New releases last four weeks: Funk

Review: 'Everybody Loves the Sunshine' represents a pivotal moment for Roy Ayers and Ubiquity, marking a departure towards a funkier and more laid-back sound in 1976. With its languid tempo and dreamy atmosphere, captures the essence of summer with its joyful lyrics and hypnotic groove. Ayers' vibraphone melodies intertwine seamlessly with the band's instrumentation, creating a mesmerizing sonic landscape that resonates with listeners. The song's universal appeal lies in its ability to evoke a sense of warmth and nostalgia, making it a timeless classic that continues to enchant audiences across generations.

Review: Reserved for Record Store Day comes this exciting new doublet from brilliant Brazilian jazz-funkers Azymuth, in the form of both an extended mix of their enduring major hit single from 1979, 'Jazz Carnival', and a fresh remix by Yambee, the duo of Ashley Beedle and Yam Who?. The original track was a rare slice of instrumental funk music, dare say instrumental music at all, to climb the UK charts and remain in its upper echelons for a solid twenty weeks. Though its initial popularity was lengthy, it has since then gone underground, becoming a throwback favourite of the likes of Kerri Chandler, Mr. Scruff and Gilles Peterson, to name but a few icons to play it back out over the years.

Review: Get yourself geared up for festival season with some fierce party starters certified with the Glitterbox stamp. Melvo Baptiste leads the charge with 'Sweat', a sizzling disco house stomper with Dames Brown giving the biggest diva energy on her show-stopping vocal. Lovebirds bring unbridled joy on the Philly string swoon and slinky b-line funk of 'Burn It Down', while Art Of Tones & Inaya Day keep it peak time on the sassy strutter 'Give My Love'. Young Pulse & Fleur De Mur complete the set with 'Smooth Sweet Talker', another bright and bold vocal cut par excellence.

Review: Stevie Wonder's 'Pastime Paradise' has thus far been less recognised as an original soul wonderwork, and more so as a sample by American rapper Coolio on the derivative 'Gangster's Paradise'. Though still having been covered by many artists over the years, Major Keys records highlights this enduring 1981 cover of Wonder's 'Paradise' by Latin percussionist Ray Barretto as among their favourites, if not their absolute favourite. Now the label reissue the gem, flaunting its up-to-date, nigh timeless feel; it's the opposite of a miracle that this has never before been released on a 12" single record, despite the fact that it is a favourite on the floors of jazz and soul rooms the world over. It also flips it with Barretto's own 'La Cuna' and 'Mambotango', taken from the same 1981 LP.

Review: Cheeba's Prestige All Stars carries on strong with its cut-and-paste beats/soul edits series. 'I Got You' tops up the trailblazing, quickfire repertoire with a dust-caked window into the past, by way of well-crafted, surround-mixed breakbeats and a gritty gospel sample on the A. Complementary to this comes the instrumental, highlighting the fact that the fact that the vocal sample is indeed the cherry on top; it hardly 'needs' said vocal to convince the listener to dance, though it does round things out with utter finesse.

Review: NYC Records looks outside its in-house stable for the first time here and signs the delightful nu-disco delights of Constellation. This duo hails from Miami and focuses on space disco sounds that fans of the famous Metro Area style are sure to love. They remain mysterious themselves but their beats are brilliantly designed with plenty of retro-future pads, cosmic arps and tight basslines full of colour, texture and soul. Like Daft Punk but deeper and more dubbed out. All four of these cuts are sure to get floors going but also bring plenty of style.

Review: Darvid Thor, Henry Jenkins and Hudson Whitlock (of the bands Karate Boogaloo and Surprise Chef) founded the low-key Frollen Music Library in 2021. Now aided in kind with a public release of their works by Spasibo Records, a heartwarming dialogue is facilitated between two isntitutions by way of a new four-track EP. Hand-picking four sweet treats from two earlier releases put out between 2021 and 2022 respectively - 'By The Phone (You Rang?)', 'Jaw Breaker' and 'Sei Cardigani Di Ball' all hailing from the former's Sweet Treats Vol. 1 compilation and the final track '1/4 Cup Of Sunflower Oil' from the following year's The Fretted Neck' album - these tracks are laid-back, nonchalant refractions of talent, across which the aforementioned cycle through said covers of Ennio Morricone, Pierro Piccioni and Piero Umilliani's standout score cuts with ease.

Review: Leading Italian disco outlet IRMA is back with more irresistible and dazzling goodness, this time courtesy of Funky Destination with some pretty standout remixes. 'Take It Down' opens up as a new version by LTJ Xperience that has percolating funk lines and slow, sensuous grooves. 'Mr Bong' (Louie Beat Re-work) is a more percussive number with brilliant drumming and sunny melodies and 'Take It Down' offers a sensuous soul sound and some psyched-out guitar riffs. Last of all is the most streamy and busy of the lot with unresolved drum loops, disco percussion and rousing pads that will fill the floor.

Review: The Great Revivers is a funk and library band with a focus on organ laced grooves that hails from Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was formed around a decade or so ago from members of bands Wake&Bake! and The Reggaenauts and has put out a steady stream of very danceable 7"s since then. 'Adventures Begin' is their latest and it comes on the Spasibo label with lashing of loquacious saxophone and some nice loose, live drumming. Flip it over for something more laid back and starry eyed - 'Estrellas' has a soothing late night feel and brims with musicality.

Review: An iconic soundtrack to a classic blaxploitation flick, JJ Johnson and Martha Reeves & The Sweet Things turned a collective head when they simultaneously composed their core themes for Willie Dynamite, directed by obscure director Gilbert Moses. This ineluctable screen treat stars Roscoe Orman and Diana Sands in a quintessential portrayal of early '70s New York pimping, with the central character's foibles giving rise to a latent conscience when he comes into contact with a young social worker. As is often the case with the blaxploitation genre, Willie Dynamite begins with the lead character cruising down the streets of New York in some kind of fancy car, and 'tracked by the central theme: the theme of Reeves' 'Willie D' is clear as day, lyrically portraying D's hustle as 'magic', "never treating two girls the same", "it's no different from any other industry". 'Keep On Movin' On' contrasts this with a note of modesty, signaling the movie's inevitable tonal shift; nor should you miss the B-side instrumentals 'Willie Chase' and 'Parade Strut'.

Review: House music and fresh modern funk are happy bedfellows on this new EP from Moniquea with the masterful production taken care of by XL Middleton who, if you ask us, cannot miss at the moment. With an unmistakable West Coast vibe characterised by punchy synth bass and leads, this A-side embraces the good times with pulsating beats and detuned chords. On the B-side, the '97 Remix pays homage to Moniquea's g-funk origins while the bonus Applejac remix of 'Hate To See It' seamlessly blends dance-oriented elements with lush synth strings reminiscent of peak-era Neptunes productions from the 2000s.

Review: 'Practice What You Preach' is a standout track from the German funk band Poets Of Rhythm's debut record of the same name, first released on Soulciety in 1993. After a long hiatus on the albums front before a return to the limelight with a follow-up Ninja Tune LP in 2001, these guys nonetheless remained surely active on the 7"s circuit, which has sustained them since then. Little did we know or predict, however, that there existed a part two to the same track, which is essentially an instrumental version of the original 1993 track. On the B comes a fresh funker formerly released under the alias Mighty Continentals, with the band's Bo Baral laying down a rare solo guitar situation and singing about, well, god knows what.

Review: The Summits are a beloved fixture on the Soul Direction label and have plenty of fans in the wider soul collecting community. As a result they are now familiar to many and their track 'Window Shopping' emerged from an almost-lost master tape. It has previously been available only in digital format. on the flip, meanwhile, Phillips traverses diverse musical territories spanning from feel-good disco to funky fusion and modern soul. Among the six tracks recovered from numerous tapes, this one, 'People Clap Your Hands' stands out. It has never before been on vinyl and is a lo-fi, funk fuelled gem with soul infused vocals.

Review: Melbourne, Australia based sextet The Traffic, headed up by Ivan 'Choi' Khatchoyan, serve up a special MJ feature funk 45. Presented in a special pressing in red vinyl with black splatter, we get awesome renditions of Michael Jackson tracks 'Beat It' and 'Thriller' from his iconic Thriller album from 1982. The big band energy of the players make these cover versions worthy your attention, with a killer horns section imitating the king of pop's falsetto to great effect.

Review: Australia's Choi Records drop their second release in the shape of two powerful cover versions either side of a devilish little 7" by The Traffic. The A-side, "White Lines", is a funky, horn-led reinterpretation of Grandmaster Flash's original tune : an instrumental brass ode to the original beast. On the flip, there's "Smack My Pitch Up", another mighty instrumental rework of The Prodigy classic, complete with a string of trumpets that imitate the original's inimitable vocal loop.

Review: If you have a penchant for proper funk from the genre's prime era, then This Is Street Funk is for you. It's one in a series of compilations that have been put together to appeal to vinyl lovers and features two sides packed with tunes hand-picked with TLC from Ace and compiled by Dean Rudland, who has also penned the liner notes that one with it. This one sums up the sound of Black American in the 70s with soul and streetwise attitude colouring the funk next to a mix of fatback drums, syncopated bass, rhythmic guitars and explosive vocals. Plenty of names you would expect all feature such as Fatback Band and Millie Jackson, Billy Garner and Billy Sha-Rae, Fame Gang and Larry and Tommy and more.

Review: Spasibo Records present a fresh 7" by the Vicious Seeds, hailing from St. Petersburg. With vibraphonist Pavel Chizhik taking centre stage (Chizhik isn't usually a member of the band), 'Village Hassle' makes for a cleverly collaborative rare groove and instrumental reggae-soul release. The titular A-side flaunts Chizhik's vibraphone via the mix alone, fleshing out its low-end elements against a driven instrumental backbeat; 'Monthly Rainfall', meanwhile, goes for all-out slow-jammed soul by way of cross-sticked snares and offbeat chord plucks run through short-release springs.