Review: During the late 1970s and early '80s, Miami was a hotbed of percussion-rich disco-funk that blended popular Black American grooves of the day with nods to the drum-heavy rhythms of Afro-Cuban music. Herman Kelly & Life were amongst the outfits at the vanguard of this movement, though unusually they only released one album, 1978's Percussion Explosion! Here it gets a remastered CD reissue. It's naturally best-known for boda-fide disco anthem 'Dance To The Drummer's Beat', but there are plenty of other hot, break-heavy classics on display - not least the low-slung, high-octane brilliance of 'Who's The Funky DJ?', the string-drenched disco-soul sweetness of 'Share Your Love' and the low-down, extra-heavy funk rinse-out that is 'Do The Handbone'.
Ronnie Keaton & Ocean Liners - "Going Down For The Last Time" (part 1)
Chosen Few - "Wondering"
King Sporty - "Thinking Of You"
King Sporty - "I'm In A Dancing Mood"
Ernest Ranglin - "In The Rain"
Ocean Liners - "Self Destruct"
King Sporty - "Don't Kill The Goose"
King Sporty - "Dance To The Music" (part 1)
King Sporty - "The More Things Change" (instrumental)
Band Ocean Liners - "Foxy Funk"
Chosen Few - "Funky Butter"
Timmy Thomas - "Africano"
King Sporty & The Root Rockers - "Fire Keep On Burning"
Phillip & Lloyd - "Keep On Moving"
Noel Williams - "Shoot It From The Hip"
King Sporty & The Root Rockers - "Summer Time"
Bobbie Houston - "I Want To Make It With You"
Della Humphrey - "Dreamland"
King Sporty - "Groovin' Out On Life"
King Sporty - "Driftaway"
King Sporty - "Concrete Jungle"
Review: Daisuke Kuroda has ben DJing since 1990 when the rare groove movement in his native Japan was in full flow. He slowly evolved into the funk world and is now regarded as one of deep funks finest ever DJs over in the Far East. He started Japan's leading deep funk club event series SEARCHING and runs his own Wah Wah party each month, amongst several other things. He heads up a 45 reissue label founded at the beginning of 2015 so is the perfect man to be asked to curate From Kingston To Miami: King Sporty Works 1971-1983, a collection of deep cut funk sounds that span the world from the 70s to the 80s.
Review: Journey Through Life witnesses Afrobeat pioneer, pallbearer and powerhouse Femi Kuti's very latest transformation in sound, as we witness the artist turn vividly, self-reflectively inward. The LP proposes a rare self-produced window into Femi's personal evolution, spanning childhood memories to fatherhood and, of course, the unshakable presence of family. As he puts it: "At the end of the day for me family is all that matters. The essence is to manage such events and let love prevail." Long celebrated for his uncompromising political voice, Femi leans evermore into an already evident vulnerability, revisiting earlier material through several, pylonic stylistic anchors: his signature horn-laced grooves, not to mention themes of personal legacy and posterity.
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