Sweet bass-heavy funk from this overseas combo – a Polish group, but one who clearly dig the Ohio funk style that surged up at the end of the 70s, as well as the tighter funky grooves of Prince during the following decade! The ensemble have a wonderfully sharp vibe, and the lyrics snake around the rhythms in this really great way – completely seductive, and with a punch that really sends the whole thing over the top – especially as many cuts have more than one singer, working together with the sharpness of the instrumentalists in the group! Titles include "Fusion", "Lover's Disappearance", "My Mind", "The Line", "Hole", "Morphin", "No Codes", and "Cominbackdown". LP, Vinyl record album

An Afro Funk band, but one with a difference – a difference that's maybe a bit hard to put in words, but which is definitely there when you dig their grooves! These guys have all the familiar elements – percussion, guitars, horns, and keyboards – but they've got a rhythmic approach that's a bit unusual, and which takes things in a way that's sometimes a bit more laidback than other groups of this nature – sometimes almost as if they're borrowing a bit of East African styles to weave into a Nigerian-inspired music. The keyboards are especially nice, and almost feel like Greg Foat's cooked up an Afro Funk project – and titles include "Last Leap", "Control Per Capita", "Bad Dog", "Xoomba", and "Yetunde" – plus remixes "Bad Dog (Tigerbalm rmx)" and "Last Leap (Taj rmx)". (Global Grooves, Deep Funk) LP, Vinyl record album

A much-needed vinyl release of music from this wonderful band – one we've been loving for the past 15 years, through a slew of Japanese-only CD releases! Indigo Jam Unit have a wicked style that goes way beyond the "jam" in their name – as they're tightly jazzy, but with a very stripped-down quality – one that tends to focus on the funkiest moments in their tunes – even though their music isn't exactly funk! The group's a quartet, led by some monstrous lines on acoustic bass – warm, full, and flowing – set fire further by hard, heavy acoustic piano, plus drums, extra drums, and sometimes percussion – all used in these spare, chunky ways that are totally great! This set brings together some of their best cuts from a variety of albums – and titles include "Descarga", "La Tomatina", "Danza Eterna", "Matador", "Time", "Raindance", "4 Caminos", and "Rush". LP, Vinyl record album

The group's just a trio, but they've got a wonderfully full sound – a rich funky groove that comes from just drums, bass, and keyboards – yet which has this soaring reach that almost takes us back to the 70s genius of work on labels like Fantasy or Prestige! Drummer Toshiyuki Sasaki is a monster on the kit – snapping things into the groove from the very first note, and driven on strongly by the basslines of Shigeki Umezawa – while Mariko Nakabayashi warms things up in a wonderful way with all sorts of great keyboard solos – often in an electric piano mode, but sometimes with a wider sonic reach as well! The approach is a bit like the Indigo Jam Unit from years back, but maybe has some more classic touches as well – thanks to versions of cuts by Weldon Irvine, Manzel, and Deodato, all mixed in with the group's own music too. Titles include "Another World", "Space Funk", "Looking Back", "Inner Space", "La Ritournelle", "Skyscrapers", "Caught Up", "Nautical Table", and "We Getting Down". LP, Vinyl record album