"MM...Food" - MF Doom
The man in the iron mask MF Doom continues to amaze - reissue from 2004 actually with scratch-n'-sniff jacket! Mmmm... Food - off kilter beats, off world samples beautiffully crafted off-hand delivery from Doom AND it's all about food - chow down...
"The John Baker Tapes" - John Baker
Rare & Unreleased Workshop Recordings 1963-1969. This groundbreaking release represents the first major retrospective of any BBC Radiophonic composer. The legendary BBC Radiophonic Workshop, one of the sound effects units of the BBC, was created in 195...
"Perfect Imperfections" - Cee Lo
Funky hip-pop first outing from Dungeon Family founder - doesn't always hit my spot but always interesting and a couple of out n' out stormers - this one from 2002 - definitely worth your time and $...
"Nu Spirit Helsinki" - Nu Spirit Helsinki
Recalling the thriller soundtracks of Lalo Schifrin and the atmospheric jazz of Miles Davis and Weather Report, Finnish collective Nuspirit Helsinki create organic nu-jazz, in which electronica becomes something greater than simple dance-floor dynamics...
"Blues And News" - Hal Singer
Sax player Hal Singer's career moved from jump blues and R&B in the 40's and 50's to jazz when he found a seat in Ellington's band and he stayed a jazz man thereafter - Blues & News encapsulates this with it's modality and swing combined - jazztastic...
"Deltron 3030" - Deltron
Dan The Automator, Kid Koala, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - together with a showbiz who's-who guestlist (Prince Paul, Damon Albarn, Sean Lennon...) - dark groovy beats and production, Del on the nail as usual, fun concept - new underground classic...
"Keep'er Lit" - Cara Robinson
Great indie release from Northern Irish singer and writer - soulful, jazzy, folky, bluesy and rocky by turns, all the songs are strong and the playing excellent - Cara's voice is the clincher - pure, subtle, strong and deeply satisfying - love this...
"Earthology" - The Whitefield Brothers
Strong and eccentric afrobeats from German funk dons Poets of Rhythm in their early Whitefield Brothers disguise! Earthology much more diverse and afro tinged than their very collectible In The Raw album - this is some blissful funk music right here...
"Soul Food Taqueria" - Tommy Guerrero
Ex pro skater/artist and all round geezah Tommy cooks up a great lo-fi taco with a latino hip-hop funky jazz beats kinda filling and sweet melodic guitar sauce, mostly instrumental with guest spot from Quannum MC Lyrics Born on one - great stuff...
"Greatest Funkin Hits" - George Clinton
Remixes of a clutch of Clinton classics, featuring 90s A-list guests Q-Tip, Busta Rhymes, Ice T - P Funk purists may disapprove but in funkin works for me...
"Funk Essentials" - Various Artists
Strangely strange collection which ranges from some quality funk standards (Curtis, Maceo, The Meters) to some relative rarities (Eddie Bo, Backyard Heavies, Cymande) to some complete rubbish - worth having certainly, but put together by a pschizoid...
"Deep Shadows" - Little Ann
Worth the price of admission for the title track alone, "Deep Shadows" is the result of some excellent diggin by Timmion Records out of Finland, pulling together a number of tracks by Little Ann, a Detroit soul diva beloved of the Northern Soul fraternity but little known outside of it - notably, Ann wrote her own material and her delicious deep soul vox are ably backed by the Dave Hamilton Orchestra on these cuts - essential soul...
"The Time Has Come" - Chambers Brothers
Fantastic soul-funk crossover from the onetime mega chartbusting Chambers Brothers - from gospel roots the brothers moved through r&b and soul periods to this meeting of soul and psychedelia - includes bustin 'Time Has Come' - seriously groovy...
"Talkin' Verve" - George Benson
GB recorded two albums for Verve in 68, bits of both on here - hitting the market for jazz covers of pop hits - later stuff on CTI probably better, but there's still plenty of interest here and G's guitar is v sweet of course...
"Complete Stax Volt 68to71 V1" - Various Artists
The story of the great Memphis soul label, Stax/Volt. This 9-disc box concerns itself with the period between 1968 and 1971 and contains all 216 soul singles issued by Stax/Volt during that time- featured are some of the biggest and best-loved hits ...
"Profit and Loss" - Rebel Accountant
Who said accountancy is boring? Not if you're a hip-hop rebel it ain't - crisp and innovative beats with lots of nice samples and melodics and rhymes and sings from Buttercuts soldiers Wildeye and Crystal - tip-top indie hip-hop...
"Memory Serves" - Material
Material delivered their Bitches Brew with this, the group's most influential and fully realized work. By this point, the original core trio of bassist Bill Laswell, drummer Fred Maher, and synthesist Michael Beinhorn had seamlessly locked into ...
"The High Price Of Soul" - Robert Johnson
The complete works of the king of the delta blues - myth as it that Johnson sold his soul to Satan to make his chops and listening to this u can well believe it - devilishly good blues from a true originator...
"jazz bizniz!" - Various Artists
Jazz Bizniz is what Russ Dewbury and Jake Benhan are allabout. Between running clubs, DJing the jazz gospel all over the gaff and operating a rare record mail order shop, these two know what living and breathing jazz is all about. Flute Dist. 2004.
"Message From The Tribe" - Various Artists
Fantastic collection of forward looking 70's jazz from the archives of Detroit's Tribe Records, the sonic sibling of the black awareness magazine of the same name - the sound is funky, free and very soulful - gorgeous package from Soul Jazz...
"Shorty The Pimp" - Don Julian and the Larks
Soundtrack to never released movie/tv show - basically a funked up Monkees with Don Julian and band taking a starring role - Tarantino owns the only surviving print apparently - cool library funk - some great covers - package has unreleased stuff too...
"Mad Blunted Jazz" - DJ Cam
Caution - genius at work! DJ Cam's 'Underground Vibes' and 'Mad Blunted Jazz' are total best of breed when it comes to abstract jazzy hip-hop - it's a cliche, but it is really true to say they don't make them like this anymore - essential hip-hop...
"Super Cool California Soul 2" - Various Artists
Superior funky soul collection from the painfully brilliant folk at Luv N Haight - with tunes spanning 1966 to 1982 and a first-time-on-CD Darondo track this volume is as essential as the first California Soul release - groove on...
"Zing Zong" - Kanda Bongo Man
Superlative Soukous from Zaire, a real classic - dedicated to his brothers who both died the year before the album's release, it's a great tribute - great horns - every song a rump-shaking classic - essential African music...
"Authentik" - Supreme NTM
Dirty old school beats and tuff rhymes mark this 90's classic from possibly the best French rap crew ever - this one grooves from end to end - c'est la mezzle...
"Funky Funky New Orleans 2" - Various Artists
Another bag of pure gold from Funky Delicacies - from soulful to jazzy the funk flows freely like you knowed it would from Nawlinz - these are mastered from vinyl so if you're looking for hi-fi this ain't it - if u lookin for great tunes, bag it...
"West Nile Funk" - ExCentric Sound System
Top quality dub funk with a heavy West African vibe - develops the themes of their earlier release Electric Voodooland (also highly recommended) into new territories, with some more uptempo numbers in the mix - a really well rounded album - essential...
"New Direction" - Gene Russell
The first release on the Black Jazz label was an album by the founder himself, keysman Gene Russell - "New Directions" established the funky, forward looking, soulful jazz tip that characterised later releases and is one of the best Black Jazz releases imho, with some great driving piano improv from Gene and great playing all round - very classy jazz indeed...
"The Likwit Junkies" - The Likwit Junkies
Underground gurus Defari and Babu team up at last (file under 'About Fuckin Time') - well worth the wait - a really rangy set (even a skankin tune!) - beats and production are really slick - the rhymes and attitude strictly ug hardcore - love this...
"Aystelum" - Ed Motta
Superior Brasilica from Ed Motta - multi-instrumentalist, composer and nephew of Tim Maia - great arrangements spanning jazz, MPB, samba and some orchestral moments! - unclassifiable and absolutely superb...
