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

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: 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: It's more chilly, worldly outsider jazz gear from Barcelona's excellent Rocafort imprint; this time the crew return with the one-man show Kind & Kinky Zoo alongside Adam Gibbons, both making their debut for the label with this smart two-tracker. "Wonder Bra" is a solo mission from K&KZ, a fast-paced drum locomotive with plenty of whistling organs flying around in the high-ends, while Lack Of Afro's remix of "VLAM" by K&KZ and Adam Gibbons is a funkier, more laid-back swinger for a bit of one, two, three four on the dancefloor. Tidy 7" for the soul lovers!

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: Breakdown Brass are more of a collective than a band. These magnetic individuals have all been strumming and trumpeting for decades, the majority being made up of old-school New Yorkers with a passion for soul, funk and brass instruments. They happen to land on Kept Records, which is a fitting home to their prophetic strain of instrumental brass music, and "Harrow" is a true beast of the slo-mo, laid-back, slap-up soul type - one for the Mustang and Wayfarers. "Nautilus (Hijacked)" is a little more uptempo and livelier around both the percussion and the horns, but Breakdown Brass manage to retain that cool, breezy feel throughout.

Review: Hamburg's Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band are as enigmatic and alluring as when they released their first single back in 2007, a tidy funk 7" that was to set the scene for a very particular sort of instrumental sound. "Jungle Fever", out on their own excellent Big Crown imprint, is a 2015 single that is truly hard not to play on repeat; the tune is a delicate yet funked-out blend of raw drums and tropical steel melodies, much like the name of the band already implies! The flipside "Tender Trap" is more broken and loose in its arrangement, something that makes it perhaps even more catchy and provocative than the title track.

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: 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: Well, what a way to inaugurate your label! The newly crowned Spacetalk comes through resolutely correct with this reissue of 1978's "To See One Eagle Fly" by Morrison Kincannon, a psyched-out funk bomb with a glorious blue-eyed soul twist, and a mystical sort of vibe that can proudly sit up there with the likes of Stills, Nash and Young - i.e. proggy but still groovy. There's an extended remix from Mudds, and the man goes for a kind of dub version approach; a new and different tactic to deploy over a rock tune, but effective nonetheless.

Review: Periplo marks the solo debut of Early Sounds Recordings co-founder Pellegrino S. Snichelotto, following occasional contributions to other material from the label's extended family of artists. Interestingly, the six-track set shares some stylistic similarities with friends' Nu Guinea's Tony Allen Experiments mini-album, chiefly the producer's delay and reverb-laden fusion of live instruments and vintage analogue hardware. Stylistically, most of the tracks sit somewhere between jazz-funk, cosmic funk, and the kind of melodious Afro-Cosmic fare that was once a staple of Northern Italy's eccentric club scene. There's plenty of hazy musical humidity to enoy, too, with the impeccable "Ad Libitum" standing out.

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: 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: The Soul Immigrants are D'Pac and Yogi Patel, two UK-born brothers that have collaborated with Detroit's finest over the years, striking up partnerships with respected house gurus such as Chez Damier and Kevin Saunderson. They've released steadily over the '90s and 2000s, but 2016 marks fifteen years since their last release together, and this funky 7" for Dry Rooti feels like the perfect comeback. "Yard Of Hard" is a delightful funk swinger with Fred Wesley's silly vocals running above the arrangement; it's the sort of tune that instantly calls for the dance floor. There's an instrumental cut for the DJs on the flipside...

Review: With a refreshed label design, the Originals series seems in no trouble of running out of steam any time soon as catalogue number 30 hones into view. The 29th rinky dinky Originals squares the focus on Art Blakey's "Stretching" with one of the world's best DJs, J Rocc, offering up a fine 45 treatment of the Jazz classic on the A Side. Representing the sample flip on the flip is Digable Planets and "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" which deftly pulled out the horns and bassline from Blakey's original and looped them up for what is now regarded as an early '90s hip hop classic.

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: Number 30 in the originals series highlights the link between Dynavoice Records and the Daisy Age hip hoppers who sampled many of the label's releases. We are of course talking about Posdnuos, Dave, and Maseo, aka De La Soul, with Originals wisely squaring attentions on the Northern Soul monster "Soup" by Maggie Thrett and the De La classic "Jenifa Taught Me" which featured ample sampleage. This Originals edition of "Soup" is the first time it's been available in the 7" format since it's initial release in 1965 and is the sort of cut you can drop in a funk jam and see the crowd melt. What more is there to say about "Jenifa Taught Me"? It's a classic mate!

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: Rare funk and soul connoisseurs Athens Of The North uncover four gems from one of the most interesting men in funk history. The man behind "Funky Nassau", Raphael Munnings really should have had a much bigger career than he did. Fortunately AOTN have recovered these four near-misses to ensure they're big hits for us... From the warm horns and Bahaman lilt of "Opportunity Knocking" to the organ and guitar heavy "Sleep On, Dream On" (think Booker T meets Hendrix) via the Gaye-style funk soul vibrancy of "Takin You Higher" this is a very special selection that pays respect to an unsung hero.

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!