Back catalogue: Funk Soul & Jazz

Review: Miami's Far Produce are fresh faces, but their sound is full of respect for times past, building on classic soul jazz by bringing it a modern instrumental twist. Led by two Studio City, CA natives - Addison Rifkind on guitar and Michael Duffy on drums - Fat Produce deliver a veritable cornucopia of fruits and groceries to chew on here. 7" A-sider 'Sticky Beets' turns our inners red, as we're led to imagine chowing down on the perfect beetroot yield and the funky euphoria that inevitably follows ingestion of such a delicacy. B-sider 'Son!', meanwhile, draws on an amalgamation of several Bay Area-inspired grooves - Duffy is a walking rhythmic encyclopaedia - set against an improvised, on-the-fly groove first laid down by Rifkind, whose hook-worthiness is unmistakable here.

Review: The mighty DFA label has always come at dance music from a rock and indie perspective and for that reason has always brought plenty of new ideas to the dancefloor. Fernando Pulichino has long been at the heart of the operation with his fusion of rock, funk, and electronic beats and here he is again with more of the same. 'I Got, She's Got' is a raw, energetic track, while the remix offers clarity and rich arpeggios. 'She's Playing With Fire' with saxophone by Gustavo Buchiniz, meanwhile, adds another explosive element meaning that all three tracks deliver pure club-ready firepower.

Review: Flammer Dance Band returns with 'Gynger', a high-energy, groove-infused album that showcases their vibrant fusion of funk, Afrobeat and psychedelic sounds. After a whirlwind year of touring, including a stint backing Ghanaian legend Funky Rob, the seven-piece group hit the studio with fresh inspiration and contagious spontaneity. Over five intense days, they recorded Gynger, an album brimming with dynamic, raw energy. Highlights include,'Bandet Gar', which is a horn-heavy funk powerhouse, bursting with infectious rhythms. 'Ekko Av Deg Selv' takes a more experimental route, with its distinctive keyboard work lending the track a unique and eclectic vibe. 'Glad' delivers a laid-back, Balearic flavour, with breezy guitar riffs and a relaxed island groove, offering a refreshing, chilled-out contrast. Meanwhile, the title track, 'Gynger', dives into trippy, psychedelic territory, swirling with hypnotic rhythms and spaced-out vibes that pull listeners deep into the groove. This release sees a band at the peak of their creativity, blending tight musicianship with a free-flowing, jam-like spirit. Flammer Dance Band's is clearly a leader in funk and Afrobeat, offering this fresh take on classic grooves with modern twists.

Review: Fresh Squeeze is a brand new full-length from Miami-based soul jazz trio Fat Produce, an outfit that is comprised of guitarist Addison Rifkind from The Soul Vaccinators, drummer Michael Duffy and world-renowned bass player Rene Camacho. All 14 of these cuts are soul-drenched and jazz instrumentals steeped in funk and hip-hop traditions and they were all made live and in the moment with no overdubs after the event. That lends the record a lived-in and authentic energy as it veers into Afro-tinged sounds like 'Affrentic,' straight-ahead soul-jazz cuts like 'Sticky Beets' and the compelling 'Slick.'

Review: This dynamic duo delivers an incredible set of funky psych rock on Funk Night that blends retro fuzz with their unique modern twist. Drawing on a mix of vintage and eclectic influences, they've crafted a fresh, lean sound all their own. The production shines with crackling drums anchoring a vibrant mix of vocals, guitar and keyboards which all keep you moving. While leaning more to rock than some releases on Funk Night, the tracks remain irresistibly funky and full of energy with standout tracks like 'Amor Fatigue,' 'Hermit Song,' 'Sleeping Couch' and 'Walls Were There' showing the quality of their inventive style.

Review: The Fishmans are a Japanese band who were very ahead of their time. Formed in 1987, they mixed reggae, dub and psychedelia into their live ensemble. If that wasn't groundbreaking enough, through the 90s they also added elements of ambient, synth pop and shoegaze. This double album, originally released in 2005, is now available on vinyl for the first time. Standouts include the live version of the shimmering 'A Piece of Future', the spacey lullaby 'Weather Report' and the rocksteady 'Magic Love'. The charm of the band is immediately understood after one listen to this album - one of our favourite Japanese vinyl transfers of the year so far.

Review: Kuchu: The Best Of Fishmans was first released in 2005 as the indie-label (Pony Canyon) follow-up to Fishmans' first best of compilation; the blue to Universal Music's orange, this compilation was first issued on CD only, and charted at least 20 tracks' worth of both greatest hits and rarities, neither of which could possibly all fit on a single vinyl record at the time. That all changes with this retroactive vinyl reissue of the compilation, which cuts things down to just a dozen selections, hand-picked by drummer Kinichi Motegi, from the dreamy Shibuya, dub and experimental band's discography. Held in high regard for all too long, we're very happy this one's made a comeback.

Review: Man With A Gun is the debut long player from Singaporean prog and funk group Funkgus. It has a famously enigmatic toxic blue jacket that lurks you in and musically it is no less intriguing. As well as a passionate cover of King Curtis's 'Memphis Soul Stew' there are plenty of supremely psychedelic sounds. The opener is steeped in funky bass riffs with rock-tinged drum breaks and plenty of raw vocals and from there the grooves come thick and fast, often with plenty of texture and charismatic vocals such as on 'Spill The Wine' and the leggy, expressive sounds of 'Everyday People' with its twisted wah wah guitars.

Review: We all know Italians do it better, but did you also know they seem to have the very best library reissues on the planet? Here the legendary singer and vocalist Nora Orlandi joins iconic jazz drummer Franco Tonani for a masterpiece of 1960s-early-1970s production that really encapsulates the ambience of a bygone age which feels dreamlike today. Fittingly, much of the music similarly invokes a sense of surrealism and psychedelia. You can almost feel yourself descending into the depths of a strange and beguiling night filled with weird and wonderful characters as these arrangements play out with pin point precision. A trip to another era, but also a trip into the mind's eye and all that may live there. Exquisite, masterful, but most of all utterly inimitable and difficult to countenance.