DJS: MOST CHARTED - FUNK - MOST CHARTED IN MAY 2016

Review: Two Gilles Peterson classics on one 7 inch !! As per usual, the unstoppable Mukatsuku delivers the undeliverable, and somehow the label boss Nik Weston has managed to license a pair of sought after tunes to find on the second-hand market. It's the second instalment of the Club Jazz series with this 45 a Hungary vs France sound clash.Hungary easily wins this one thanks to the sublime rhythm that is "Bamba" by Dimenzio, an inimitable jazz-dance leviathan that manages to mash-up all the right elements of jazz together with something a little weirder and electronic - a truly supreme piece of music that is recommended to ANYONE. Marius Culter's "Diamant" is a high calibre jazz funk missile, and works beautifully as a stand-alone, but its somewhat swamped by the sheer quality of its counterpart. Recommended. As played by Dean Rudland, Mr Thing, Ashely Beedle, Faze Action,Red Greg,Scrimshire,Frank Booker,Nancy Noise and Pete from On The Corner Records etc

Review: One doesn't usually associate Italy with funk music on a gospel tip, but this is exactly what's happened on the third outing from fledgling label Cannonball. The Jackson Bros, a still mysterious outfit on our end, throw down the absolute truth on the vocal edit of "Thank You", a glorious and majestic pseudo disco ride that'll please everyone from dad to grandma. The instro cut is firmly in place for all your dance floor needs.

Review: When it comes to the very best in motown and vintage, Michigan-schooled soul, there are very few betteer than the late, great Erma Franklin. Here, we have what is possibly the artist's best and most powerful tune "Hold On, I'm Coming", one that you'll instantly recognise and warm to thanks to that lovely, powerful crescendo on the chorus. On the B-side, another absolutely timeless bomb, the wonderful "Light My Fire" - made famous through The Doors - in all its original glory and style. What a song.

Review: Originally out on the Practice What You Preach album from 1993, "The Plan" by German funkateers Poets of Rhythm has never been pressed up as a single, but has always remained much sought-after by the funk heads, and why wouldn't it be? It's got it all: a James Brown kind of sleaziness backed by a jump-up groove and a sliding set of organs. Wallace Brothers feature on the flip, with the rare funk blazer by the name of "What Cha Feel Is What Cha Get", a rare floor-dominator now available for your turntable. Records are your friends, Mukatsuku leads the way! As played by Mr Thing,Snowboy,Dean Rudland,Smoov etc

Review: UK funk outfit spearheaded by drummer Mike Bandoni returns to the source with a pressing of the original version of "The Strut". A sweaty, Hammond-snapping, break-busting jam with slippery wah wah guitars all laid down by Mike himself. It was a freaky gem when first dropped on the band's debut album in 2008 but this previously unheard and unreleased version is even heavier! Flip for a brand new original: "Spiritual Interlude II (The Heist)". A deeper groove driven by Bandoni's stately breaks and laced with ghostly organs care of co producer Nino Auricchio that rise like voodoo spirits throughout the track. Serious stuff. And only 300 pressed, too.

Review: In amidst a veritable deluge of seven inch-shaped sharpness from Japan's crucial Soul Garden label this week comes this absolute must grip 45 session from Q.A.S.B. The nine-piece Tokyo funkateers have been holding it down since 2005 and this seven picks out a horn heavy highlight from last year's Q.A.S.B. III LP in the shape of "Good Guy." Throwing down a similar vibe to the Quantic Soul Orchestra, this track is all about the lead vocal from Amy A and those warm, tooting horns. Face down and QASB engage flipmode, slowing the tempo down and cranking the sass up on "Bad Boy". If seven inches were vegetables this would be one hot pepper!

Review: Seen on the regular alongside fellow colluder Jim Dunloop, dusty-fingered German funkateer Marc Hype returns for another round of 7" action on the ever-dependable Dusty Donuts label. Up top, Hype teams up with Naughty NMX for a heavy duty tweak of James Brown classic "The Get Down" with the added weight to the drums really sounding fresh on a good system. "Pays the cost to be the boss" indeed! Naughty NMX goes solo on the B side, retreating another J Brown standard "I Got Ants In My Pants" with some added Public Enemy - the results speak for themselves. Good work all round.

Review: J Rocc is rightly hailed as one of the best DJs out there, in possession of a vast music knowledge and the skills to deploy it with party-killing effect behind the decks. Last year saw J Rocc launch the Funky Presidents Edits series with the first two 7"s selling out immediately! We expect a similar situation with this third volume which leads out with a killer edit of Earth Wind & Fire classic "Brazilian Rhythm". That classic vocal harmony meets an equally iconic drum break with J Rocc's edit mastery coming to the fore over the course of the cut. The Bonus Beats version on the flip means the more dextrous DJs out there might want to consider doubling up on this beauty.

Review: Fresh from 72: Two enormously influential funk gems from Jimmy Castor bunch's debut album It's Just Begun: The heavily-sampled title track is a veritable racecourse of a groove, hurtling around with cyclical glee and hooky chanting vocals while "Troglodyte" is a playful observation on man's more basic wants and needs. Both have aged exceedingly well... As has almost all of Jimmy Castor's work.

Review: In a week where there's been a veritable flood of vinyl-shaped goodness from Athens Of The North, this 7" stood out still. Look up the meaning of Deep Funk online and the smarter cookies will have this New World 7", The World Today, listed as a prime example; a huge cut for the master Keb Darge back at the turn of the 21st century and a very record whose original copies trade hands for silly money. Recorded and released back in 1974 for Frank Virtue's Philly label Virtue Records, both cuts from the 7" have been kindly licensed to Athens Of The North by the man's daughters. Form an orderly queue, thank the Virtues, thank DJ Fryer, and cherish this gem of a deep funk 7!

Review: Come on, its 2016, of course there are soul bands from Russia. More specifically, there's soul bands from Russia that make absolutely incredible music, and The Soul Surfers are one of them. They've been busy over the last 6-7 years, and the Spasibo label have been instrumental in getting their sound across to the masses. "Vladimir's Groove" is deep, funky and wet, filled with an awesome slap-back bass, a trippy cascade of organs and just a general feeling of "yeah". "Igor's Groove" is slower, more laid-back and possibly even better and bolder, bringing out the best out of this band and solidifying them as serious contenders for best soul kings of the post 2000's. A band to watch - keep 'em peeled!

Review: Austin Boogie Crew Records return with a fourth release, turning to San Francisco's foremost exponents of modern funk, Starship Connection. Starship members B.Bravo & Teeko have been leading the scene for years and the Intergalactic Funkateers arrive on Austin Boogie Crew brandishing a deadly modern funk cover of Zapp classic "Heartbreaker." Recorded and released digitally last year to pay homage to talkbox don Roger Troutman on the 16th anniversary of his passing, the cut now makes the overdue transfer to 45 and sounds all the better for it. Driven by talkbox harmonies, cracking drums, thumping bass, and slick halftime break downs, Starship puts their signature twist on a classic. Complementing this, the Starship Connection lay a sweet and soulful exclusive on the flip in the shape of "Do It For U."

Review: LA's Orgone crew are specialists in smooth, seductive soul music, and you could say that the band is waving the flag very high in the air for the continuation and health of the genre. It was their original material on Ubiquity back in the early 2000's that gave them their fame, but these two new nuggets on Colemine are pretty on-point in terms of dancefloor destruction: "Do What You Came Here To Do" is a rough and twisted sex bomb that sounds like it was made in '76 - a tune that would make a great addition to a Quentin Tarantino flick - and the "Ronin" instrumental is simply a great, devastating piece of instrumentation for you to get DOWN to.

Review: Fruit released one single in 1978: the audaciously funky "If You Like It Say Yeah". A staple for those-in-the-know, it regularly passes hands for triple figures. It transpires that the band also recorded an album which, until now, has never seen the light of day. Madness! Thanks to Athens Of The North's digging/negotiating skills, for the first ever we can imbibe the turbo charged jazz of "Say It", we can shake ourselves sweaty to the rampant funk of "Life Is A Challenge" and we can get super freaky to the bee's nest bass and p-funk wiliness of "Fruit Of The Universe". We can plenty more too... That's only three of 10 unreleased gems on here. Magic.

Review: Instanbul's Ozdemir Erdogan is a prolific psych-jazz musician who is at the heart of the whole Turkish 70s scene, a decade that saw a huge amount of incredible music being released from the country. "Uyanis" and "Zenci Yuruyusu" are the tunes reissued here, and they couldn't be wilder and hotter; the organs are flying from angle to angle and bouncing off petty much anything in their way, while the persuasion is driving and gritty, and the horns add that little extra spice to the equation. This 7' is limited and the original is rather hard to find, so act fast.

Review: Fancy a whirlwind trip around soul and funk's most evocative moments and talented individuals with sliver tongued tour guide whose prose flow like lyrical sweet nectar? Look. No. Further. Frequent Stevie Wonder collaborator, lyricist, radio show host (both in the US and in the UK on the BBC for spell in the 80s) and certified G, Gary's genius two-part homage to 60s/70s soul and funk is a genuine work of wonder. Essential.

Review: Tennessee's legendary jazz pianist, Harold Mabern, is surely one of the kings of the mighty Prestige label, and his material helped bridge the gap between jazz and funk back in the 1970s, alongside the likes of Idris Muhammad, The Jimmy Castor Bunch and all those geniuses. "I Want You Back" is a stone-cold classic and contains one of the most hummable trumpet lines ever, and if you hear closely it's been reworked and sampled by none other than the King of pop when he was only a little one. Funk Inc's sublime "Sister Janie" resides on the flip, a more lo-fi funk bullett for the diggers, and complete with a dusty organ!

Review: "Good Fight" by Templebys is one of those hidden, hard-to-find funk gems that belong only to the most frantic of collectors out there - or is it? Well, it sounds and looks like it should be, but in reality it's new music recorded in 2015. This is Funkaphrenic's first release, and the title tune is simply marvellous, a liquid-like soul bomb with a funky edge and one hell of a mean groove - top of the funk charts this week, without a doubt! On the flip of the 7", you'll find "Funkaphrenic" itself, a fast-paced, organ-charged monster to lift the dance floor and get all the dancers shakin'.

Review: The Foster Jackson Group are one of those forgotten but highly coveted one-hit disco wonders that exist in the bottomless pit that is often classed simply as 'soul'. All that aside, these people made an incredible 12" back in 1979 that has been going for serious bucks on the second-hand market, but thankfully the prodigious P&P Records have saved the day yet again. "Feel The Spirit" is a devilish, inimitable disco jingle that is split between the more percussion ridden "Long Disco Version", and a more contained, more floor-focussed "Disco Version" They both contain that instantly addictive dose of piano, though. Check it out, you'll know what we mean...