Soundway レコード& CD

Review: Blending reggae, disco, soul, funk and roots - comes the reissue of the highly sought-after 7" from 1979 by Gypsy Fari, the first known reggae outfit from Chicago, born in the south side of the city after a chance meeting between St Kitts expat Leroy Webster and local music graduate Kevin Coleman. The pair set out to blur the boundaries of genre with their unique brand of music, spearheaded by Webster's Caribbean roots and fused with the soul and blues of the midwest.On the A-side, 'Chi-Town Reggae' springs out the gate with fast-paced disco-reggae, powered by a relentless rhythm section and Webster's infectious vocal melody. On the flip, 'Hail Jah' is a swaggering, deep roots reggae cut that pays homage to Webster's heritage - which he wrote on the hilltops of the outskirts of Kingston, Jamaica.

Review: Soundway Records' marketing team recently described Lord Echo's hook-up with Mara TK, "Sweetest Meditation", as a "high-rolling summertime opus". It's certainly rather good and well worthy of a dedicated 12" single release. The wonderful, jazz-flecked, vibraphone-heavy, dub-disco style original version is featured alongside a brand new Black Ark style instrumental dub (appropriately titled "The Sweetest Dub") which is almost worth the entrance money on its own. There are two fresh remixes, too, from old pal Julien Dyrne and the Lord himself. His "Club Mix", completed on a recent European tour, pushes it further towards leisurely vocal deep house territory whilst retaining many of the elements that made the original version such a sun-kissed summer treat.

Review: Long lost groove gold from South Africa, The Movers blessed the world with almost 20 albums during their tenure throughout the late 60s / 70s. A fluid collective with scant documentation on their history, key players changed in the band frequently but Soundway have traced the credits of this rare opus down to producer David Thekwane and musicians Jabu Sibumbe, L Rhikoti, Lloyd Lelosa and Sankie Chounyane. Whoever the line-up was, the key sounds were always consistent as the troupe writhed and frolicked around disco soul axis, as is best celebrated here on the thumping funk fusion of the title track, the sweaty insistency and tightness of "Beat" and the awesome falsettos of "Work Is Done".

Review: Recorded in a single weekend, 'Yagana' is a choice afro-disco and synth collab from Margate 5-piece Pigeon. With the band drunkenly forming after a pub session, it's got Guinean singer Falle Nioke heading up frontman duties, while Graham Godfrey on drums, Steve Pringle on keys, Tom Dream on guitar and Josh Ludlow on bass take up phat instrumental space. The result is a cosmic space jam and call into a cold universe, facing eternity with a friendly, synthy, and even grungy sonic greeting: "it's been a while".