Schema (Italy), 2020. New Copy
The cover image is a bit different than the modernist images usually used for records by Italian maestro Gerardo Frisina, and the sound is a bit different too – maybe less Latin or Brazilian than some of his previous records, but still filled with lots of percussion at the core! There's ...
Irma (Italy), 2024. New Copy
A great return to form for Lainz, a group from the Italian scene way back in the early years of Irma Records – appearing here with a fresh update on their trademark approach to funky jazz! The style is great – much warmer and actually much more classic than their older material – ...
Irma (Italy), 2024. New Copy
A second set of grooves from the V Mode project of Vito Lalinga – tracks that are very much in the best tradition of Irma Records, as they mix together warmer funky touches with more contemporary beats and production – all in a way that bridges the world between 70s funk and 21st ...
Schema (Italy), 2024. New Copy
Maybe the most sensitive work we've ever heard from this Italian duo – a group who can sometimes be clubby, but who here lay back a bit more in the pacing of their rhythms, which allows for more introspection and careful consideration in the music! There's a range of different singers on the ...
Schema (Italy), 2024. New Copy
Maybe the greatest album to date from Toco – warm, jazzy, and filled with all of the best influences from Brazilian music – served up with live instrumentation that brings even more soul to the music than some of the artist's sparer sessions! Toco since throughout, with this raspy ...
P-Vine (Japan), 2024. New Copy
Japanese beatmaker Kapsoul has clearly found his creative vision while living in LA – where he's opened the door to contributions from a whole host of very hip artists from the scene! There's a few instrumentals here that are great – jazzier numbers, with a great sense of warmth and ...
Favorite (France), 2024. New Copy
Bruno Patchworks is at the top of his game here – mixing classic club elements with a range of influences from global points too – all at a level that seems to revive some of the Parisian club modes of the 70s and 80s, but with a more contemporary vibe overall! Where those earlier ...
Groove It (Italy), 2023. New Copy
Stefano Cosi's the drummer at the core of the album, but he welcomes in a large array of guests, each of whom add in their own melodies and lyrics – in ways that make the album a very warmly collaborative record, maybe a lot more so than you might guess from the moody image on the cover! ...
Far Out (UK), 2024. New Copy
A great take on a wonderful record – as Joaquin Joe Claussell serves up a fresh mix of the excellent Umoja album from Italian jazz maestro Nicola Conte! Claussell's been a huge name in house music for decades, but he's also got a very organic approach – which means that he never tries ...
Easy Tempo (Italy), 1998. New Copy
On the heels of their Sessomato Experience, Easy Tempo release this compilation of older Italian soundtrack grooves – by Luis Bacalov, Armando Trovajoli, Piero Umiliani, and Piero Piccioni – remixed by modern European mixologists – like Kid Loco, Jazz Brothers, Rainer Truby Trio, ...
Minipan (Italy), 2024. New Copy (pic cover)
A killer cut, and one that brings back the vocals of Paul Randolph in a really wonderful way – set to this jazzy groove that features keyboards from Mark De Clive-Lowe, who also produced the track! There's plenty of other live instrumentation in the track too – guitar, percussion, and ...
Gearbox (UK), 2016. New Copy
A really cool live set from Nitin Sawhney – definitely working here "unplugged", as you might guess from the image on the cover! Yet Nitin's also not solo – as there's a cool combo here that features work tablas, bansuri, and cello – plus just a bit of electricity on ...
Kindred Spirits (Netherlands), 2006. New Copy
70s spiritual soul jazz lives again – in this righteous tribute to the late John Coltrane! The incredible collection is filled with wonderful tracks both classic and current – and is a great bridge between the first waves of this kind of music at the end of the 60s, and the ...
Lone Figures, 2024. New Copy
Joe Acheson works here with a group he originally described as an "imagined orchestra" – but which here is actually a relatively large group of musicians coming together to follow Joe's lead! The players shift from track to track, and Joe himself handles a lot of the ...
Record Kicks (Italy), 2018. New Copy
Calibro 35 have grown a heck of a lot in the last ten years – from a group who already had a strong ear for vintage soundtrack and sound library funk – to one who've definitely brought a lot of their own ideas to the music too! The sound here is razor sharp and right on the money ...
Z Records (UK), 2023. New Copy 2CD
You might know Dave Lee under his other name of Joey Negro, which has long been associated with some of the best clubby cuts on both sides of the Atlantic – but whatever the case, whoever the name, the man himself has always given us nothing but top-shelf work – a tradition that's ...
Irma (Italy), 2013. New Copy 2LP
A great return to form for the LTJ Experience – exactly the kind of tight grooves and soulful sounds that made Luca Trevisi such a standout in earlier years of the Italian club scene! The style here is really back to basics – somewhere between the spareness of the post-disco years and ...
Irma (Italy), 2024. New Copy 2LP
A great tribute to the longstanding sound of the Irma Records label – an Italian imprint who first rose up during the big years of acid jazz, then went on to deliver a range of different grooves over the past 30 years! The set focuses on work that really hits that old school Irma vibe – ...
Axis, 2023. New Copy 2LP Gatefold
A very cool project – one that was initiated by the late Tony Allen in collaboration with Detroit keyboardist/percussionist Jeff Mills – and which is carried forth here by a trio with a really soaring, far-reaching vibe! Percussion is at the core – played both by Mills and by ...
Schema (Italy), 2023. New Copy 2LP Gatefold
Gerardo Frisina always seems to give us joyful sounds – but this time around, that might be the case more than ever – as the album's overflowing with all sorts of lively rhythms that are peppered with jazz-based instrumentation! Things are less hard-driving than some of Frisina's ...
Tam Tam/Cinedelic (Italy), 2001. New Copy 2LP Gatefold
A really cool classic from this Italian combo – one of the first groups to really get the sound of vintage easy and bossa grooves just right – which they perform here in a mix of original tunes and numbers by famous soundtrack giants like Piero Umiliani and Armando Trovajoli! Rhythms ...
K7 (Germany), 2022. New Copy 3LPs
A very different entry in the DJ Kicks series than usual – as Theo Parrish has created a whole new set of exclusive tracks – working with his underground contemporaries to make a record that's bristling with energy at every twist and turn! And although this series usually comes across ...
Schema (Italy), 2024. New Copy
Maybe the most sensitive work we've ever heard from this Italian duo – a group who can sometimes be clubby, but who here lay back a bit more in the pacing of their rhythms, which allows for more introspection and careful consideration in the music! There's a range of different singers on the ...
Meta, 2023. New Copy Gatefold
Adam Rudolph works here with a whole host of instruments of his own, then opens the door for a huge amount of guests – all of whom help the proceedings come across with an organic, earthy blend of both acoustic and electric instrumental elements! Rudolph himself handles kalimba, keyboards, ...
Brownswood (UK), 2024. New Copy 2LP Gatefold
The first album in a heck of a long time from Galliano – a crucial force on the London scene that exploded in the early years of Gilles Peterson – contemporaries with Brand New Heavies, Incognito, and so many other great bands – finally getting a welcome return here on Peterson's ...
Jazzego (France), 2024. New Copy
A compelling take on Afrobeat modes – served up by a group who mix lots of beats and keyboards in with live production, then serve up a leaner style on the classic mode! There's still plenty of horns in the lineup, and two singers who give the music some focus too – but the core energy ...
Sdban (Belgium), 2024. New Copy 2LP Gatefold
A nicely expanded edition of this great series – one that still presents the contemporary cuts from the European scene that we loved on the first two volumes, but which also goes beyond jazz-based modes to include some very hip sounds in a variety of styles! The music this time around moves ...
M Plant, 2024. New Copy
A really different setting for the saxophone of Afro Funk legend Femi Kuti – as instead of working with a large group, he just blows here alongside the keyboard creations of Robert Hood – in a mode that makes for a really wonderful album all the way through! The tracks are each just ...
2000 Black (UK), 2022. New Copy
Dego is fantastic here, and maybe more strongly in song-based territory than on recent records – thanks to some really strong vocals from Samii on a fair bit of the album's tracks! The singer really helps to give the music some focus – taking the amazing energy of Dego's beats, ...
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, & The London Symphony Orchestra
Promises
Luaka Bop, 2021. New Copy Gatefold
A fantastic record, and one of those cases where the presence of the mighty Pharoah Sanders can really transform the sound of a session! We'll admit that we weren't sure what to expect – but at the core, the record is really a set of duets between Pharoah on tenor and Sam Shepherd on ...