Back catalogue: Funk Soul & Jazz

Review: Smoove props up his rep as a highly consistent big beat, funk and disco crossover producer with a freight-class shipment of 'Heavy Goods'. Somersaulting out from his Geordie soul group Smoove & Turrell - on top of his sought-after multi-track vinyl re-edits, as well as his remixing prowess across hip-hop, soul, and funk - this Jalapeno Records follow-up continues Smoove's recent favourite postal theme. Indeed, the postal system is what keeps us afloat (and cue the boundless irony of Royal Mail's latest sale to a Czech billionaire, the name of whose LLC is, apropos of online music retail, "EP Group"). Betty Black & The Family Fortune, Emma Noble, Kraak & Smaak, Izo FitzRoy, The High & Mighty, and Bahama Soul Club, all are all loaned Smoove's Pygmalion hand, honing a musing work of art from many a die-cut classic. Whirlwind D's 'Labels', Izo Fitzroy's 'Blind Faith' and TGH Collective's 'Higher Collective' are special versions too. Assuming you didn't already know the songs in question, you really wouldn't be able to tell the edit jobs from the originals. Mint condition!

Review: Oakland's SNDTRAK dropped his long awaited debut album back in 2021. It was a big hit right off the bat and now it gets a welcome reissue. These are snappy beats with rolling drums, deep hip hop instrumentals that bring the best of the dusty school to fresh new school thinking. Delicate melodies are buried within, soulful vocal smears drift in and out of ear shot and well played bass slowly rotate sunder the tunes to bring languid funk. Sunny and heart aching, heat damaged and stoned, this is a warming soundtrack on many different levels.

Review: Listen up and pay attention all serious soul heads - Cleo Sol is back with an album which confirms her position at the forefront of UK soul. Sol has a career which reaches back to the late 00s guesting for the likes of Tinie Tempah, but it's within the wider Sault orbit she's forged a renewed presence in recent years. Locked into a productive run of albums which kicked off with Rose In The Dark back in 2020, her latest long player might just be her best as she gracefully glides from piano ballads to pastoral funk, low-slung neo soul bump and beyond. Everything is bound together by her flawless voice and a persistently warm, mellow production, making this sound like a future classic in waiting.

Review: Cleo Sol has emerged on Forever Living Originals alongside the avant-gospel sensation of Sault, and in an understated way she's quickly positioned herself as one of the most compelling, original voices in UK soul. Hot on the heels of Heaven comes her third LP Gold, and it's another masterclass in low-key but wholly intentional production framing some of the most arresting singing and songwriting you're likely to hear all the way through 2024. On Gold especially there's a tendency towards a cosy, in-the-room sound from the live kit and warm keys to the subtle undercurrent of soundsystem mixing attitude, and it makes for an album you'll want to live in for days on end.

Review: There's a point in 'Awakening', about 2:15 in, when you realise how perfectly balanced the piece is. A sumptuous mixture of jazz, downtempo and drum & bass, just like Labour's election win, you have to ask yourself how hollow the track will turn out to be once it's actually front and centre. But regardless of the next four years, Sonic Weapon and KoolMFL's laidback afternoon bliss delivers in terms of depth and instance gratification. No mean feat, Sneaker 012 doesn't slip from thereon in. 'Suckers' is percussive opium, somehow both calming and compelling, 'K-Dub' belongs in all our hopes for hip hop instrumentals, and as we get further into things how about those warbling disco cuts ('KCAB') and organic house grooves ('I Thought It Was Lonnie')? Let's leave it there then.

Review: Three years ago, Dutch multi-instrumentalist and producer Noam Offir unveiled his debut album as Soul Supreme, a vividly realised fusion of jazz-funk, jazz-fusion, hip-hop, soul and electrofunk flavours that boasted impeccable musicianship. Poetic Justice, the rising star's hotly anticipated follow-up, continues in a similar vein whilst aiming higher. The musicianship is, if anything, even better, with liberal use of horns, P-funk synth sounds, Clavinet, warming electric piano motifs, loose limbed drums (blessed with the swing of live drums, but - we think - MPC-powered). It's basically the same old super Soul Supreme sound, taken to the next level. As a result, Poetic Justice is even better than its lauded predecessor. Don't sleep on this one!

Review: Originally released in 2005, Space Shift marked the innovative debut from UK-born, Australia-based artist Steve Spacek. Known for his fusion of soul, electronic, and broken beat, Steve Spacek created a forward-thinking blend of sound with this album. His smooth vocals glide effortlessly over experimental production, weaving through bass-heavy rhythms and glitchy textures. Tracks like 'Dollar', produced by the legendary J Dilla, critiques materialism with a hypnotic groove and is a reimagining of Billy Paul's classic. The collaboration with Dilla showcases Spacek's creative synergy with one of hip-hop's most iconic producers. Other gems like 'Thursday' and 'The Hills' bring lush, atmospheric soundscape that rival some of the best in the genre that year. Now reissued by Spa Recordings, Space Shift includes an unreleased collaboration with J Dilla, 'This One Feels Alright', this re-release reaffirming the album's impact and lasting influence on modern electronic soul.

Review: Hanah Spring is a leading Japanese soul diva who has become a real star over the last decade. This is her latest self produced album and it comes five years after her last. This one bottles up plenty of new r&b flavours and 90s vibes, which are the sound of her roots, as well as some fine and sophisticated production from mabanua, Shingo Sekiguchi, DJ HAZIME, Shun Ishiwaka, Uyama Hiroto and grooveman Spot amongst others. Guest musicians also feature on this contemporary neo-soul delight as does a cover of Erykah Badu's timeless 'Appletree.'

Review: Sudan Archives is a cutting-edge violinist, singer, songwriter and producer who has quickly become one of the most innovative new artists in electronic music. Her second album Natural Brown Prom Queen again shows off her unique talent. She says that the record is about "discovering your worth, and manifesting a life around that understanding." It is a record about making progress and artistically it sure does that with tunes that pair meticulous production with powerful messages. Both lyrics and vocals are tight, making this a potent listen.

Review: American rap outfit Sugarhill Gang changed music history with their fresh hip-hop sounds and never more so than on their self-titled album. It is often said to be the first rap full length and it came in 1980, a full four-plus decades ago now so gets a special, if possibly slighty late, 40th-anniversary reissue on limited edition and numbered heavyweight vinyl. It, of course, includes the band's most seminal tune, 'Rapper's Delight', in two different versions, as well as equally timeless joints like 'Rapper's Reprise (Jam-Jam)' and the much loved 'Sugar Hill Groove'. A bona fide classic, this one.