Weirdly tripped-out funk from Baby Elephant – a compelling collaboration from Prince Paul, Newkirk, and P-Funk keyboardist Bernie Worrell! The sound here is quite odd – kind of a dismantling of older P-Funk modes, stripped down into a handful of key elements, then re-assembled in a range of different ways to suit the spirit of each tune. There's a good sense of humor to most of the tracks, but also an underlying sense of darkness as well – especially on some of the skits that link together the tracks, done by Prince Paul to give the album a slightly narrative feel. There's a huge amount of guest stars in the mix – including David Byrne, George Clinton, Reggie Watts, Yellowman, Nona Hendryx, and Shock 9 – and titles include "How Does The Brainwave", "Plainfield", "The Search", "Baby Elephants In Thanos", "Even Stranger", "Crack Addicts In Love", "Turn My Teeth Up", and "Fred Berry". CD

Slinky Hammond organ grooves and feverish boogaloo soul from Kansas City combo Chris Hazlelton's Boogaloo 7 – their first full length studio set after a series of great singles and live album – totally living up to our high expectations! Hazelton is on the Hammond at the center of the sound, giving it a classic jazz funk foundation – but he's a generous bandleader, giving the group plenty of space to shine – with Pat Conway on conga & percussion, Brett Jackson, Nick Rowland & Zak Pischonotte on saxes, Matt Hopper on guitar, Danny Rojas on drums and others. Titles include a nice take on Melvin Sparks's "Bambu", the Hazleton originals "Fryin' Pan", "Turnin' Up The Burner", "The Basement Beat", "Tru-Galu" plus killer cover of Sharon Jones & The Dap-King's modern classic "100 Days, 100 Nights". CD

If this is reality, lead us onward – as the set is a mindblowing batch of trippy psych-funk from The Heliocentrics – even more offbeat and experimental than before, in ways that make the combo the true heirs to the legacy first begun by Stark Reality! The album's definitely funky at the core, but it's also filled with loads of amazing sounds – instruments tuned weirdly, played weirdly, and produced weirdly – so that over the heavy drums, there's often lots of freaky, fuzzy bits and tripped-out sounds – in ways that make the record feel like some lost acid trip outtakes from the Westbound studios of the early 70s – or like some obscure funk band that dropped acid at Andy Warhol's loft! The packaging offers up a visual example of what your ears will be going through when you tune into the music – and titles include "Mysterious Ways", "Collateral Damage", "Black Sky", "Calabash", "Path Of The Black Sun", "Mr Owusu I Presume", "Eastern Begena", and loads of cool interlude tracks too. CD

If this is reality, lead us onward – as the set is a mindblowing batch of trippy psych-funk from The Heliocentrics – even more offbeat and experimental than before, in ways that make the combo the true heirs to the legacy first begun by Stark Reality! The album's definitely funky at the core, but it's also filled with loads of amazing sounds – instruments tuned weirdly, played weirdly, and produced weirdly – so that over the heavy drums, there's often lots of freaky, fuzzy bits and tripped-out sounds – in ways that make the record feel like some lost acid trip outtakes from the Westbound studios of the early 70s – or like some obscure funk band that dropped acid at Andy Warhol's loft! The packaging offers up a visual example of what your ears will be going through when you tune into the music – and titles include "Mysterious Ways", "Collateral Damage", "Black Sky", "Calabash", "Path Of The Black Sun", "Mr Owusu I Presume", "Eastern Begena", and loads of cool interlude tracks too. CD

If this is reality, lead us onward – as the set is a mindblowing batch of trippy psych-funk from The Heliocentrics – even more offbeat and experimental than before, in ways that make the combo the true heirs to the legacy first begun by Stark Reality! The album's definitely funky at the core, but it's also filled with loads of amazing sounds – instruments tuned weirdly, played weirdly, and produced weirdly – so that over the heavy drums, there's often lots of freaky, fuzzy bits and tripped-out sounds – in ways that make the record feel like some lost acid trip outtakes from the Westbound studios of the early 70s – or like some obscure funk band that dropped acid at Andy Warhol's loft! The packaging offers up a visual example of what your ears will be going through when you tune into the music – and titles include "Mysterious Ways", "Collateral Damage", "Black Sky", "Calabash", "Path Of The Black Sun", "Mr Owusu I Presume", "Eastern Begena", and loads of cool interlude tracks too. LP, Vinyl record album

Amazing work from Nomo – their greatest album so far, and an incredible step forward in styles! Nomo started out as an already-great Afro Funk combo – but over the past few records, they've picked up a really hip range of musical influences – spiritual jazz, electronica, Congotronics, and other cool sounds – all of which are filtered perfectly into this set! The grooves here are unlike anything else we can think of – as tight as Nigerian grooves from the 70s, but stretching out with really jazzy solos – all inflected with some cool electronic touches underneath, but in ways that jam along strongly with the acoustic instrumentation. Leader Elliot Bergman picked up some great added help for this set – including contributions from underground jazz players like Hamid Drake, Josh Abrams, and Adam Rudolph – all of whom help shape the sound wonderfully. Titles include "Nova", "Three Shades", "Last Beat", "Brainwave", "All The Stars", "Sound The Way", "Rings", "Ghost Rock", and "My Dear". (Global Grooves, Deep Funk) CD

Keyboardist Bernie Worrell first rose to fame in the P-Funk universe of George Clinton – but as the decades moved on, he also became a very different sort of keyboardist overall – one with a lot more way out sounds than he ever would have contributed to a record by Funkadelic – as you'll hear on this set with the contemporary group Khueex! The music is some of the last that Bernie ever recorded before leaving this planet all too soon – and the keyboard work here is right up there with the wildness he really unleashed from the late 80s onward – with lots of great organ lines that are especially nice, interwoven with the heavy bass, guitar, and keyboards from the core group. Titles include "T Funk", "Going North", "The Phaser Is Broken", "No More Planks", "Angry Bear", "Killer Whale Creation", "Spiritual Warfare", and "Receiving Alien Transmission". (Soul, Deep Funk) CD

Keyboardist Bernie Worrell first rose to fame in the P-Funk universe of George Clinton – but as the decades moved on, he also became a very different sort of keyboardist overall – one with a lot more way out sounds than he ever would have contributed to a record by Funkadelic – as you'll hear on this set with the contemporary group Khueex! The music is some of the last that Bernie ever recorded before leaving this planet all too soon – and the keyboard work here is right up there with the wildness he really unleashed from the late 80s onward – with lots of great organ lines that are especially nice, interwoven with the heavy bass, guitar, and keyboards from the core group. Titles include "T Funk", "Going North", "The Phaser Is Broken", "No More Planks", "Angry Bear", "Killer Whale Creation", "Spiritual Warfare", and "Receiving Alien Transmission". (Soul, Deep Funk) LP, Vinyl record album

The long-awaited third volume Original Raw Soul – a set that pulls together rare funky soul singles by the revolving roster of players led by the Whitefield Brothers – singles that ultimately became just as rare as the obscure funk 45s that inspired them! Nowadays, The Whitefield Brothers, their Poets Of Rhythm and associated acts can be credited for spurring the funk & raw soul revival of the 00s onward. At the time, some of the singles would appear and be hyped as reissues of regional rarities from back in the day – and they're so damn authentic, it was pretty easy to believe! Straight up raw funk instros, some jazzier gems with flute and female vox, organ-drenched jams and more credited to New Process, Poets Of Rhythm, Karl Hector & The Malcouns, Bajka, Whitefield Brothers, Polyversal Souls and more! Includes "Bus People Theme" and "Freedom" by New Process, "Summer Days (Instrumental)" and "Flight To St Vincent" by Poets Of Rhythm, ""Will Power" and "Money For Born, Money For Die" by Transgressors (both previously unreleased), "A Vision" and "The Only Religion That I Believe" by Bajka, "$600 Song" by Mercy Sluts, "Muswell Hill Run" by Polyversal Souls, "The Bastard" by Whitefield Brothers and more. (Funky Compilations, Deep Funk) CD