KRAAK & SMAAK Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Dutch party-starters Kraak & Smaak have always been hard to pin down, with their vast catalogue containing everything from jubilant nu-disco, funk-fuelled breaks and Afrobeat to club-ready hip-hop jams, revivalist electrofunk, purple P-funk and slow-motion Latin treats. What unites their output - as this expansive two-disc 20th birthday celebration proves - is a hard-headed commitment to making sure everyone has a good time (something also proved by their occasional live shows). As best of collections go, Twenty is inspired, not least because it not only contains their biggest singles and fan favourites, but also some of their most notable collaborations. Look out for killer cuts with house legend Romathony, soul sensations Durand Jones, Mayer Hawthorne and Izo Fitroy, and yacht rock-loving Aussie nu-disco band Parcels.

Review: The formidable Dutch trio of Kraak & Smaak has now been turning out their own brand of nu disco, house and funk for two whole decades. To mark the occasion they have been digging in their vast and vital back catalogue to come up with what they think are some of their best moments. The results have been put together on this compilation, Twenty, out via Jalapeno Records and their own label Boogie Angst. Plenty of fan favourites feature as well as collars with top names like Lee Fields, Parcels, Romanthony, Ben Westbeech and Durand Jones.

Review: A creative dose of future funk here from Kraak & Smaak; 'I Don't Know Why' is a maximized, bass-heavy and neatly saturated tune for partystarting, with Mayer Hawthorne laying down just the right lyrics to set such a mood: 'people having fun at the function!', etc. On the B-side comes the X to the A's Y. Berenice Van Leer complements Hawthorne's tenor with an angelic falsetto over a crispy, wahhy, and mysterious instrumental. An overall neat slice of tropical let-your-hair-downage from the Netherlands trio.