A really different groove from El Michels Affair – but one that reminds us again that the group is really amazing at just about anything they ever try to do! The adult themes here are modes borrowed from older European styles – some of the slinky funk of Serge Gainsbourg and some of his contemporaries, mixed with maybe a touch of Euro erotic film scoring – but all given that strong undercurrent of funk that we can always expect from Leon Michels and the group – arranged and produced with a really superb quality throughout! The drums are nice and heavy, the basslines sexy and slinky, and there's some occasional wordless female vocals and larger arrangements that really expand the palette of El Michels. Titles include "Enfant", "Villa", "Kill The Lights", "Life Of Pablo", "A Swift Nap", "Munecas", "Rubix", "Hipps", and a number of "Adult Theme" tracks. LP, Vinyl record album

A jazz records of sorts, but a funk one as well – recorded mostly by Gerald Bailey on a variety of instruments, and with an intimate vibe that really reflects the creative process! The tunes often have a nice kick, with some really great drums – and are short and melodic, with key passages on piano and keyboards, plus a bit of trumpet – not really solos so much as themes that come into the mix and really give each tune a particular color and flavor! This is definitely the case of hip hop influencing instrumental creativity, especially in production – and titles include "Dune Boogie", "Overnight Heat", "Crab Shell", "Raised By Frogs", "Aurica", Call To Act", "Dasani Falls", "Dusty Rhodes", and "Free Trial". (Jazz, Deep Funk) LP, Vinyl record album

Solidly socking soul from Chicago – a great little set recorded with a really old school feel, but one that's also different than the usual deep funk record! The Uptown Sound have a vibe that's all their own – at one level, a quality that's steeped in classic soul – but at another, with a quality that's strangely offbeat too, almost with an undercurrent of darkness in some of the instrumentation that somehow mixes slight punkish roots into funk! Lead singer JC Brooks follows suit strongly – hitting topics that aren't your usual soul music standards, even though his vocals would be right at home with such fare – and instead, the album's got a range of themes that really keep an edge to the set, of the sort that's bound to find these guys a large audience way outside the usual deep funk underground. JC's a real superstar – even larger on stage, which is a recommendation to catch the group live! Titles include "Love One Another", "Hold You Back", "75 Years Of Art Sex", "How To Stop Loving Someone Who's Stopped Loving You", "He Does The Town", and "Berry Please". CD