Kaidi Tatham takes on some of the best cuts from the Reel People label and makes them even better – adding all sorts of the jazzy keyboard work you might guess from the cover image, and definitely moving them into the territory of clubby fusion too! Almost all the cuts have a soulful singer in the lead – still kept to the forefront, as Tatham strips out some of the older elements, cleans up the cuts, and adds in lots of his own keyboards and rhythms – plus fresh bass and percussion too – all to really transform the tunes! Titles include Kaidi Tatham reworks of cuts that include "Pedigree" by Daz I Kue with Hadiya George, "All Of My Life" by Sebb Junior with Paula, "On The Road" by The Realm x Atjazz x Kelli Sae, "Fly" by Tony Momrelle, "I Want To Thank You" by Reel People with Mica Paris, "Don't Give Up" by Aaries, "Losin My Head" by Monkey Brothers with Shaun Escoffery, and "Save A Lil Love" by Reel People with Eric Roberson. LP, Vinyl record album

Sublime future jazz from Alex Attias – one of the key forces in the cosmic London scene of the 21st Century, stepping out here in a long-awaited full-length set that served up the full complement of his talents! As you'd expect from Alex, there's plenty of snapping beats and spacey keys on the set – an extrapolation of 70s funky jazz, into the spacier and headier realm that's been explored by Attias and the best of his contemporaries on recent singles. But over and above the high quality usual, there's also a farther-reaching set of rhythms and modes of expression going on here – as Alex uses the freedom of the full-length to work in modes that are sometimes subtler, sometimes more experimental – occasionally just grooving instrumentally, but also getting plenty of help from guest stars that include Vanessa Freeman, Jessica Lauren, Bembe Segue, Colonel Red, and Mark De Clive-Lowe. Tracks include "Help Me", "Closer To Me", "Future Jazz", "In The Jungle", "Back Home", "Everchanging Times", "Darker Side Of Light", "Angels", "Confusion", and "Transformation". CD

The feather light, atmospheric beats and aural scenery we've come to expect from Kieran Hebden splinter out hard and heavy in the frentic opener "A Joy" on Everything Ecstatic – fair warning that Kieran's Four Tet isn't going to fall into realm of expectation without a fight! Kieren has dabbled in ambient jazz, post rock and Jay Dee-influenced hip hop beat craft on previous albums and singles, and he's running the gamut pretty well on this effort – managing to catch us off guard just when we're ready to settle into a groove. Tracks include "A Joy", "Smile Around The Face", "Sun Drums And Soil", "Turtle Turtle Up", "High Fives", "Sleep, Eat Food, Have Visions", ". . .You Were There With Me" and more. CD

The 3rd album by The Dining Rooms – and the best so far! These guys have really matured from earlier outings – moving into a sophisticated realm of downtempo soundscapes crafted with a great deal of care, and which are put together with a lot more than simple tricks and gimmicks. There's loads of really solid tunes in here – sly numbers that sneak up on you with a subtle approach to the craft, gently burrowing in and taking root – somehow making the album that much more compelling overall. A number of tracks have some wonderfully languid vocals, some male and some female – and these tunes fall nicely next to instrumental numbers with a very evocative approach. Titles include "Anima Per Amarti", "Tunnel", "La Citta Nuda", "Fluxus", "Flamenco Sketches", "Dreamy Smiles", "You", "African Loungesters", and a nice cover of Sun Ra's "Astro Black"! CD

Classic jazz for the 21st century – a treasure trove of tunes from Verve Records, all remixed for the modern dancefloor! The set's the second in Verve's Remixed series – and unlike the first, which focused mostly on vocal numbers, this one throws in some instrumental killers that are among some of our favorite in the catalog! The overall groove is much more expanded from the first session – way past the standard of floating vocals, keys, and beats – into a realm of abstract jazz that really gets at the heart of the project! 14 tracks in all – with "Manteca" by Dizzy Gillespie remixed by Funky Lowlives, "Here's That Rainy Day" by Astrud Gilberto remixed by Koop, "Naima's Love Song" by Betty Carter remixed by DJ Spinna, "Fried Neckbones & Some Home Fries" by Willie Bobo remixed by Dan The Automator, "Soul Sauce" by Cal Tjader remixed by Fila Brasillia, "Do What You Wanna" by Ramsey Lewis remixed by Mr Scruff, "Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair" by Nina Simone remixed by Jaffa, "Mama" by Hugh Masekela remixed by Metro Area, "Whatever Lola Wants" by Sarah Vaughan remixed by Gotan Project, "Blues For Brother George Jackson" by Archie Shepp remixed by Mondo Grosso, and "Brother Where Are You" by Oscar Brown Jr remixed by Matthew Herbert. (Funky Compilations, New Grooves) CD

Cro-Magnon returns with a killer batch of cosmic grooves and electro funk jams – full of spacey synths, thunderous drums & percussion, and fusiony jazz funk – glorious grooves from one of the leading combos in the cosmic realm of the Japanese scene! The core Cro Magnon crew is just the 3 piece of percussionist Shigekazu Otake, guitar/bass/programming guru Tusuyoshi Kusuga and Takumi Kaneko on the keys– but they get a little help in the studio by a couple of horns from the mighty Soil & Pimp Sessions crew – sax by Motoharu and trumpet by Tabu Zombie, on the excellent "Chase After The Shadow" track – plus some addional percussion and vocals for the intro & outro. If Cro-Magnon's debut was a bit heavier with straight up keyboard heavy fusion funk, Great Triangle shoots further into the cosmos – full of ultra hypnotic jams with an insistent groove! Titles include "Riding The Storm", "ECLIPSE", "Keep Me Satisfied", "La Fusion", "SPARKLING", "Sign Of Fire", Take Me Higher" and "New Horizon". (Deep Funk, New Grooves) CD

A blistering batch of soulful house tracks from Japan's Yukihiro Fukutomi – one of the best records of its type we've heard in years, and an instant classic in our book! The album features guest vocals by Liane Carroll, Carolyn Harding, and Josh Milan from Blaze – but the strongest talent on the set is Fukutomi – whose talent for blending soulful rhythms, acoustic percussion, and warm keyboards blows away most other work of the type we've heard! Tracks are all uptempo, but they've got a deeply beating heart that takes them way past house music, and into the realm of 21st Century Soul! Titles include "Just A Dream", "Missing", "Expressions", "In Time", "The Spinning Wheel", "Play Back", and the anthemic "Love Each Other". CD

A decade since their previous effort, and 14 years since their previous masterpiece, Portishead returns with Third – and, oh, what a mindblowing third act. The first thing you'll realize about Third is that it's not Dummy Part 3 – a welcome and surprising trait – but it does take their earlier way with a spooky, brooding and ominous framework to new dimensions. Secondly, there's no obvious single – it's to be taken as a whole. Beth Gibbons's vocals are as soul wrenching as ever, and an overall stark, melancholic beauty connects Portishead '08 to the old stuff, but they go deeper. Some bits are quite minimalist, wringing emotion from a low strum, a distant chime, or a haunting bit of dissonance – other parts are more richly layered and even a bit jarring. Pulp cinematic aura, feedback textured psychedelia, haunting European pop, and traces of field recorded folk flavor the sound – they've dabbled in all of these elements before – but never with this particular feel. The sound of epiphany. How many acts in the pop realm create a whole new style with a classic album, and then pull off something nearly as great almost 15 years later, without ripping themselves off? Add Portishead to that small list. We'll call '08 early, this is the best pop album of the year. Titles include "Silence", "Hunter", "Nylon Smile", "The Rip", "We Carry On", "Deep Water", "Machine Gun", "Small", "Magic Doors", "Threads". CD

We totally loved Reel People's Seven Ways To Wonder album – and this special remix set is equally great – a package of wonderful new versions that features work from a host of hip producers! The set has all the soulful spirit of the original album, but also takes off in some more spaciously soaring modes too – a mix of British cosmic touches and classic instrumental roots – both of which really show up in some of the mixes here! Vocals are by Omar, Tony Momrelle, and Tasita D'Mour – and titles include "Outta Love (4 Hero rmx)", "It Will Be (Kyoto Jazz Massive rmx)", "Love Is Where You Are (The Realm rmx)", "Alibi (Rasmus Faber rmx)", "Amazing (Jon Cutler's distant music mix)", "Upside (Bugz upside mix)", "Upside (Pete Kuszma rmx)", "Love Is Where You Are (Orto rmx)", and "Anything You Want (Domu rmx)". 12 tracks in all! CD

One of the biggest-selling albums ever on the Blue Note label – even though the music here started out in the realm of copyright infringement! Back in the early 90s, the British duo used a big Herbie Hancock sample for an underground club cut – and when Blue Note heard about the track, not only did they not challenge them, they signed them to the label, encouraged them to dig deep into the back catalog – and began a trend that started a huge amount of jazz sample-based records for decades to come! If you know Blue Note, you'll hear plenty of familiar moments here – recast as dance cuts on titles that include the hit "Cantaloop", built up from Herbie Hancock's "Cantaloupe Island" – plus "I Got It Goin On", "Different Rhythms", "Eleven Long Years", "Lazy Day", "Cruisin", and "I Go To Work". CD

An even deeper set than Medline's previous record – still very much in the mode of classic jazz and fusion styles, but done much more in his own voice as well – to a point where it's far more than just a rehash of familiar sounds from the 70s! Instead, Medline almost re-imagines keyboard jazz for the 21st Century – not like some of the nujazz or broken beat artists of a decade before, who were coming from dance music first – but instead very much on his own, without any need to lace a tune with a groove to get it across. Stainless Steele presents a rhyme on one track, but the rest of the set is instrumental – and titles include "When Truth Blasts", "Realm Of Barbelo", "Power To The People", "Old Souls Carnival", "Flying Dervishes", and "Wild Sour". CD