Back catalogue: Funk

Review: Here's a killer reissue from the Soul Jazz archives which is finally getting a repress. It's hardly surprising when the reissue becomes as sought after as the holy grail original jam from 1970, a sublime instrumental anthem of soulful, skanking perfection with Cedric Im Brooks flexing his sax in glorious style over a beautifully rough n' ready rhythm. It was shortly after this recording was laid down Brooks went on to form The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari with Count Ossie, which tells you all you need to know about the heritage we're dealing with here.

Review: The unequalled Soul Jazz label is serving up some monster funk this month and they don't come much bigger than these two cuts from Chuck Carbo. Opener 'Can I Be Your Squeeze' is a super catchy, break heavy and funk fulled party jam to destroy the floor. Written and produced by the celebrated Eddie Bo, it comes with big drums from New Orleans stick man James Black. On the flip is the ever so slightly more mellow but not less dance 'Take Care Your Homework Friend.' These have long been hard to find and now come pressed nice and loud on fresh wax.

Review: It may only be January, but we already have a strong contender for 'compilation of the year'. Put together by devout crate-diggers and Cuban music enthusiasts Gilles Peterson and Stuart Baker, Cuba: Music & Revolution: Culture Clash in Havana 1975-85 celebrates a particularly fertile moment in the Caribbean country's musical development - one in which the country's traditional salsa and mambo sounds were being fused with a variety of other styles, most notably Brazilian tropicala, and the funk, soul and disco sounds emerging from the U.S.A. The results, as showcased via 23 tracks stretched across two CDs, are incredible, pitching traditional Cuban vocals and percussion sounds with heavy bass, life-affirming horns, futurist synthesizer flourishes and wah-wah guitars. Throw in detailed, eye-opening sleeve notes, and you have a genuinely must-have compilation. Bravo!

Review: Gilles Peterson's obsession with Cuba is long running and well documented over various compilations from across the years. His latest focusses on Experiments in Latin Music from 1975 to 85 and the title suggests it will be the first of an ongoing series on Soul Jazz, compiled in collaboration with Stuart Baker. Across three vibrant sides of vinyl all manner of grooves are offered up, some more traditional, some bravely out there, all drawing on the jazz, funk, Brazilian tropicalia and disco - mixed with classic Latin and salsa - which made it to the island in the 70s.

Review: Given that Gilles Peterson and Stuart Baker's Cuba: Music and Revolution - Culture Clash in Havana is one of the standout compilations of 2021, hopes are naturally sky-high for this speedy sequel. Like its predecessor, volume 2 focuses on music and made and released on the Caribbean island between 1975 and '85, this time round largely focusing on rare fusions of salsa, Latin jazz, disco, soul and funk, mostly licensed from records that have never been available outside Cuba. It's another stunning selection all told, with highlights including the heady Cuban disco/salsa fusion of Orquesta Los Van Van, the fiery disco-funk of FA 5, the heavily percussive hedonism of Luis Carobonell and the fuzzy psychedelic rock of Grupo De Experimentacion Sonora Del ICAIC. In a word: essential.

Review: Third album of post-punk/art-rock from Sand. Influenced by the New York art-punk scene of Sonic Youth, The Swans and Liquid Liquid, this is the group's follow up to "Still Born Alive" and 'Beautiful People are Evil'. This new album brings in a number of guest vocalists - Norwegian experimentalist artist/singer Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje as well as Austrian cabaret singer Louie Austen who provides a chilling vocal on the Patrick Pulsinger produced "Doctor Crop". Sand have performed onstage accompanied by cows and sheep for the Japanese Ballet troupe Karas. They have also performed at the Vienna Opera House alongside techno guru Patrick Pulsinger. In 2005 they composed and performed a new soundtrack to the Tarkovsky film "Stalker" at the ICA as well as toured cinemas with a series of specially commissioned work from video artists. This new album was recorded in Paris, Tokyo and Vienna in 2006.

Review: Third album of post-punk/art-rock from Sand. Influenced by the New York art-punk scene of Sonic Youth, The Swans and Liquid Liquid, this is the group's follow up to "Still Born Alive" and 'Beautiful People are Evil'. This new album brings in a number of guest vocalists - Norwegian experimentalist artist/singer Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje as well as Austrian cabaret singer Louie Austen who provides a chilling vocal on the Patrick Pulsinger produced "Doctor Crop". Sand have performed onstage accompanied by cows and sheep for the Japanese Ballet troupe Karas. They have also performed at the Vienna Opera House alongside techno guru Patrick Pulsinger. In 2005 they composed and performed a new soundtrack to the Tarkovsky film "Stalker" at the ICA as well as toured cinemas with a series of specially commissioned work from video artists. This new album was recorded in Paris, Tokyo and Vienna in 2006.

Review: In 1980, New York DJ Danny Krivit released an extended eight-minute cut-up of a track called "Give Me Your Love" by The Sisters Love. Already an underground disco classic (partly on account of its rarity), this release brought it to a new audience of disco and rare groove fans. Twenty years on and Soul Jazz Records are bringing together an amazing collection of soul/funk/early disco cuts from this cult group who only ever released singles (on Motown and A&M), the scarcity of which has made some of them £100 records. The track "Give Me Your Love" originally came out in 1973 and subsequently became the property of the New York underground disco cognoscenti of DJs David Mancuso, Nicky Siano, Walter Gibbons and Larry Levan et all who made it a regular party anthem. The Sisters Love worked with producers such as Willie Hutch, Leon Ware, Gloria Jones and Richard Evans, toured the world with The Jackson Five, and appear in the Blaxploitation movie "The Mack". They made some classic music previously only available to the cognoscenti and this release makes available many rare tracks as well as bringing the music to a new audience.

Review: In 1980, New York DJ Danny Krivit released an extended eight-minute cut-up of a track called "Give Me Your Love" by The Sisters Love. Already an underground disco classic (partly on account of its rarity), this release brought it to a new audience of disco and rare groove fans. Twenty years on and Soul Jazz Records are bringing together an amazing collection of soul/funk/early disco cuts from this cult group who only ever released singles (on Motown and A&M), the scarcity of which has made some of them £100 records. The track "Give Me Your Love" originally came out in 1973 and subsequently became the property of the New York underground disco cognoscenti of DJs David Mancuso, Nicky Siano, Walter Gibbons and Larry Levan et all who made it a regular party anthem. The Sisters Love worked with producers such as Willie Hutch, Leon Ware, Gloria Jones and Richard Evans, toured the world with The Jackson Five, and appear in the Blaxploitation movie "The Mack". They made some classic music previously only available to the cognoscenti and this release makes available many rare tracks as well as bringing the music to a new audience.