Back catalogue: Funk

Review: The 7" single Tocando Macizas by Vivi Hernandez Y Su Conjunto is a standout Latin funk gem from 1971. Known for its raw, heavy grooves, this track epitomises the best of Mexican funk, delivering an irresistible energy. Paired with Grupo Caverna's Caverna on the B-side, both tracks pack an intense rhythmic punch, combining sharp instrumentation with infectious beats. This release has gained legendary status among collectors and DJs for its rarity and quality, marking it as essential for Latin funk aficionados.

Review: DJ Notoya returns with another expertly curated selection of Japanese gems, this time delving into the funky, soulful, and city pop sounds of King Records. Spanning the years 1974 to 1988, this compilation is a treasure trove of forgotten classics and hidden gems, a sonic time capsule that transports listeners back to the neon-lit streets and vibrant nightlife of 1980s Japan. Buzz's 'Garasumado' kicks things off with an infectious groove and funky guitar riffs that could rival any Western funk classic. Mami Ayukawa's 'Sabita Gambler' adds a touch of soulful sophistication, her smooth vocals gliding over lush instrumentation. Keiko Toda's 'Fade In' is a city pop gem, its dreamy melodies and catchy hooks evoking a sense of carefree optimism and urban cool. Elsewhere, Johnny Yoshinaga's soulful ballad 'The Rain' provides a moment of introspection, while Kumiko Sawada's disco-infused 'Your Love's Away' will get you moving and grooving. The compilation closes with the feelgood sounds of Masatoshi Kanno's 'Day By Day', a perfect encapsulation of the city pop aesthetic.

Review: Renowned DJ and selector MURO is a Jedi-level compiler and this new collection of his delves into Victor's extensive archives to spotlight a world of Japanese jazz, fusion and AOR. It take sin plenty of internationally known names like Yasuko Agawa on the sunset sounds of 'L.A. Night', Sadistics who offers the more psyched out guitar leans of 'On the Seashore', Yuji Ohno's neo-Balaeric bliss-out 'The Dawn of Seychells' and Hiroshi Fukumura's soul soothing Ry Ayres-style melodies on 'White Clouds.' These are luxurious sounds and timeless tracks with MURO's signature funky perspective making this a brillaint choice for brighter, warmer days.

Review: In full gatefold LP form comes the latest Brazilian boogie compilation by Horse Meat Disco, selected selectors of the best rarities in the disco genre. Curated mostly by founding member Luke Howard and with added consultations from crewmates James Hillard, Severino Panzetta and Jim Stanton, a lifetime of frolicking among samba troupes, carnival processions and yearly Rio visitations went into the choices you hear here, consummating one man's intuitive taste for a sound whose appeal stretches far wider than its nation of origin. Mr Bongo invited Howard to their Brighton HQ for an extended on-site selection, proving its off-the-cuff expertise: early electronica experiments from Ze Carlos blend voluminously with Jorge Ben pennings and mouth-watering Luiza Maura 7" cullings, proving a hand-picking that is at once eclectic and unifying.

Review: Bilbao's Soul4Real Records' subsidiary label celebrates its first compilation after delivering 14 singles in three years. The album kicks off with the rare 12" mix of Samuel Jonathan Johnson's wonderful 'You' and includes previously unreleased gems from Glenn Jones, Earth, Wind & Fire and Gladys Knight & The Pips. Highlights include Glenn's 'Share My Love' and Gladys's timeless 'How Deep Is Your Love' as well as EWF's 'Club Foot,' all of which were omitted from their original albums. Side two features Phyllis Hyman's 'Forever With You' and downtempo classics like Tyrone Davis's 'Never Stopped Loving You' and The Dells' 'Somebody's Gotta Move' round out an exceptional compilation.

Review: The liberation of Mali from French rule in 1960 led to an explosive musical renaissance, and on this latest 2xLP compilation, Mr Bongo seek to remonstrate the nation's excellence in the face of much strife. After 1970, amid revived drives to document many national and regional music productions from the West African nation, Malian culture underwent a fertile transformation, with state-sponsored bands and orchestras able to record with sound engineers for the first time. Compiled by French writer and journalist Florent Mazzoleni and Mr Bongo's own David Buttle, we hear here the likes of Ousmane Kouyate & Ambassadeurs Internationaux, Rail Band, Les Messagers du Mali, Mystere Jazz de Tombouctou and many more, where bright, fuzz-packed tones whirl about our ears in serene squalls of balafon-driven funk, rumba, wassoulou, jeli and blues.

Review: The impeccable Soundway Records is back with another essential companion, this time in the form of Nigeria Special Volume 3: Electronic Innovation Meets Culture & Tradition 1978-93, which presents a collection of 19 tracks capturing the unique musical transformation in Nigeria during a pivotal era. This compilation reflects the fusion of drum machines, synthesisers and Western influences like pop, reggae, disco and soul, all blended with traditional Nigerian genres like highlife and juju. It represents a period of innovation where new technology was used to reimagine and refresh cultural sounds and what results is a bold new sounds that is going to be lapse dup by fans of names like Steve Monite and Charles Amoah.

Review: It's been a while since the last one but finally, the fourth volume of the Mighty Mellow collection is here. It is another delight from the editors of The Mood Mosaic series and this time out, they explore mushy funk and abstract jazz while featuring tracks from a diverse range of artists including Pete Jolly, Annette Peacock, Dusty Springfield and more. Across the four sides of vinyl are an eclectic mix of soulful grooves and experimental sounds that span genres and eras. It's largely laidback, gentle funk and jazz for those occasions when you want to kick back and get lost.

Review: There have been many concurrent sounds of 60s and 70s New York, but the Latin soul subsidiary of said multipli-city saw and heard its heyday in the sweet-spot of 1964-78, where the Latin American favourite label Fania Records reigned supreme in its niche. Bannering the likes of Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe, Ruben Blades, Johnny Pacheco and Celia Cruz, Fania was born of a desire to promote salsa music and adjacent styles in New York, after Dominican musician and label boss Johnny Pacheco underwent financial woes and sought respite in memories of a quaint Cuban luncheonette of the same name. The heady mix of sonic pimento collides several of the best salsa bands in a New York otherwise dominated by soul and funk, amounting to a charred, lively stew.

Review: International favourites on the boogie-and-beyond selection circuit, Horse Meat Disco deliver the first edition in a brand new compilation tracking yet more heat disco of a Brazilian flavour. Some 13 years in the making, much love and attention has been poured into this compendium, which unearths tracks from the seemingly endless urban goldmines of Brasilia and Rio, twin obsessive loci, nurtured by founding member Luke Eagle amid an extended exploration of the South American nation's dance music culture. Having learned to dance samba and paraded the Rio Carnival, this is a compilation rooted in worldly experience, made up largely of 7" finds. Chief among the brilliants are Ze Carlos' Italoesque wonder 'Venha' and the well-spiced 'Sol De Verao' by Lafayette, spanning years' worth of digging.

Review: Heavyweight champions of the compilation world, Numero Group, defend their undisputed title once more with this collection of greats from San Antonio mogul Abe Epstein's Dynamic label. In its heyday, it became a hub for soulful music with its flagship band the Commands scoring a hit in 1966 with 'No Time For You.' Their success led to 20 more singles over 30 months and Epstein's inclusive studio welcomed a diverse racial mix of Texas talent which in turn created a melting pot of sound. This collection reflects that across 28 gems from groups like the Tonettes, Little Jr. Jesse & the Tear Drops and Bobby Blackmon & His Soul Express all exploring different soul niches.

Review: Strut introduces the highly anticipated third volume in the Disques Debs International series, diving deeper into the archives of one of the greatest French Caribbean labels, Disques Debs, based in Guadeloupe. Founded by Henri Debs in the late 1950s, the Debs studio naturally doubled as a record label and ran for over 50 years, releasing more than 300 7" singles and 200 LPs, cementing it as one of the foremost record labels to prize Caribbean music history. Not just limited to Guadeloupean musicians but also Martinicians and Parisians, the likes of Jocelyn Mocka, Mariz, Dominique Parol, Christian Yeye and Alex Rosa make this a thixotropic record, mercurial and restless as it is rooted in forms of zouk, biguine, gwoka and, of course, the nascent electronica. This third volume flaunts the label's dynamic latter-day period, as it interpreted the analog electronic dreams of the 1980s.

Review: Loving On The Flip Side compiles overlooked ballads from the flip sides of funk 45s in the Now-Again and Truth and Soul vaults, all presented in the same format as the Soul Cal anthology. This collection showcases incredible music that pairs heavy funk with sweet soul to create a sound the label calls "sweet funk." The journey began nearly a decade ago with the discovery of the Darling Dears and Funky Heavy's unique two-sided single which sparked a search that led to their full inclusion in this anthology. The process unearthed other soulful gems and now culminates in an essential exploration of black American creativity and musical innovation.

Review: Asiko Tito is one of many lost gems of Nigerian music. It has been curated by Lagos' legendary Jazzhole and feature music first recorded in the late 90s. The 10-track compilation captures Afrobeat, Yoruba-funk, Afro-funk, highlife and spiritual jazz gems that reflect Lagos' rich musical tapestry. Each track blends traditional rhythms with modern influences which are the hallmarks of the city's vital scene. Jazzhole is a label led by Olakunle Tejuoso and his son and has been a cultural institution for over 30 years thanks to its championing of African and Afro-diasporic sounds. This is another welcome reissue that reminds us of Nigeria's enduring creativity.

Review: Tramp Records celebrate a whopper milestone, with the label's 125th record taking shape as a reconnaissant celebration of 1970s soul jazz and funk, forming part of the Praise Poems series. Launched to fare an interminable journey through the many privately pressed, furtively released and/or criminally undersung jazz-funk-soul records of yore, and with an international focus, this is a rather special case of one such compilation series making it to its tenth edition, and still retaining the kind of quality control and assiduity most comp-curators may only dream of. From the opening, ultra-headsy 'Fields Of Laughter' by the chartless American band Color Me Blu, to instrumental AOR from pianist George Melvin's short-lived Quintet, you can expect to hear super-rarities here, with some originals only having heard but two acetates to their names at first press.

Review: Tiny but big-hearted German label Tramp Rec. share Praise Poems, their latest journey deep into the heart of funk music. A curators' comp like few others, Tramp's tracking-down and selection efforts are little-matched here, and their assurances are comparably thorough. For example: "this album needs time and patience to be fully understood. Be prepared to listen to this album in tranquillity. If you do not do so you will most likely rate this release one out of five stars." The mystification of a records by the issuer prescribing how one might listen to it is an old and well-known trick, but we think it may genuinely apply in this case: Gemstones' 'Cold Soul', Cookie Thomas' 'Black Velvet Soul' and Lee Stone's 'What Is Life' are all examples of soft-spoken rarities. All the tracks here, in fact, were recorded courteously and dynamically, and not bombastically; such was characteristic of the best Latin and North American blues, jazz and funk of the 70s.

Review: Hot Casa has always been a proverbial hot pot of international sounds from across several rhythmic and cultural worlds. The New Year starts off on a strong footing for the French crew with a new album from Afro funk collective Vandou Game. It finds them reaching outside their usual Togolese confines to take inspiration from across the Atlantic. The record was made in the legendary OTODI studio with Peter Solo on hand to add his expertise to a bunch of feel-good, horn-laced workouts that are laden with percussion, have endlessly catchy rhythms and plenty of soulful, authentic vocal charms.

Review: Paul Weller is perhaps one of the best non-soul musicians to ask to compile a rare soul compilation. Rather than documenting soul music as it proliferated in the 1960s, Ace Records' soul aim was to capture a genre, fashion and style as one man saw it in retrospect, in light of his involvement in the mod revival of the mid 1970s. Weller would later go onto form and front The Jam, but in late 1974, shortly before his involvement in the punk movement, he was about none of that business at all. Punk partly grew on febrile tissues of mod, which was in turn an offshoot of 60s soul; and it is true that we may hear a foetal form of the sound in the brasher cuts on this record, be it Billy Stewart's 'Summertime' or James Carr's 'Pouring Water'. Also clock Brother To Brother's 'In The Bottle', a super-early drum machine blues gem perfect for the house heads.