BBE Schallplatten & CDs

Review: So many of the compilations that BBE put out are vital history lessons as well as great listening experiences. This one is another case in point as it finds music historian, DJ and daytime party promoter John Armstrong - who has put together more than 200 compilations - digging deep to offer up an alternate take on the famous bubblegum sounds that came out of Black South Africa towards the end of the apartheid years. Yebo! Rare Mzansi Party Beats from Apartheid's Dying Years is a superb showcase of diverse sounds created by the youth of the day as a means of escape. There is already talk of a second volume, which we're very much ready for after hearing this one.

Review: Capturing the essence and feels of the long-standing event he runs in his Swiss hometown of Lausanne, veteran digger and selector Attias presents a brand new compendium of sweet compositions that sum up he's at creatively and spiritually. Gems on gems on gems: highlights that we guarantee will appeal to your good tastes and dancefloor include the hypnotic vibraphone wash of Cro-Magnon's "Midnight Magic", the slept-on jittering funk of Tatham, Mensah, Lord & Ranks's "Cascade" and Material and Nona Hendrix's ludicrously funky, ultimately sleazy slinker "Over & Over". We suspect you'll be playing this record over and over, too...

Review: The Grasso is greener in Bologna: home to two of the most well-connected collectors in Italy. Suppliers to the likes of Kenny Dope, Phil Asher and Dimitri, Gino and Federico have carved their crate craft to insane levels over the last 30+ years... As shown on this detailed, widescreen boogie, funk and disco collection for BBC. Splattering the vibrant collection with a handful of their own edits (TB Funk's salubrious struts on "Free Blow", fly-by boogie falsettos on Living Color's "Plastic People"), the Grasso bro's have put together a package that's eye-opening, enlightening and damn fine to party to. See you on the other side.

Review: Almost entirely ignored at the time of its original release, Nigerian drumming maestro Remi Kabaka's legendary original LP Son Of Africa has gone down in legend as the defining solo statement of an incendiary drummer, whose contributions to music across the jazz and rock spectrums is credited and felt strongly to this day. A founding member of Afro-jazz band Osibisa, Kabaka is credited for his work with many a Rolling Stone and Beatle, but it's his solo work on this Afro-funk rare gem that really gets the least easy to please among us going. An Afrofuturist statement to the core, its jubilant vocal chants and defiant trumpet lines are but mere pepperings over the boxy, banging body that is Kabaka's live Afrobeat quads.

Review: BBE unearth another batch of rare and underexposed disco cuts on Off Track Vol 3. Compiled by the crate digging New York/Boston based duo Kon & Amir, the release gives an authentic representation of Brooklyn’s ghetto, funk and afro music scenes. Sophisticated tracks for real music heads

Review: Mark GV Taylor and George Arthur are the deep diggers behind this new compilation on BBE and it takes its same from their own Reference Point events which pop up all over the place. They are known for travelling far and wide through various genres to explore lesser-known niches and that's what they do here with a broad and brilliant mix from across the ages. Across 15 cuts they serve up jazzy vocals numbers, 1970's Brazilian jazz and everything from soul, jazz, fusion, electronica, yacht rock and plenty more. Many of the tunes are hard to find in their original form, but some are much cheaper but totally less well-known - until now.

Review: We're prepared to argue with anyone on this, but Universal Robot Band's "Barely Breaking Even" is one of the best boogie-era disco records ever made. Its title was also the inspiration for the name of BBE Records, so it seems fitting that the label's 500th release is an all-star re-recording that brings together NYC house hero Louie Vega and original creators Leroy Burgess and Patrick Adams. Vega delivers vocal and instrumental versions of two distinctive passes: a slick, smooth, soulful and string-laden "Boogie Mix" rich in warm electronics and subtle nods towards the early '80s original, and a rolling "NYC House Remix" full of twinkling Fender Rhodes solos and atmospheric chords. As you'd expect, Burgess' re-recorded vocal is superb.