Shangaan Electro comp. Terje brings his inimitable dubbed out disco magic to proceedings on the flip and there's an accompanying twelve due with further dub versions due in the near future too!