Sweet grooves from the Duomo Sounds label – a short-lived Nigerian imprint who cut some mighty funky sounds at the start of the 80s! The title here uses the word "disco", but these cuts have none of the strings and polish of the sounds you'd hear at Studio 54 – as most numbers here are stripped-down and raw, really more in a clubbier take on the more famous Nigerian funk of a few years before! However, there's also a quality here that could easily cross over to the hipper clubs on the New York underground – as most of these guys are also using the same sort of small combo funk instrumentation of the best of the indie post-disco scene – which means that some tracks resonate with the work of labels like P&P, and others echo some of the more global currents that were showing up in New York funk during the period! Most lyrics are in English, which further gives these tracks a universal appeal – and titles include "Perfect Disco Machine" and "Disco Connection" by Bindinga, "Aimiuugwia" and "Advice" by Christy Ogbah, "Xmas Eve" by Johnny O Bazz, "Look At Me" and "Shake You Body" by Mike Umoh, "You Do Good You Do For Yourself" by Godfrey Odili, "On My Mind" by Bassey Black & The Natty Messiah, and "Ariro" by Eunice Mokus Arimoku. (Global Grooves, Funky Compilations) CD

One of the coolest Christmas compilations you could ever hope to own – but you probably guessed that already, from the cover image that pays tribute to a classic set from James Brown! The JB image is certainly well placed – as most of the tracks here are deeply funky Holiday tunes – the kind of gritty seasonal ditties that were only ever issued as funky 45s back in the day – and most really only on a local level, too! Strut's really outdone themselves with this excellent collection – as it features a fair bit of Christmas rarities we've never heard before, but which are totally wonderful – all-new tunes, not common Christmas cover versions – played and performed with a hell of a soulful feel throughout. Knock that ol' Bing Crosby record off the turntable, and give this one plenty of spins this December – and dammit, the music's so great, you may well find yourself playing the collection well into the New Year too! Titles include "Boogaloo Santa Claus" by JD McDonald, "Angel's Christmas" by Wild Honey, "Black Christmas" by Harlem Children's Chorus, "Getting Down For Xmas" by Milly & Silly, "Soul Santa" by Funk Machine, "Funky Funky Christmas" by Electric Jungle, "Christmas Present Blues" by Jimmy Reed, "Santa's Got A Bag Of Soul" by Soul Saints Orchestra, "Christmas Morning (Sean Bonniwell edit)" by Zebra, "Let's Get It Together This Christmas" by Harvey Averne, "Auld Lang Syne" by Black On White Affair, and "The New Year" by Jimmy Jules & The Nuclear Soul System. (Holiday Music, Funky Compilations) CD

Heavy heavy funk from the Louisiana scene of the late 60s and 1970s – and a great collection that really gets past the dominance of the New Orleans sound! The set moves way past the Crescent City to uncover a wealth of great bits recorded in smaller studios located in Shreveport, Lake Charles, and a variety of tiny scenes in the southwest side of Louisiana – and the result is a great batch of tunes with a really gritty, down-n-dirty sound! There's a wealth of great funky styles in the set – including James Brown-inspired jammers, southern soul burners, and some other great modes that show that Louisiana's got a heck of a lot more to offer than just New Orleans funk. Titles include work from the Anla, Murco, Soul International, Goldband, and Tic Toc labels – a total of 22 cuts that include "Soul Time" by Ernest Thomas, "Soul Feeling (parts 1 & 2)" by Eddy G Giles, "Soul Brothers Testify (part 1)" by Chester Randles Soul Senders, "Soul Power" by Abraham & The Casanovas, "Put It On" by Count Rockin Sidney with The Dukes, "Fix It" by Clifton White & His Royal Knights, "Miss Hard To Get" by Dennis Landry, "No Sad Times" by Johnny Truit, "Black Water Gold" by African Music Machine, and "I Got A Groove" by JJ Callier. CD

Really cool cuts from the French club scene of the 70s – a weird and wonderful assortment of sounds that all came from producer Daniel Vangarde and his Zagora Record label – a place where all sorts of criss-crossing styles could work together in a really wonderful way! Some moments have cool moogy electronics, others take off from funky French soundtrack productions, and others echo the currents of soul and global music that was getting a chance to try something new in the French studios – clearly given plenty of the right inspiration from Vangarde himself! Most of these cuts never got release in the US, and the selection of tracks is wonderful – a very fresh take on territory we thought we knew already – on selections that include "Midemman (Theme Midem 74)" by The Lovelets, "Dancin Machine" by Who's Who", "I'm Looking For Jeremy" by Soul Iberica Band, "Laugh" by La Boca, "Voyager II (12" version)" by Starbow, "Moog Jealousy" by The Electronic System, "Des Que T'As Dit Disco T'As Tout Dit (ext)" by Rocky & Vandella, "Kono Samourai" by Yamasuki, "Greek Girls" by The Great Disco Bouzuki Band, "Let Me Love You Tonight" by Vicky Edimo, "Come To America (disco inst)" by Gibson Brothers, "La Nuit Des Requins" by La Compagnie Creole, "AIE (A Mwana)" by Black Blood, and "La Poursuite" by Daniel Vangarde himself. CD

Cool cuts from around the globe – all brought together in one wonderfully funky set! The music here all draws heavily from American funk and psych styles – and often uses some slightly different instrumentation, or more regional inflection – to make the usual psych funk styles sound even more groovy and exotic – in a mindblowing way that makes the entire set a real musical delight! Most tracks are instrumental – heavy on drums and fuzzy guitar – but there's a few vocal moments, too – and the funk current is super-strong, way more so than on other collections that promise a heavy bottom, but usually just present offbeat psych. Titles include "Jet Pop" by Bana Pop Band, "Foxy Lady" by 49th Blue Streak, "Karate Chop" by The Tijuana Brats, "Stari Dvorac" by Pro Arte, "Nie Przejziemy Do Historii" by Krzysztof Klenczon, "Louis Louis" by Friar Tuck, "Time Of Machines" by Sergio Ferraresi, and "The Shaman's Dance" by Alexandr Sergeyevich. CD

A mountain of funk from one of the greatest soul labels of all time! Stax is known round the world over for their soulful work – by singers like Otis Redding or Carla Thomas, and instrumental tunes by Booker T & The MGs – but the label was also quite a funky powerhouse – especially as the 60s drew to a close, and the management of the company got a lot hipper, and a heck of a lot more musically open-minded! This killer batch of tracks features 21 numbers from those days – including many obscure and funky tunes that only ever came out on singles, or which were recorded by artists that never made it as big as Stax stars from earlier years. The result of all that obscurity is an extremely fresh selection of tracks – plenty of down-n-dirty funky 45 numbers, played by hip Memphis combos, and featuring some really deep soul vocals. Titles include "Dark Skin Woman" by Sir Mack Rice, "Ain't No Sin" by John Kasandra, "Bump & Boogie" by The Wrecking Crew, "Shame On The Family Name" by Calvin Scott, "Cool Strut" by Bernie Hayes, "Bump Mean" by Sir Mack Rice, "Soul Machine" by Reggie Milner, "How Can You Mistreat The One You Love" by Katie Love, "Cold Blooded" by The Bar Kays, "Do The Side Saddle" by Rufus Thomas, "Stay Away From That Monkey" by Jimmy McCracklin, "Them Hot Pants" by Lee Sain, "Devil In A Man" by Stu Gardner, "Circuits Overloaded" by Inez Foxx, "From Toys To Boys" by The Emotions, "Got It Together (parts 1 & 2)" by Rudy Robinson & The Hungry Five, and "Crosscut Saw" by Albert King. CD

The sounds here aren't that unusual at all – and in fact, they're mostly pretty darn groovy – a superb selection of sound library funk from the glory days of the European scene – collected here together in support of the book of the same name! In case you're new to the scene – the Euro sound library world of the 60s and 70s was a place where extremely creative musicians could come together and create their own sort of grooves without a worry for placement on the record charts – as most of these cuts were locked in the vaults, then licensed briefly for use on radio, TV, or commercials – which led to a few of these gems getting some famous, but anonymous play on classic cop or crime shows at the time. The compilation brings together some of the best examples of this scene – loads of cuts that have been our favorites over the years – a whopping 20 tracks that include "Half Forgotten Daydreams" by John Cameron, "Funky Fanfare" by Keith Mansfield, "Weeping Eelgrass" by Mladen Franko, "Mild Maniac" by Peter Patzer, "Dream Number Two" by Roland Hollinger, "Soft Wind" by Gary Pacific Orchestra, "Tropicola" by Stringtronics, "Survivor" by Klaus Weiss, "La Dimonstrazione" by Daniele Patucchi, "Feeling Tense" by Stefano Torossi, "Xenos Cosmos" by Janko Nilovic, "Night Breeze" by Franco Micalizzi, and "Fancy Good" by Electric Machine. (Sound Library, Funky Compilations) CD