New Grooves — All Formats  

Recorded live at the Montreal Jazz Festival, and a special set featuring the acoustic talents of trumpeter Tim Hagan and soprano saxist Bob Belden, mixed with electronics by Scott Kinsey, and turtablism by DJ Kingsize. Most of the material is fairly out – with off-kilter solos draped over loud junglist rhythms – and the album reminds us more of Derek Bailey's drum n bass album of a few years back, than it does some of the more recent new funky work on Blue Note. Titles include "Big Moment", "Dans La Ville Sombre", "Love's Lullaby", "Are You Threatening Me?", and "Trumpet Sandwich".

A nice catchy uptempo number from JK and crew gets the new French disco treatment at the hands of superstar playboy Bob Sinclair.

Mod, retro, and tripped-out grooves – a great sampling of some of the most playful work on the Italian scene of the past few years – including a huge number of artists that we only know from singles! The approach here takes off from the sound first crafted by some of the Irma La Douce scene – a blend of older retro-styled elements with modern dancefloor rhythms – in a mode that's always entertaining, and usually pretty darn charming as well! There's loads of great cuts on the set, and the package features 15 titles that include "Bowinda" by Magneti C4, "Latino (Nicola Conte rmx)" by Fuzz Against Junk, "Engano" by Bob Dusi, "Capo Est" by Mop Mop, "Magic World" by Tantra Tribe, "Stripper Girl (Frank Popp rmx)" by Sam Paglia, "Bramaputra" by Way O, "A Bocca Chiusa" by Vip 200, "La Javaneise" by Art Cluso, and "Castles In Spain" by Ghita.

Mod, retro, and tripped-out grooves – a great sampling of some of the most playful work on the Italian scene of the past few years – including a huge number of artists that we only know from singles! The approach here takes off from the sound first crafted by some of the Irma La Douce scene – a blend of older retro-styled elements with modern dancefloor rhythms – in a mode that's always entertaining, and usually pretty darn charming as well! There's loads of great cuts on the set, and the package features 10 titles that include "Latino (Nicola Conte rmx)" by Fuzz Against Junk, "Engano" by Bob Dusi, "Capo Est" by Mop Mop, "Magic World" by Tantra Tribe, "Bramaputra" by Way O, "A Bocca Chiusa" by Vip 200, "La Javaneise" by Art Cluso, and "Castles In Spain" by Ghita.

The groovy French pop of Serge Gainsbourg gets the remix treatment! After years of being sampled by hip hoppers, referenced by post-rockers, and claimed as an influence by a wide range of singers and instrumentalists – Serge Gainsbourg's finally breaking into the mainstream of modern music with this tasty batch of remixes from some of Europe's best producers. Of course, ol' Serge is probably rolling over in his grave at the thought of the project – but from our end of things, the whole thing sounds pretty groovy! Titles include "La Bas C'est Natural" remixed by Faze Action, "Ballade De Melody Nelson" remixed by Howie B, "Bonnie & Clyde" remixed by Herbert, "Je T'Aime Moi Non Plus" remixed by Dzihan & Kamien, "Requiem Pour Un Con" remixed by The Orb, "Marabout" remixed by Bob Sinclair, and "Lola Rastaquouere" remixed by Chateau Flight.

The first full length from Blundetto – a Parisian radio programmer and artist showing impeccable taste here – with a slyly dubby and reggae & soul influenced groove and featuring collaborations with The Budos Band horns, Chico Mann, Tommy Guerrero, Lateef The Truthspeaker, Shawn Lee, Genreal Elektricks and Hindi Zahra! Blundetto shares compositional credits with the guest, and it has the feel of collaboration with that atmopherically soulful core groove. Really nice work for the Heavenly Sweetness label! Titles including the Blundetto cover of the Bob James classic "Nautilus" plus "Voices", "Mustang", "Mi Condena", "Cuban Shirt", "Party Animals". "White Birds", "Ken Park", "My One Girl", "Bad BadThings" and "Sunset Stroll".

Mad heavy funk from this excellent Japanese combo – really hitting hard here on a host of covers of famous tunes – all returned to the group's sharp 70s instrumental approach! The groove is incredible – razor-sharp right from the start, and served up with perfect old school instrumentation – and just the right production to match – perfect for the tight horns in the lead, riffing guitar in the rhythms, and the warm organ that sews the whole thing together! And although we love their own songs, this set seems to sound extra-hip, given that it features work by Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Herbie Hancock, Led Zeppelin, and others – a wicked array of re-tooled tunes that includes "Tell Me A Bedtime Story", "Too High", "Mean Street", "Power Of Soul", "Exodus", "Space Dust", "The Immigrant Song", "Blackbyrd's Theme", and "KITT".