Back catalogue: Funk

Review: 51 years have now passed since Funkadelic dropped their first two albums, Funkadelic and Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow. The latter album's numerous highlights included 'Funky Dollar Bill', a flash-fried funk-rock masterpiece that's as bonkers as it is low-slung and floor friendly. This anniversary edition of the song, which was released as part of a double A-side single in 1971, combines the pioneering Detroit crew's original vocal version (side A), with a never-before-heard instrumental take from the original recording sessions (B). This is particularly revelatory, as it offers a chance to hear everything that was going on below George Clinton's singing - and trust us, that's a lot! It's genuinely refreshing to hear an alternate take on a such a fantastic funk-rock gem, so we'd recommend giving it a listen.

Review: Funkadleic's 'Ain't That Funkin' Kind Of Hard On You?' has been remixed a wreath of times by artists as diverse as Kendrick Lamar and DJ Spen. Now it gets two superb versions by the one and only Louie Vega. His remix is first up and is a classic - big, rolling drums laced up with glorious synths and the original's charismatic vocals as well as plenty of party atmospherics. On the flip is the Vega Trumpet dub which places some florid leads way up high and the rest of the funk tune follows through a course of highs and lows.

Review: Given the brilliantly simple concept behind this fine compilation - contemporary Detroit producers remix Funkadelic - we're rather surprised nobody's done it before. With 17 varied re-rubs stretched across two hugely entertaining CDs, there's plenty to enjoy. Highlights come thick and fast, from the deep house/P-funk fusion of Alton Miller's take on "Get Your Ass Off and Jam" and Andres' loose, hip-hop influenced revision of "Music For My Mother", to the thrusting loops and heady late night hypnotism of Anthony Shake Shakir and T-Dancer's version of "Standing on the Verge". While many of the versions stay relatively faithful to the original, the more "out-there" interpretations - see BMG's outer-space ambient dub of "Maggot Brain" and Moodymann's epic revision of "Cosmic Slop" - are also consistently impressive.

Review: This is a first-ever CD-reissue of legendary funk outfit Funkadelic's Greatest Hits album - known amongst fans as 'the sheep album' - from back in 1975. It came on Westbound and has plenty of the most enduringly iconic tunes as one of George Clinton's group's most iconic covers in a catalogue full of them. The tracks here are taken from the band's first six albums and features 45 mixes, LP mixes and an edit of the instrumental 'A Joyful Process' which has never before been reissued. The whole thing has been remastered as the original was known for being a little thin in the low end.

Review: Funkadelic made some brilliant albums throughout their career, but few quite as inspired as their third full-length, 1971's Maggot Brain. It has consistently featured in critics lists of the best albums of the 1970s, and it's easy to see why. Featuring a ground-breaking mix of saucer-eyed soul, progressive rock, acid-fried funk rock, low-slung delights and effects-laden aural hedonism, it boasts countless sonic highlights. Chief amongst these is 10-minute title track 'Maggot Brain', where a bizarre spoken word monologue from George Clinton makes way for ten-minutes of highly emotive, reverb and delay-drenched jazz guitar from Eddie Hazel. This reissue edition also includes two additional versions of this iconic track: a wonderfully wayward 1971 live version and Brendan M Gillen's superbly spaced-out, 2017 'BMG Dub' mix.

Review: 1971's Maggot Brain is and always will be a timeless piece of work, not only because it was fundamental in instilling the funk sound of the following decade, but also because it went much deeper than many of the band's other albums; we consider it to be the group's finest work, spanning psychedelic rock and soul like no other music of its time. Led by the incorrigible George Clinton, the Parliament sister band were capable of turning even the straightest of styles into something continuously provocative; the lead track "Maggot Brain" is a blissful assortment of Hendrix-style riffing and raw electronic manipulation and, while the rest of the album heads down comparatively straighter genre types, the band always retain their inimitable freakiness, a distorted glow of organs, fuzzed-out guitars, and gospel choirs. A classic of the highest order, and an album which should reside in any serious record collection.

Review: There has still never been anything quite like a live show by Parliament/Funkadelic. When the p-funk heroes took the stage, they did so in wildly colourful and eccentric the costumes, with bold stagecraft and often more than a dozen musicians all doing their do. Their brand of Afro-futurisms was way ahead of the curve and this so called "coming of the Mothership" happened in a 1977 live concert that is captured on vinyl. It was one night of the gem changing P.Funk Earth Tour and was a real spectacle for the sense. Relive it as often as you like now with the full experience sure to get you up off your ass