Funky 45's — All Formats  

"One Eye Open" is a funky 45 classic! It's got a nice hard breakbeat on the intro, and then it leaps into a cool groover with a funny story that runs through the track. Nice stuff, and "Yaw'll" is pretty groovy, too.

The famous theme from "Tubular Bells" – used to great effect in The Exorcist, and a spooky bit of 70s keyboard music you'll recognize instantly! This cool limited pressing replicates a 70s pic sleeve design – and also features the more obscure track "In Dulci Jubilo".

Two versions of the same tune – each cut on different sides of 1970! Cookie Woodson's got the later version, but it comes up first here – a romping groove that's almost Chicago Brunswick soul, and which lopes along with some cool horn parts and vibes that dance along wonderfully with Woodson's soaring vocals! The Virgil Henry version seems to have almost the same arrangement at the start – but his vocal approach is sweeter and warmer, and really makes for a nicely different flavor for the cut!

One of the groovier tunes you'll ever hear from Ray Ellis – an artist we mostly know for arrangements behind mainstream singers in the 60s! "The Sheik" is a cool instrumental rocker – replete with lots of wild instrumental touches that include vamping tenor sax, sparkling electric harpsichord, and this weird chorus of reeds with a decidedly Middle Eastern vibe! "Bagdad Rock" continues the spirit – but has a bit more of a rockish rhythm – a storming groove from The Sheiks, but topped with this cool exotic snakey saxophone line!

A great 80s groove from AM & Shawn Lee – heavy on these Casio-like keyboards at the start, then given a dubby finish as it moves on – all to set the scene for the cool spacey lyrics in the middle! Slow funky, with a nice retro vibe – and "Dancing Heart" follows in a similar mode, with a cool dark groove that blends piano, guitar, and electronics in a very post-punk way!

Uncategorizable coolness from Amazing Ghost – a Richmond, VA group that features members of Bio Ritmo. Both tracks bring a lot of sounds to a dancefloor ready, insistent groove – bits of Latin inspired percussion, electro, synth rock and more.

A cool cooker from Dean Barlow – one of those mambo-styled R&B tunes that has some cool percussion underneath the vamping rhythms – all topped by this sinister vocal from Dean that's mighty nice! "He's Coming Home" features lead singer Carole Bennett with great backings from The Sapphires – whose harmonies really make for a smooth groove next to the twangy vamp in the rhythms!

Eastern tinged jazzy funk rock from Dutch born Okko Bekker! "East Indian Traffic" has a totally wicked funky backbone and a spindly, dexterous sitar way out front. Some jazz funk horns kick in as it goes along, too. "Ganges Delta" as another gem, less sorta soundtrack pulpy styled as the A-side, still a great and genre straddling number. Groovy stuff that appeared on Okko's cool Sitar & Electronics LP.

An incredibly rare slice of righteous soul – pulled from obscurity! "Third Eye" has this really cool little groove – jazzy, but kind of light too – with these horns that are way in the background as the core skipping rhythms set most of the scene – all to some very human, honest lead vocals that fit nicely into the whole mix! "Back Home" is a mellow ballad, but has this light stepping groove that's pretty catchy!

A plenty cool split single – with great work on both sides! CSC Funk Band sound better than ever on "Catcher's Mitt" – a tune that has a nice sense of color in its main funky riff – almost a soundtracky level of funky expression! "Ogun" is on the flipside – a mighty nice number from the Grant Phabao Afrofunk Arkestra – rompingly tight, and with some great percussion and organ!

A spacey one from The Dynamites for producer Clancy Eccles! "Red Moon" is a great instrumental with an unshakable rhythm and a horn line that's clearly a riff on "Blue Moon" – and some eerie keyboards in the backgroup. The King Tubbys version wisely keeps the otherwordly aspects of the other side – and actually highlights the spacier, eerier vibe in a cool way.

A great spacey groove! "Your Best Friend" has an airy, spaced-out sort of feel – one that almost reminds us of some of the best Cali soul in recent years – a bit abstract, but right on the money – and with the vocals flanged out wonderfully next to the beats! "Look Around" has a bit more punch, but still some cool spacey modes too – a great cascading of sound that wraps up Lorett's vocals beautifully! When's the album coming? We're sure it's going to be a humdinger!

Two versions of the same tune – both of them great! Frank Heppinstall's version of "Sweetheart" is taken at a slow-stepping pace – perfect for the waves of jazzy Hammond that begin the tune, and for Frank's round, robust baritone! Lonnie Sattin grooves a bit more on the flip – using lots of cool bongo lines underneath his vocals, which inflect the tune with an even more exotic sound!

"Insanity" has a nicely trippy groove – a bit of a head-nodder, but with vocals that bristle out from the back and keep things moving upward – especially when Jimetta Rose opens up! "In The Place To Be" is funkier, with some cool spacey breaking drums – and some cuts from DJ Ren!

A soaring groove from The Magicians – sweet "Faith & Understanding", served up with a bassline that bounces the whole thing along strongly – and some great vocals on the chorus that almost make the tune feel like a Metros number! "Rising Higher" is a tune that soars as well – a really upbeat, positive track from Marva Holiday – with this cool production on the vocals that kind of compress them against the groove in a really unique way!

A beautiful testament to the T-909 drum machine – and almost more of a book than a drawing! The package comes with two totally cool color flexi-disc, and a 20 page booklet that features exceprts from Joe's larger treatise on the rhythm phenomenon – with some great phtos and drawings too! Schoolly D narrates the beats, with cuts by DJ 7L!

One of the coolest, grooviest tunes we've ever heard from Jimmy McCracklin – a cut that begins with this totally awesome "uh-huh" vocal chorus – but recorded in a very echoey space, so that it sounds almost out of this world! Jimmy's own lead vocals are tremendous too – and proof that he was definitely one of the founding forces of soul music!

A sweet little single from Menahan Street Band! "Lights Out" has this slow funk brilliance that's almost lifted off a rare 70s soundtrack – beats that are hard, but mellow too – topped by these snakey horns that really bring in a blue sort of feel to the music – almost an Ethiopian feel, but funkier! "Keep Coming Back" is awash in Hammond lines right from the start – swing-stepping like a cool 60s instrumental, complete with some wangly guitar – all again in a slow mode that's really a nice change from the usual!

A very cool version of "Purple Haze" – and one that sounds nothing like the original! The tune's handled here with some weird bubbling beats that kind of sway back and forth, and instead of guitar, the tune uses a very thin keyboards – while a female voice sings the lyrics in Spanish – all with a recording quality that makes it feel like a tune by The Residents!

Chicago's brass-heavy Mucca Pazza – remixed by Greenwood Rhythm Coalition and Jon Kennedy! GRC's remix of "Tube Sock Tango" is very nicely reworked here – given some tropical percussion flavor – with some otherworldly keyboards adding kind of an eerie vibe, without messing up MP's playful charm. Also includes Jon Kennedy's beathead funk take on "Boss Taurus" and the brief closing cadence "Coolashell".

A really cool avant single that's unlike anything else! It's from Sierra Leone-born vocalist Sahr Ngaujah and collaborator Stuart Bogie of Antibalas – both of whom work in the Broadway production Fela! – but Sahr Ngaujah Vs Superhuman Happiness has in otherwordly approach that's more of a cosmic creation than you'd expect given their "day job". Tripped out avant dancefloor atmosphere that's also a great headphones listen. The Superhuman Happiness players bring bits of sax, trumpet guitar, bass, bongos and synth.

Take it from us, a record with "chicken" in the title is always worth checking out – because it usually means a nicely strutting groove! That's definitely the case with "Chicken Grabber" – a cool cut with mambo percussion, vamping sax, and some great chicken calls in the middle! And "Chicken Rock" is mighty nice too – with a really nasty bassline and snapping drums, called on a member of the group to set the scene for a sweet tenor solo in the middle!

Nothing chilly about Nightchill – as the group's a great late Dave Hamilton project from Detroit – working in a style that echoes older soul modes, but set to a more modern stepping groove! Romeo & Juliet are from more than a decade before – but get great production from Dave that makes their sweet male/female vocal trading come off wonderfully – and with a cool flutey guitar bit beneath!

Smoking soul from the Ones & Nines – recorded in Jersey, and topped off in Memphis – making for an intra-state pedigree that's mighty nice! The group have a feel that's different quality than most other funky soul combos out there – with a nicely garagey quality on "Tell Me" that has the guitar really stepping around nicely – working magic around the male lead and female backing vocals in a really cool way. "Make It Easy" has the guitar upfront again too – but lets female singer Vera Sousa take the lead – with this snakey style that's mighty nice, and even more soulful!

Heavy funk, all the way through – a brilliant batch of cuts from The Original Black Sheep Of The Family – and one of the only true testaments we've ever seen to their obscure funky work! The set begins with the massive "In The Forest" – a wicked, wangly groove that features righteous vocals on part one – then really takes off instrumentally on part two – with more than enough energy to warrant spanning both sides of the single! "Heaven" is a wonderful cut – warmly bubbling with a bit of modern soul energy, but also coming across with a more deeply spiritual undercurrent too – a bit like the best balance you'd find on some of the Soul Cal reissues, but also a totally unique cut on its own! "Do You Wanna" is a cut with a cool complicated bassline at the start, almost fitfully making its way into some funkier rhythms – all handled by the group with the best late 70s ensemble funk modes!

A haunting, funky samba instrumental, a sweeter vocal tune and spacey bonus track to close – cool stuff from Os Magrelos! "Luz Negra" is quite killer – with funky drums and heavy bass, plus a really thick layer of organ! "Seja Como For" is shows a different side, with lovely vocals by Laura Ann Singh and trombone by Bio Ritmo's Tobias Whitaker! The closing bonus track is the spacey, synth flavored instrumental "Canada Drive" credited to Magrella Rose.

Rare French work from American pianist Errol Parker – 3 cool tunes used as the soundtrack for a film! "Des Garcons Et Des Filles" features a trio led by Parker, who plays some great piano, and also scats vocally with singer Rozaa Wortham – in this cool, catchy way that makes the tune a really mod groover! "Solange" features more great vocals, plus a bit of vibes too – a very French tune with a great 60s soundtrack feel. "Bluesoscope" is straighter piano work, but pretty great – and features Jimmy Woode on bass and Ron Jefferson on drums.