Back catalogue: Funk Soul & Jazz

Review: Cult outfit The General Store laid down four songs in the year of 1967. They release two of them, but the other two have remained under wraps ever since. Now, more than half a century later, they are getting pressed up to vinyl for the first time thanks to Perfect Toy who have decided to cut just 300 copies. The band themselves have given full blessing for this one and as soon as the needle drops you're taken into a swirling, high-octane world of raw 60s rock heavy funk. It is very much a case of Tower of Power meets Funkadelic with a lo-fi twist.

Review: Seth Applebaum's NTC outfit Ghost Walk Orchestra originally released 'Brownout' on the Night Walker tape in 2016, distilling their hazy, psych-leaning funk sound into a perfect two-minute groove that shows off the band at their best. Now Karma Chief have pulled the track out of cassette obscurity and given it a pressing as a 7", backed up by 'Boneyard Baile' released the same year as a digi-only drop. If you love a moody funk jam played with finesse by a crack team, this record is a must.

Review: Karma Chief takes strict instructions from Ghost Funk Orchestra here to 'Walk Like A Motherfucker'. It is a single taken originally from their 2019 album A Song For Paul which was written, arranged, and performed by Seth Applebaum with plenty of sidemen on cello, violin, trombone and trumpet all making it a fulsome and raw funk sound. The vocals are coated in sleazy reverb to add some menace to the sensuality of the tones and on the flip is 'Issac Hayes', another reverb heavy funk chaser.

Review: Ghost Funk Orchestra are a mystery. Plain and simple. Dirty, soulful production, verbed and fuzzed out guitars, mysterious vocals that feel like a lost score to a Quentin Tarantino film. Here Karma Chief do thorough justice to this elusive troupe's efforts, bringing together two excellent psych-funk encounters, 'Walk Like A Motherfucker' and 'Isaac Hayes'. The A is an incredible take on, well, "ghost funk", evoking a kind of Creedence-via-Khruangbin wash, in which we can only vaguely register the lyrics as a kind of subliminal, unconscious message (they really are that drowned in echo). The B is even more dreamlike, blurring various boundaries between hallmarks of 60s exploitation film music, modern dream pop and what can only be described as math funk.

Review: Gipsy Power Band - what a name that is, by the way - debuts with aplomb here and mixes up a fiery sonic stew of flamenco rumba, rock and funk that captures the essence of a unique time in Spanish music. Formed in Madrid in 2022, the band originally paid tribute to "cine quinqui," a Spanish exploitation film genre, by performing tracks from its iconic soundtracks and other hidden gems from the mid-70s to early 80s. Drawing inspiration from artists like Los Chichos and Las Grecas, they lit up Madrid's stages with their vintage repertoire. Now, they've evolved to create original music and it comes in the form of these two songs.

Review: Mahal by Glass Beams melds a diverse array of influences into a unique and enchanting soundscape. The Melbourne-based trio, shrouded in mystery with their mask-wearing anonymity, lets their music speak volumes. Built around founding member Ranjan Silva, their sound draws from the rich heritage of Ravi Shankar, Bollywood, Electric Light Orchestra, and traditional blues.Inspired by repeated viewings of 'The Concert For George', Silva's vision for Glass Beams seems to echo the fusion George Harrison envisioned when introducing classical Indian music to Western pop. The EP opens with 'Horizon,' setting a serene tone before leading into the title track 'Mahal,' an instrumental piece that envelops the listener in its mystical charm. 'Orb' follows with a riveting bass riff, while 'Snake Oil' delves deeper into Indian classical territory, showcasing evocative vocals. The EP concludes with 'Black Sand,' a dramatic and beautiful track featuring interwoven vocals and guitar. As their second EP, following Mirage, Mahal solidifies Glass Beams' distinct place in music, defying categorisation and quietly demanding attention with its almost otherworldly quality.

Review: Melbourne-based trio Glass Beams share their debut record Mahal, the highly anticipated album to follow 2021's incipient 'Mirage' EP. Fronted by founding member Rajan Silva, the Glass Beams project revolves around the central theme of fatherly childhood memories, bestowed unto Silva by way of a cultural inheritance reflective of both Melbourne and India. After Silva attended the legendary Royal Albert Hall concert by George Harrison in collaboration with Ravi Shankar, he was away; nothing was the same, as a cascade of South Asian psychedelia and desert funk spewed forth; added to which, Mahal is the most recent piece of invaluable flotsam.

Review: Straop yourself in and prepare for a cosmic trip on psyched out cosmic polyrhythms with kosmische overtones at the hands of newcomer Glass Beams. This debut on Research Record is a stunning one from the enigmatic producer but will have you googling t find out as much as you can while you get lost in the sliding bass and transcendent synthwork. It's tinged with a certain retro charm and 70s prog magic but also feels decidedly new and fresh. Masterful.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Straop yourself in and prepare for a cosmic trip on psyched out cosmic polyrhythms with kosmische overtones at the hands of newcomer Glass Beams. This debut on Research Record is a stunning one from the enigmatic producer but will have you googling t find out as much as you can while you get lost in the sliding bass and transcendent synthwork. It's tinged with a certain retro charm and 70s prog magic but also feels decidedly new and fresh. Masterful.

Review: Glass Beams is a newcomer to the Research Records label but immediately fits right in with its cosmic instrumentation and kraut tinged polyrhythms. There is a real mysticism to his work that bridges the gap between may different scenes, sounds and cultures with originality and style. This EP was recorded at the start of 2020 and is a vortex of percussion, rhythm and riding basslines that act as a portal into a psyched out work of rock, folk and 70s prog which will leave you in awe. The superb guitar phrases, dreamy vocal samples and rattlesnake charm all make an indelible mark.

Review: Vivi Hernandez Y Su Conjunto's 'Tocando Macizas' emerges as a coveted collector's item, limited to 100 copies in a bespoke silkscreen sleeve. This 7" release captures the raw essence of 1971 Mexican funk, offering a tantalising glimpse into a pivotal moment in Latin music history. The A-side's infectious rhythm and bold instrumentation are perfectly complemented by Grupo Caverna's 'Caverna' on the flip. This rare pressing stands as a testament to the enduring appeal of vintage Latin funk, promising to be a prized addition to any discerning vinyl enthusiast's collection.

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: The forthcoming collaboration between anaiis and Grupo Cosmo presents a captivating fusion of contemporary soul and Brazilian musical traditions. The album features tracks like 'Toda Cor' and 'Voyage,' which blend anaiis's soulful vocals with Grupo Cosmo's rich instrumentation, creating a sound that is both innovative and deeply rooted in cultural heritage. This milky vinyl LP offers listeners a unique auditory experience, highlighting the seamless integration of diverse musical styles.

Review: London producer and singer Anaiis (formerly Anais) shares a new, cinematic r&b record, touching on notes of Brazilian soul and alternative pop, and continuing her emphasis on making music as a liberation entreaty for social justice. Following 2019's Darkness At Play and the 2017 EP 'Before Zero', this record marks a turn towards sombre vibrancy and chromic experimentation, building on a personal process of roots rediscovery in Brazil. With features from Grupo Cosmo and Luedji Luna, local Brazilian musicians with whom Anaiis felt a deep connection, this is a record born of sunned idleness, providing a holding space for a turbulent life transition on the artist's part. With dripping strings, slowmo MPB motifs and infused lo-fi and r&b tones, this is a record that strikes a fine balance of imperfection and delicateness.

Review: Belgian-Moroccan singer Aicha Haskal is at the heart of this fabulous project which sees her joining creative forces with super-talented musicians from the Belgian scene. Between them, the group has a mad diverse spread of backgrounds and influences which means their music too is broad in scope - psychedelic sounds and funky grooves, Arabic melodies and European rhythms all feature in this album as do rap and parlando. Egyptian poet Abdelhamid Farag penned their first single 'Ghalat' and now this album expands around that with music that fights the oppression of women and fights for revolution.

Review: Ghost Funk Orchestra was conceived back in 2016 when producer Seth Applebaum dropped two EPs to mark the start of the project. The tunes now presented here were one-man-band, reel-to-reel tape recorded experiments that draw on all the many different sounds Applebaum was most into at the time. As such there is a ton of reverb here with Latin-style percussion, tape-saturated drums, weirdo time signatures, surf guitar sounds and Spanish-language female vocals. The music has been remastered for this proper full length release which invites you deep into Seth's unique musical world.

Review: Building on the success of their A New Kind of Love album back in 2022, Ghost Funk Orchestra ventures further into the realms of film music, exotica, and psychedelic surf rock with new record A Trip To The Moon.' It was written with the aim of creating a richly layered and collaged listening experience with myriad elements waiting to be discovered with each new spin, and they have certainly achieved that. Featuring fuzzy guitars drenched in spring reverb and horns arranged in a studio big band style, it offers a blend of garage rock attitude and big compositions with influences like Eddie Palmieri and Dusty Springfield to be found within. It also features real recorded transmissions from the Apollo moon missions weaved throughout the tracks as a tale is told of a woman left stranded on Earth by her cosmonaut partner.

Review: Scott Gilmore's tracks are deceptively pared back. Putting an Arp Odyssey, Yamaha CS-01, Korg DW-8000, Hohner Pianet T, Roland TR 606, Roland SH 101, bamboo alto saxophone, clarinet, electric guitar and electric bass to very good use on this nine track Balearic-downtempo stunner, the tunes are easy to groove with yet subtly complex. They feel simple, but are incredibly detailed. Veering between a kind of synth-y smooth jazz, lounge, lofi electronica and sunset instrumental, Volume 01 is the proof after the promise of Gilmore's 2019 debut, Two Roomed Motel. Second album in and it's quite clear how talented the guy is. We just wish there was more information available for us to get to know him better with.

Review: Brooklyn-born, New Orleans-based multi-instrumentalist Gitkin delivers a rich fusion of global sounds on Golden Age, his latest ten-track album. Known for his guitar-driven style, Gitkin blends the rhythms of cumbia, North African, and Middle Eastern music, creating a sonic journey that feels both expansive and deeply rooted. As the frontman of The Pimps of Joytime, a staple in the festival circuit, his influence on the soul-funk scene is undeniable. From Bonnaroo to Electric Forest, Gitkin has built a reputation for electrifying live performances. Beyond his own projects, he's produced for artists like Corey Henry, Bernard Purdie and Cedric Burnside, whose Benton County Relic earned a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Blues Album. With Golden Age, Gitkin further explores the intersections of global music traditions, weaving his soulful guitar into a captivating tapestry that speaks to his wide-ranging influences.

Review: Goat are a Swedish psych band whose image draws heavily on the fantasy garb, and iconography native to their home county of Sweden, Norrbotten. Now granting us consumer gods a further 10 sacrificial offerings, 'Oh Death' is the pandora's box that contains every devil imaginable, from the kora-scrapings of 'Under No Nation' to the desert-blues drift of 'Passes Like Clouds'. The band's aim was to record a paean for an uncomplicated society without nations, borders or even transport; 'Oh Death' is a psychic return to peace.

Review: Goat's last studio album, 2016's Requiem, had the feel of a weary, bittersweet goodbye - a melancholic masterpiece that seemed to signal the end of the road. The playfully titled Oh Death confirms that we all jumped to the same, inaccurate conclusion. Typically forthright, vibrant, colourful and weighty, the album's 10 tracks present the impossible-to-pigeonhole Swedish band at their bristling best. Musically, it's a real riot of aural colour, weight and improvisational intent, featuring songs and instrumentals that frequently blur the boundaries between wild psychedelic rock, freewheeling jazz and the infectious dancefloor funk of Afrobeat. For proof, check the intense and breathless 'Do The Dance', where honky tonk pianos, fuzz bass and grungy guitar riffs rise above tribal drums, and the tropical Afro-funk-goes-jazz-rock hedonism of 'Under No Nation'. Utterly brilliant.

Review: Earlier this year, Odion reissued At Last, the psychedelic funk-inspired 1977 debut album from obscure Nigerian outfit Grotto. Wisely, they've decided to follow that up by reissuing the band's 1978 sophomore set Wait No Hurry, an album that regularly changes hands for eye-watering sums. Whisper it quietly, but this is arguably the better of the two sets. Certainly, it contains more examples of disco-era dancefloor heat, with the band utilizing Moog synthesizers alongside their usual instrumentation. While naturally rooted in Afro-funk, the set contains some of the earliest examples of Afro-boogie while also touching on jazz-funk, psychedelic funk and undulating Afrobeat/Afro-disco fusion.

Review: There's been a trend in recent times to reissue previously hidden gems from around the world. It would be fair to say that Anatolian Break Dance, the first and only album from Turkish outfit Group Titan, comes under that category. It's undeniably odd, but also rather magical. As the title suggests, it was partly inspired by the break dancing craze of the '80s, and fuses drum machine electro rhythms and nifty synthesizer work with the kind of melodies and musical motifs more frequently found in traditional Persian music. While it's not all outstanding - occasional tracks feel a little like mid-80s hotel lift music - for the most part it's hugely entertaining.

Review: Spain's Discos Fantastico deals in Peruvian and Latin American musical archaeology. It has put out a vibrant array of what it describes as "psych cumbia, fuzz killer chicha, rockbeat, boogaloo, nueva ola and boleros" and now joining the great canon is Arrollando Con Alegria by Grupo Alegria - a cumbia band formed in Huancayo, Peru in the late 1970s and led by Augusto Bernardillo - which has hints of all those sounds and more. It is a classic for world music lovers that was related back in 1983 in Peru and will cost you a few quid if you are to find an original copy.