Global Grooves — CDs  

Massive Afro Funk! This slammin' batch of funky African (and African-sounding) tunes was put together by the same team who did the Africa Funk set on Harmless – and it's even better than that one was! Like Africa Funk, this set compiles a whopping batch of rare tracks from the 70s, plus a few from other eras that have a 70s feel – and the mix of tracks is filled with heavy drums, pounding percussion, funky keyboards, and choppy guitar riffs. You might have a few of the cuts on here, but most of them are quite rare, and the set's well worth having for newcomers and trainspotters alike! Titles include "Silver Black Summer Day" by Living Funk, "Rhythm On Rhythm" by Sookie, "Afro Funk" by Peter King, "Jungle Funk" by Nkengas, "Samba" by Miriam Makeba, "Everybody's Groove" by Ashantis, "Karam Bani" by Buari, and a nice remake of "Soul Makossa" by The Gaytones!

Silly stuff – but it works! Ashwin Batish was born 10 years too late – because if this album was recorded in the 70s, it would have a strong Bollywood groove, with Ashwin's sitar funking over heavy wah-wah guitar. As it is, though, Ashwin recorded this one in 1986 – so the groove's a mix of electro and 80s funk, most of which still works nicely as a base, while Ashwin grooves away on the sitar, like an 80s version of Ananda Shankar. Titles include "Bombay Boogie", "Raga Rock", "Sitar Magic", "Indian Beat", and "New Delhi Vice".

Reputedly, this is an African funk band recorded recently by the folks at Desco Records – but as with a lot of their projects, we're not entirely sure whether or not to believe them, since they're always a bit too mysterious about the origins of their material, and this may just be some new grooves, cut by a funk band of non-African origin. Whatever the case, though, the record kicks butt, and is a very tight batch of funky instrumentals that have a classic sound that hints at Fela, Manu Dibango, and other Afro Funk artists of the 70's. There's lots of choppy guitar grooves, heavy percussion, and raw blaring sax solos. Very nice stuff, and every bit as great as the other stuff on Desco! Cuts include a cover of Fela's "Upside Down", James Brown's "Give It Up Or Turn It Loose", and the originals "Super Afro-Beat", "Daktari Walk", "Voodoo Soul Stew", and "Quiet Man Is A Dead Man".

Surprisingly fantastic bit of funky sitar tracks! The project's a recent one, but it's got a classic 70s global crossover funk sound that's very much in the vein of the weird Indian-funk work of Ananda Shankar or The Dave Pike set. The record's got a raw Meters-esque groove at the base – which makes for a very tight funky sound – and Ravi plays these cool sitar licks over the top, in some very tasty riffs! Includes a bunch of great originals, like "Funky Sitar Man", "Path of the Blazing Sarong", and "Ravi's Thing" – plus great covers like "Look A Py Py", "Same Beat", and "Pass the Peas". Really good stuff, and way better than we expected it to sound!