Deep Funk — All Formats  

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".

The album's got a great old style cover – and a wonderful groove to match – plenty of cosmic beats and spacey keyboards from Eric Lau, plus some other sweet touches as well! The set's more in a funk mode overall – and one that will definitely please fans of the spacier side of the 70s spectrum – almost a distillation of territory spanned by cats like Herbie Hancock or Ronnie Foster, but filtered into a 21st Century aesthetic too – so that the best bits come to the forefront, and really give the album a lean sort of crackle. Most of the record is instrumental, and titles include "Cruise Control", "Sometime", "Home Run", "PPG", "Warp", "Minnie", "Love Love Love", "What's Going Down", "Noma", "Give Light Give Love", and "Change".

A great rare groove from keyboardist Paolo Achenza – a smoking version of Herbie Hancock's "Chameleon", done with the same Fender Rhodes as his classic trio work from the 90s! Part 1 has a strong focus on the keys over tight funky rhythms – with just a bit of horns and guitar – and part 2 ups the rhythm a bit more too!