Juno Recommends Funk / Reissues: February 2022

Review: This new 45 features tasty reworks of both Chaka Khan single 'Like Sugar' - a 2018 jam co-produced by Switch and Sarah Ruba best-known for featuring on a high-profile TV advertisement - and the track it's based on, Ruba and the Fatback Band's 2016 version of 'Do The Bustop', a take on the much-loved funk classic recorded for the soundtrack to Netflix series The Get Down, with fresh lyrics and vocals. Since neither track is easy to find on vinyl, these relatively light-touch buy undeniably floor-filling interpretations are borderline essential. As the lyrics state, they're so sweet and good enough to eat!

Review: Israeli funk powerhouse The Apples have a fiercely unique approach to the timely tradition of heavy grooving live musicianship, and they lay it down in no uncertain terms on their long awaited return to Freestyle Records. On the A side they're having a whole lotta fun covering Blur's 'Song 2' in a raucous style, bringing an almost rave-ready energy to the track and pouring barrel loads of their own personality over the version. 'The Power' nods plenty to the roots of funk as well as its descendents - just check the turntablism cutting its way through the sweet sax and slick guitar chops.

Review: Standby for a monster rhythm & blues tune here, and one that transports you to another world courtesy of Diane Ward and Kevin Finigier's sublime collaboration. Ward is an American singer who came up singing gospel in church, which is not a surprise when you hear her raw and visceral delivery here. She spent time living in Argentina which is where she saw Kevin perform and insisted they work together. 'Why Don't You Go Hom' is dripping with emotion, attitude and empowering sounds. On the flip side is 'Cocktail De Medianoche,' a busy mix of bongo, flute, boogaloo sounds, Northern Soul grooves and Latin flair.

Review: The black-owned Austin Boogie Crew label has released some of the finest revivalist boogie, synth-disco, '80s soul and electronic funk of the last few years. Here they begin 2022 in fine fashion too via a surprise new single from boogie-era originals Dynasty, a Los Angeles-based label who put out a string of classic cuts on SOLAR during the 1980s. The two tracks here, which were both recorded in 2021, are vintage-sounding boogie-soul gems, with vocoder-sporting A-side 'I Can Tell' sounding like Dynasty making a Chromeo record (which is rather meta, given their 1980s records influenced Chromeo's trademark sound). 'Still In Love', all clipped guitar riffs, fluid boogie bass, sweet synth-strings and glassy-eyed vocals, is arguably even better.

Review: Edit king Al Tones is back on his own label with two more of his superb studio concoctions. This series has been rolling strong since 2012 and like all of the previous eighth instalments the 12th is a doozy. The a-side 'All The Time' is a trumpet lead bit of high speed metropolitan funk with plenty of jazzy licks and sliding hi hats that seduce you as the grooves unfold. Things take a deeper, slower turnoff the flip for 'Run It.' This one has a more steamy sax line taking charge over chunkier beats and nice rich Rhodes chords. File under classy party starters.

Review: Everyone knows library records carry the real heat, and of course the best of the bunch are now so coveted you'd best be selling an organ to get your hands on them. Well, put the back street surgeon on pause and rejoice as a true holy grail comes back within reach of the ordinary person - De Wolfe Music Library are reissuing Keith Papworth's 1975 masterpiece Hard Hitter. It's a goldmine of tougher-than-tough breaks, with drums right up front in the mix and only a light smattering of orchestration on top. It's like they knew sample culture was just round the corner.

Review: Those with knowledge of rare groove should be well aware of The Voices of East Harlem's 'Wanted Dead Or Alive', a 1973 album track from the band's eponymous second album that was reissued in 1988 due to its popularity on London's rare groove scene. Here the superb, string-laden, Leroy Hutson produced classic appears on seven-inch for the first time, courtesy of Dynamite Cuts. This time round it comes backed with another killer jam from the same album: the proto-disco soul swell of 'Little People', which was famously sampled by Young Disciples on their 1991 skit 'Get Yourself Together'. Essential stuff all told.

Review: Bernard "Pretty" Purdie and his Playboys were an iconic funk group of the late 70s who had big hits with the likes of Gil Scott Heron on his seminal 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised' single. A year later on the same label, Flying Dutchman, they served up the 'Heavy Soul Slinger' single which gets reissued here. It's driven by big drum breaks and funky hits, with plenty of lush chords and rolling basslines all taking you on a high class and sophisticated trip. On the a-side is Harold Alexander 's 'Mama Soul' from the same era, but with a much more experimental sound rooted in wordless ad libs and frantic flutes.

Review: UK beatmakers The Allergies are absolute Jalapeno mainstays who always serve up suitably sizzling and funky sounds. Following on form their last album Promised Land here back in September 2021, two of the singles from it now get pressed up to 7". The a-side is an extended version of 'Going To The Party' (feat Lyrics Born) with big drum breaks, live vocals and an atmospheric back and forth with super sized horns. 'Utility Man' (feat Andy Cooper) is a deeper, smoother cut with some mega slick vocal rhythms and lovely double bass sounds to get you bumping.

Review: Homegrown Syndrome aka Homegrown Funk & the band Memphis put out just one mega rare two sided single that is so hard to find it sells for over 500 quid each and every time anyone finds a copy. The tireless Athens of the North label now does us all a favour with a new reissue of the original which was originally pressed in 1982 as part of a small run. 'Shake & Rock Till the Police Knock' is hip swinging disco funk with withering synth chords, big lead vocals, buttery backing singers and lively drums. It has it all, basically. 'Inside My Love' is a sentimental flip side for the smoochers out there.

Review:  Freddie McCoy's 'Spider Man' single dates back originally to 1965 when it appears as the tittle track on his album on Prestige. The cool jazz maestro and visionary American soul jazz vibraphonist had already put two albums at that point but Spider Man is his most revered. This lead tune is a beguiling and shuffling Latin rhythm with dancing keys and busy percussive layers insisting that you move your ass. On the backside is 'Soul Yogi' which actually sounds something like his take on Northern Soul. It's an uptempo, string-driven head spinner for sure.

Review: Basle's hip-hop and funk producer and beatmaker extraordinaire DJ Tron offered up a fantastic full-length of old and new school sounds in summer last year. Now he is back on home label Burning Sole who reissue his classic 'Sole Power' single. It is raw, prickly and rolling funk with big tambourines, crisp hits and an irresistible bassline that is pure dance floor gold. Flip over this limited edited, organs marbled 7" for 'Chevy Chase,' a high speed and 60s styled funk workout that is fluid and stylish.

Review: It may be cold and dark outside, but Djar One - a producer renowned for the party-starting quality of his sneaky re-edits, remixes and mash-ups - is determined to heat things up on the dancefloor and get us daydreaming about sunnier times and warmer climes. It's for that reason that his latest cheeky 45 delivers beefed-up, club-ready revisions of two classic Brazilian cuts. A-side 'Eu Bobo Slim' sees him add rolling, disco-style drums to an electric piano and acoustic guitar-sporting samba singalong, while flipside 'Mariano' is a tooled-up, breakbeat-driven take on what sounds like a vintage MPB number. Serious heat!

Review: The fresh new tropical green 45rpm from Djar One is a trip to warmer and sunnier climates in Latin America. Strictly limited to just 100 copies it opens with 'Eu Bebo Sim,' an upbeat and funky tune riddled with infectious keys and tumbling drums, bird calls and bendy basslines to make you shift. The comes 'Marraio,' an even more lively jam this time define by its infectious horn sections and suffering samba rhythms, with spaced out synth work adding a trippy vibe under the Portuguese vocal raps.

Review: Aussie funkateer Lance Ferguson - the man behind a multitude of killer bands and solo projects - impressed with 2019 album Rare Groove Spectrum, an all-live set of "DJ friendly re-imaginings" (that's instrumental covers to you and me). This sequel follows a similar blueprint, with Ferguson and his assembled musical comrades delivering fiery, ear-catching and floor friendly interpretations of everything from the Sunburst Band's 2004 jazz-funk club classic 'Far Beyond' and Marcos Valle's Brazilian disco gem 'Estrelar', to Kool & The Gang's luscious 'Summer Madness' (here presented with some superb synth solos) and Carly Simon's reggae-infused Balearic disco anthem 'Why'. Throw in a bunch of jazz-dance and Latin-jazz covers and you have another essential album.

Review: Vocalist and jazz and soul pianist Andy Bey worked with a range of celebrated talents such as Horace Silver and Gary Bartz but his debut solo album in 1974 takes some beating. It is an otherworldly offering of cosmic jazz and soul that is truly unique. The tone of Bey's voice always conveys a certain sense of pain, while the instrumentals around them range from deep and pensive to funky and playful. It is an album that takes a long time to parse and understand if you ever really do, and it has a superb cover, too. Do not sleep on this reissue.

Review: The Haifa-Jerusalem duo SimfOnyx stride into 2022 with a superb new double sided 7" on the Delights label. Shuzin and Markey Funk are the two members fo this gang and they play all the many instruments and synths you can hear in these two beguiling tunes, which take their cues from East German genre cinema. All the sounds were recorded during a brief two day spell at Mazkeka Studios in Jerusalem and both take different paths. 'Der Maulwurf' is a twisted bit of heavy synth funk with psyched-out effects and 'Eolomea' is more curious, spacious and intriguing.

Review: James Mason's 'Rhythm of Life' - one of the long overlooked but now celebrated musician's most popular cuts - has never appeared on a seven-inch single before, in part because its' six-minute length made it more suitable for 12" singles and LPs (it first appeared as the title track of Mason's 1977 debut album). Dynamite Cuts have decided to address this by preparing their own (fully licensed) seven-inch edit, which successfully chops down the high-octane, spiritually inspired jazz-funk gem without losing any of its energy or soul. This time round it comes backed by another classic cut from the Rhythm of Life LP, the more laidback, spacey synth solo-sporting jazz-funk warmth of 'Good Thing'.

Review: Daytoner have got a new album on the way and we can't wait, but before that the group serve up this sizzling new funk single. This crew are well experienced and have travelled far and wide, taking their funk and soul sound to the UK's greatest stages over the last five years. The album was written in isolation during the lockdown and this new pair of singles is a great taster - 'Time' and 'Keep It Moving' both feature lead singer Lucy's fresh vocals as she muses on the importance of time spent with family and friends. The funk-fuelled brass and breaks keep both tunes vibing.

Review: Americans Hank Jacobs and Don Malone cooked up a bona fide political soul anthem when they crafted 'The World Needs Changin' back in 1970. It is now hard to find so naturally these days it fetches a very handsome fee on second hand markets so has rightly been reissued here by BGP. The a-side is a tune that cuts deep, with pained vocals over a simple but devastating soul rhythm. On the flip is another gem in the form of 'Getting On Down' making this a crucial cut.

Review: Moscow funk band The Diasonics already teamed this album with super lead 7" single 'Gurami' and the arrival of the full length itself doesn't disappoint. The band draw on a pallet of Soviet era psychedelia, deep funk, and instrumental hip-hop to serve up their sounds and work them into always cinematic and widescreen tunes. Every tune hits hard, with 'Ink' driven by a knotted bassline and shimmering and mystic lead guitar, 'Salmanazar' offer a more roomy and laidback vibe filled with wah wah guitar and 'Spiders' getting a little more prickly and uneasy. The whole thing is mesmeric from start to finish and is packed with proudly Eastern European flavours.

Review: De Wolfe Music Library is reissuing Keith Papworth's 1975 album which will be music to the ears - pun intended - of record diggers who probably thought they might never own a copy of this grail. His masterpiece is perfectly entitled and is defined by super hard hitting drums and high action hits. The minimalist sounds and heavy grooves have funk deep in their bones, and extra theatre comes from the whistles, natty basslines and big riffing guitars. Papworth not only wrote for this label but also has music featured in Monty Python skits and movies. This, though, is his standout work.

Review: Hammond funk fans have got a lot to be excited about here as these two jams from London group King Rooster are as good as it gets for this kind of stuff. It is the first funk release from the now ten releases deep 45 Live Records and it's a real belter. A-side 'Snake Bait' is a mad workout with shrill chords and natty bass riffs over driving drums, but the more rolling groove of b-side 'Stickin'' is even more irresistible. Both of these are sure to get dance floors full well into 2022 and beyond.