New Grooves — All Formats  

Bebo Best is at it again – creating new grooves with plenty of retro twists – a bit like some of the older Italian work we loved on the Irma La Douce label – and its cool blend of 50s and 60s elements! There's lots of jazzy flourishes over the tip, played by live instrumentation – and mixed with a hip blend of beats and samples that draw plenty of inspiration from 60s soundtracks and other instrumental modes of the time. A few tracks have vocals, but most are instrumental – and titles include "Soul Bossa Nova", "Anytime Swingers", "Oh Jeje", "Amarcord Jazz", "Baise Moi", and "A 100 Lounge Lizard".

A killer set from the young Kenny Dope – one of his first big-name projects of the 90s, and a great showcase for his already-mature approach to a groove! There's echoes here of the indie east coast club scene of a few years before – some of the soul of New Jersey, and the playful pastiche of Todd Terry and others – yet Kenny also takes things even farther, really hitting that warm, soulful synthesis of elements that made his Masters At Work productions so unique – way more than just the sum of their parts, as you'll hear here! The record has a few famous samples that stand out nicely – and titles include "Whew", "Sayin Dope", "Got Myself Together", "Time & Space", "Just Plain Funky", "You're A Runway", and "The Bomb" – in both radio edit and "original Henry St mix".

Four classic albums by this hip UK group – all with rare bonus tracks too! First up is the wonderful Dad Man Cat – our favorite record by one of the best funk records to ever come out of England! On this great debut album, Corduroy are a tight funky combo, with an organ and clavinet mod sound that still holds up damn well over the years. Their songwriting is great, and the groove on the set push way past the stock acid jazz riffing of the early 90s. Best example of this is "Skirt Alert", a cut that begins with an amazing drum break, then grooves into a Brazilian-inflected funk number, in the manner of Earth Wind & Fire's use of the idiom. Other tracks include "Chowdown", "How To Steal The World", "Electric Soup", "Money Is", and "Six Plus One". CD also features six bonus demo tracks! High Havoc is a real shift for Corduroy, who are opening their sound a lot here from earlier releases – showing that the group was way more than just one of London's many retro funk combos at the beginning of the 90s. The set includes the sublime track "Something In My Eye", a breezy bossa number that would almost put Brasil 66 to shame, and which we can guarantee will have you hitting the repeat button on your CD player again and again! Other tracks include "The Corduroy Orgasm Club", "Breakfast In Love", "Nobody Move", "Very Yeah", "Clearing Up Music", "Lovely Lonely & Loaded", and "The Frighteners". CD features 9 more bonus tracks – some previously unreleased! Next is Out Of Here – a record that's still heavily steeped in the 60s territory of previous releases, but one with a bit more of a mod feel overall! There's lots of heavy Hammond and guitar in the mix, and the vocals have a warm appeal too – kind of a blue-eyed soul take on mod London modes – served up here with a sound that's arguably tighter and more soulful than lots of current work of this nature! Corduroy was always a group that never fully got its due – and with records like this under their belt, they were easily one of the hippest acts on the Acid Jazz imprint at the time. Titles include "Don't Wait For Monday", "Practice What You Preach", "Magic Carpet", "January Woman", "Mini", "Motorhead", "Along The Rooftops", "End Of The Rainbow", and "Red Mercury". CD features 7 more bonus tracks – a number of unissued demos! Last up is Quattro – Live In Japan 1994 – a great little live set from Corduroy – recorded late in their career, but with the stripped down funky feel of their best early work! The album was recorded in Japan – but the groove is pure London jazz funk all the way, with a tight mix of keyboards and riffing guitars, electrically grooving in a very soulful way. Includes versions of "Skirt Alert", "Something In My Eye", "Mini", "Money is", "London, England", "Electric Soup", "E Type", "The Frighteners", and "Chow Down".

A contemporary cut, but one with the older flavor you might expect from the cover – a sweet break-heavy rhythm with a nicely funky feel for the clubs – topped with keyboards and a soulful sampled spoken part! The non-Smoove version is actually our favorite here – even more stripped-down, with an acoustic guitar, acoustic piano, and no sampled vocals – creating lots of nice instrumental interplay!

Deep grooves from Marc Mac – a set that's way earthier than any of his 4 Hero projects – and which is almost a tribute to the soulful sounds that have shaped his music over the years! The package is a bit similar to Mac's previous Right To Be Civil collection – and definitely has a similar aesthetic in the cover art – and the grooves here are forged from older samples, but reworked completely – way way different than any of the base elements that make them up, and abstracted with the kind of cosmic twists and turns we've always loved from Marc. There's also some great snippets of found spoken bits – showing especially the role of African American soldiers in the Vietnam era – and these give an added political bent to the whole project, albeit in a less direct way. Titles include "Afro Pride Soldier", "Feelin Like Clay", "Saigon Say No", "Brand New Thinkin", "Reflection Time", "War Baby Bloods", "Keep Your Word", and "Fort Bragg Revolution".

A massively beautiful little record from Nostalgia 77 – one that really knocked our socks off, and that's saying a lot, because we really liked their last album too! The sound here is much jazzier than before – strung out over some funky beats and samples, but played by a larger group that includes some excellent work on saxes and flute, plus these massive acoustic basslines that roll out over the tunes and create a sinister, soulful sort of sound. Alice Russell sings a bit on the record, but honestly the main focus here is on the instrumentation – and the instrumentation is totally great! Given the album's strong reliance on acoustic bass, and the wonderfully angular horn parts, there's a sound here that almost makes us imagine what it would have been like had Charles Mingus got the chance to record for Mo Wax! Titles include "You & Me", "The Garden", "Freedom", "Seven Nation Army", "After Ararat", "Cheney Lane", "Green Blades Of Grass", and "The Hunger".

Heavy funk with a contemporary twist – a host of James Brown classics, all replayed here by the roster of the Gamm label! Given the hip hop stylings of most of the artists, the funk here is often cut, pasted, and sampled – but there's also clearly a bit of live instrumentation going on too – as well as some occasional deep soul vocals which really help send home the tunes! The overall feel is almost a James Brown remix mode, but in a way that really lets the producers leave their own stamp on the tracks – and the set list includes "The King James Version (part 2)" by D-Frost Beats, "Bang It On" by BadSim, "You Dead Wrong" by Red Astaire with Caretta Bell, "Ain't It Funky" by Yosaku, "Mama's Dead" by Bloodfire, "Fonky President" by Pure P, "Sayin It & Doin It" by Sugarloaf Gangsters, "U Got Soul (Swell's power surge mix)" by Swing Session, and "Give It Up Or Turn It Loose" by DJ Ayres.

One of the most righteous albums of the 21st century so far – and an instant classic we'll be loving for years! Build An Ark are a seriously heavy soul jazz ensemble, with roots and traditions that stretch back to the most righteous days of the 70s underground – the brainchild of producer Carlos Nino and vocalist Dwight Trible – and featuring work by soul jazz stalwarts that include Phil Ranelin, Nate Morgan, Derf Reklaw, Adam Rudolph, and others – all coming together in a fresh, new expression of the righteous ideals that first motivated their original work! Under the guidance of Nino, the group really gels together nicely – working in a loose mode that's a nice change from the tighter cosmic 21st century soul of the European scene – and returning to the organic, almost folksy forms that first emerged on 70s independent labels like Tribe, Strata East, and Nimbus. LA luminary Nate Morgan plays some great Fender Rhodes on many of the album's best tracks – and singer Dwight Trible has a soulful range that's somewhere between the style of Terry Callier and Leon Thomas. This EP features 5 tracks in all – including a massively beautiful remake of Pharoah Sanders "You've Got To Have Freedom", plus Phil Ranelin's "Vibes From The Tribe", and the original tracks "Pure Imagination/Tortoise & The Hare", "Door Of The Cosmos (take 1)", and "Marcia" – the last 2 of which weren't on the full LP!

Diverse beatcraft from a pioneer of beathead culture – the never predictable, still vital DJ Vadim! Spacey keys, funky bass, atmospheric synth and top notch turntable skills are, as always, the main tools of Vadim's trade – but the cross-cultural, globe-spanning styles he manages to cook up are as impressive as ever on Don't Be Scared. Glitchy funk and soul from around the world, echoey dancehall and more float in and out, with some sampled bits of vocal as well as some great guest singers on the mic. Another win for Vadim and BBE! Includes "Hide N' Seek", "Lemon Haze", "I'm Feeling U" with Gregory Blackman, "This DJ" feat J-Man, "Set Them Free" feat Sabira Jade, "Leader" with Yarah Bravo, "Vah Vaow" feat Heidi Vogel, "Take My Time" with Jazz Bailey and "Closed Eyes" feat Yarah Bravo, Pugs Atomz and Jazz Bailey.

A vinyl sampler for Glenn Underground's stellar Forgotten Art (Music) – a record that features some of the Chi deep house mainstay's best work in years – and an exclusive remix! Both cuts bring a soul jazz depth to the contemporary deep house scene that's really wonderful. "Forgotten Art (Music)" has steadily danceable beat underneath some great jazzy keys, which span the whole side – along with some other slow-building atmosphere. The remix of "Strumming & Thinking" has more of a cosmic vibe, thanks to some spacier keys and tripped out bits of vocal – but it's still plenty jazzy – with some horns in the mix, too.

Diverse beatcraft from a pioneer of beathead culture – the never predictable, still vital DJ Vadim! Spacey keys, funky bass, atmospheric synth and top notch turntable skills are, as always, the main tools of Vadim's trade – but the cross-cultural, globe-spanning styles he manages to cook up are as impressive as ever on Don't Be Scared. Glitchy funk and soul from around the world, echoey dancehall and more float in and out, with some sampled bits of vocal as well as some great guest singers on the mic. Another win for Vadim and BBE! Includes "Hide N' Seek", "Lemon Haze", "I'm Feeling U" with Gregory Blackman, "This DJ" feat J-Man, "Set Them Free" feat Sabira Jade, "Leader" with Yarah Bravo, "Vah Vaow" feat Heidi Vogel, "Take My Time" with Jazz Bailey and "Closed Eyes" feat Yarah Bravo, Pugs Atomz and Jazz Bailey.

A heavy dose of grooves from Lack Of Afro – not only work recorded under his own name, but remixes and productions he's done for other artists as well! There's a solid commitment to funk on just about every record to bear the Lack Of Afro name – and you'll hear plenty of that in the grooves here – lots of old school 70s funk and soul elements, mixed in nicely to augment the core sounds – and pushed to the forefront on some of the best tracks too! Most of the music isn't played live, but there's definitely a live feel at points – given the choices of samples used – and the 2CD set features Lack Of Afro mixes of tunes that include "Si Si Puede" by Ray Camacho, "It's Real" by Hot 8 Brass Band, "Hurt Me So" by Diplomats Of Solid Sound, "Giorgio's Brother" by Eddie Roberts, "I Can't Dance With You" by The Fantastics, "Greenbacks" by Deep Street Soul, and "Freedom" by Ray Harris & The Fusion Experience – plus Lack Of Afro tracks "Broken Samba", "On My Way", "First Break", "Spooky", and "Numero Seenko".