Soul Garden Japan レコード& CD

Review: Jaribu Afrobeat Arkestra are an entirely unique phenomenon, a Japanese collective pushing forward Neo-Afrobeat with heavy influence of the classic Japanese jazz sound and the long tradition of covering iconic western soul/funk tracks. Aretha Franklin's 'Rock Steady' is a collaboration with fellow Japanese artist Tina (aka Luv Tina), a decorated vocal powerhouse in the early 2000s R&B landscape, culminating in a mind-boggling genre mashup that defies expectations. The J.A.A. chorus section matches Tina's power perfectly with the blaring jazz instrumental, with phenomenal sax and trumpets. Swipe this coloured reissue before it goes again, you have to hear it to feel it.

Review: Fashioned around the concept of a Swiss zoo, Kind & Kinky Zoo are the animistic four-piece coming-together of Olivier Bill (flute), Adrien Knecht (bass), Marc Siegenthaler (keys) and Sylvain Rutti (drums). Together they routinely invoke a wild and spirited jamboree in the veins of funk, groove and rock, best exemplified by their latest single 'Pamukkale' here, a bustling thicket of offbeat stinkplant wafts, big drum canopies and hitherto undiscovered species of sound. The two new follow-ups on this Soul Garden edition, a remix by Soulsupreme and a new original featuring Koperu, plunge us further into the band's audio jungle, expanding outwards into six-eighting funk-hop and Hammond-organic house.