Jazzy takes on familiar tunes – a great little record that rummages through the pop canon of the past few decades, then comes up with vocal jazz versions of the tunes that are totally great – really transforming the original compositions in a totally great way, all without any sort of gimmicks! Instrumentation is pretty spare – just keyboards, bass, and drums – with vocals handled by soulful Scandinavian singer Caroline Ekstrom, whose tones really bring a lot of magic to these tracks originally recorded by The Police, Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, and others. The whole project's a lot like some of the Re:Jazz sides in recent years – save for the fact that these tracks were originally even more mainstream than those selected for the Re:Jazz project – which makes their transformation here all the more impressive. Titles include "Is It A Crime", "Dazed & Confused", "I Feel The Earth Move", "Money", "It's Too Late", "Message In A Bottle", and "In The Waiting Line". CD

The second issue of this track, when MoWax picked it up and helped really put Air over as one of the leading lights of the new French beat movement. The original is a spacey, atmospheric trip hop classic, while notches the beat up a bit, but maintains the chill vibe, as does Cam, who drops a slightly harder, more hip hop influenced beat with some nice cuts over the top. CD

Quite possibly the hippest work so far from the mighty Mark De Clive-Lowe – an album that almost comes across more like a spiritual jazz session than some of Mark's clubbier sides of the past! There's a lot of live, spontaneous energy to most of the tracks – and although there's clearly some beats at the bottom of the tunes, the album's also filled with freely creative lines on tenor, flute, percussion, and keyboards – recorded with a wonderful sense of warmth, and given almost a sort of Impulse Records sense of righteousness. Bembe Segue also sings on the set, but at some points the main focus is definitely instrumental – with Mark playing Fender Rhodes and acoustic piano, in addition to percussion, bass, and synth. Titles include "Voices Whisper", "Northern Lights", "Peace Be Central", "Question XIII", "2 Blind 2 See", and "Another One Save Me". CD

Alice Russell's neo classic funk soul style gets the remix treatment – a sprawling 2CD set with remixes by DJ Vadim, Mr Scruff, Kid Gusto, Clonious, J-Boogie, Shawn Lee, Ohmega Watts, Ticklah, The Heavy, DJ Day & Clutchy Hopkins, Yellowtail and others! Alice Russell is a surprising choice for this kind of remix project, given the depth of reverent soul in her voice, and the general old school modeled songs, but she's in the hands of producers who know how to craft a timeless club groove without sacrificing the soul – keeping the original integrity of the tunes in place while putting their personal stamp on the groove. 22 tracks on 2CDs: "Let us Be Loving" (Kidkanevil rmix), "Got The Hunger?" (DJ Vadim rmx), "All Alone" (Mocean Worker rmx), "Lights Went Out" (LJM rmx), "Two Steps" (Shawn Lee's 7 Inches Of Soul rmx), "All Alone" (DJ Day Meets Clutchy Hopkins remx., "Universe" (GRC's Quiet Carnival mix) and more. (Neo Soul, New Grooves) CD

An amazing record from Kyoto Jazz Massive – and about time, too! The Japanese collective has been bubbling under for years – doing some of the most groundbreaking production, remix, and single work of the current Japanese scene – and this album is really their first true full-length, a massive set of tracks with a soulful approach we never knew they had! The whole thing's amazing from the word "go" (which actually isn't the first word on the album!) – and the first few tracks are especially strong, all soulful numbers with vocals by guest singers that include Vanessa Freeman, Victor Davies, and Maiya James. After that burst, the album takes off instrumentally – stretching for the sky in a jazz-infused blend of beats and keyboards, occasional other instrumentation creeping into the mix at just the right moments. Titles include "The Dawn Introduction", "The Brightness Of These Days", "Mind Expansions", "Stargazer", "Eclipse", "Between The Lights", "Substream", "Shine", "ME Outroduction", and "Behind The Shadow". CD

A killer compilation fo funky dancefloor tunes from England's ultra-hip Fluid Ounce label – bringing a wealth of previously pricey singles to a US market at nice low prices! Over the past few years, Fluid Ounce have raised more than a few eyebrows in the hipoisie with their unique approach to a groove, and their incredibly strong selection of artists with one ear for the classic, and another for the future of modern music. The 10 tracks on this set perfectly sum up what all the excitement's been about – and titles include "Come Party", "The Snare", and "Click" by Zero DB; "Nujazzkiller", "Harikiri Blues", and "Man From Atlantis" by Carmel; "Never Come Back" and "Mas Fuerte Que El Sol" by The Vogado Projects; "Turn Off The Lights" by Frank De Jojo; and "Future Vision" by John Kong & Moonstarr. LP, Vinyl record album