Back catalogue: Funk/Reissues

Review: Thai funk greatness wafts over to the Netherlands from South-East Asia, as we revel in this new, second album from Yin Yin - 'The Age Of Aquarius'. An 8-tracker of gilded and groovy proportions, it's paramount to keep in mind the deft fusion of electronics and acoustics on this album. Also informing on the project are the band's experiences on the road, where the band felt an unexplainable, psychic interplay between their fans' reactions to their performances, and their ability to create even more music.

Review: Described by Glitterbeat as "a simple, direct appeal to dance", Yin Yin's second album, The Age of Aquarius would once have been described as "worldbeat" - dance music that forges Western club styles of the past few decades (electrofunk, Italo-disco, synth-pop and vintage funk) with instrumentation and musical motifs from Southern and South East Asia. Musically, it's as vibrant, exciting and kaleidoscopic as you'd expect, with the Maastricht-based outfit not only proving adept at cross-cultural fusion, but also crafting authentic dancefloor rhythms and tracks that sound surprisingly timeless. Our picks of a very strong bunch include the Indonesian psychedelia of 'Faiyandansu', the throbbing electro-disco shimmer of 'Chon Wang' and the Midnight Magic style NYC nu-disco of 'Nautilus'.

Review: Three years after Ticket to Shangri-La, Young Gun Silver Fox return with a polished showcase of contemporary AOR and blue-eyed soul that could be a long-lost gem, but it isn't, it's all new. The duo of Andy Platts of Mama's Gun and multi-instrumentalist Shawn Lee really deliver here with achingly lush melodies, breezy harmonies and effortlessly smooth vocals that embody their signature mellow sound and tap into all the classics of this genre. From start to finish, Pleasure is steeped in warmth and nostalgia yet feels refreshingly modern and it's a must-have if you like soulful, feel-good pop and yacht rock. With a major European tour ahead, this duo continue to prove they're at the heart of today's AOR revival.

Review: The popular Jazz Is Dead series has put out a wealth of killer tunes headed up by Adrian Younge and now a bunch of them get revisited for this special remix album. It reads like a who's who of contemporary jazz players and opens with none other than broken beat maestro Kadi Tatham. His take on Marcos Valle's 'Gotta Love Again' is a real joy, while there are low fi beat delights from Pink Sifu, chopped up sounds from Cut Chemist and a gloriously sunny and upbeat version of Doug Carn's 'Windfall' by Natureboy Flako who produced Fatima's excellent last album.

Review: The spirit of the lord is strong in this recording from May 2, 1982 when the Youthsound Choir and Stage Band performed at Portland's Jefferson High School, with the 100 strong choir ranging from elementary through to high school students. It's a lively, rowdy affair, where the drums power through and the brass lifts your mood and catapults it skywards. You'll certainly know some of the songs - there's a great version of 'The Greatest Love' that so much less sentimental than the original, for instance - but the performances are unique, as is the intimate live atmosphere, captured perfectly here on what was originally a community radio and cable access broadcast.

Review: Zackery Force Funk released his 4x4 Scorpion album in 2019 and didn't disappoint. It was his 10th overall and there hasn't been one since then, which makes this reissue all the more valuable. Across the 11 jams he combines squelchy analogue boogie sounds with cosmic disco energy and low slung funk swagger with help from some of the finest producers in the game such as XL Middleton. The highlights come thick and fast from the sensors 'Around My Way' to the more dusty hip-hop styles of 'Agony' and jazzed up future retro sounds of 'Lil Dutchie'.

Review: Zackey Force Funk and XL Middleton joined forces on the boogie powered electro-disco album Blue Blade Piranha and served up a journey that fuses funk and electronica in fresh new ways. The album features Zackey's distinctive vocals, known for their raw energy, paired with XL Middleton's unrivalled production prowess. The result is a genre-defying experience, where funky basslines intertwine with futuristic beats that showcase this duo's ability to push sonic boundaries and create a groove-laden soundscape that nods to the past while embracing the cutting edge. With its infectious rhythm and experimental flair, the collaboration stands as a testament to innovation as well as being irresistible to the hips.

Review: Following the success of their standout single 'Feel The Rush,' Zaimie returns with Black Velvet, a lush new long player that blends jazz, funk, soul and global rhythms that all expand on the group's signature sound while remaining rooted in groove and emotion. Each track showcases Zaimie's refined musicianship and evolving songwriting, from silky basslines to soaring melodies on 'New Life' to more horn-led celebrations like 'Weekender Breeze' and sunny vocal charmers like 'Can't Do Without It'. Black Velvet feels timeless and contemporary and makes for a confident step forward for Zaimie, who are ever more polished and full of soul.

Review: Melbourne-rooted Ziggy Zeitgeist started his future jazz collective Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange in London, but now it's firmly established in Berlin and you can hear it in the vibe on this new record. Striking a sweet spot between the strict 4/4 pulse of the German capital's cultural calling card and the expressive lilt of spiritual jazz, Zeitgeist and co. have created a tight new extrapolation of jazz's modern flirtations with club music. Let 'Galaxy' unfurl around you, and you could quite picture being mid-flow on the dancefloor as much as the elevated musicianship cavorts around the motorik pulse, even if the band don't need to rely on a kick drum to guide them.

Review: Denny Zeitlin is a US jazz maestro perhaps best known for his work on the Invasion Of The Body Snatchers soundtrack. On this release for Now Again, we get treated to an unreleased 1969 LP he recorded with Mel Graves and George Marsh, previously only available as an acetate or limited private pressing. It's a powerful and expansive work with Zeitlin's limber piano playing up front, but reaching across styles in a fusion which gets seriously funky in some places, positively cosmic in others. The title track alone is a 12-minute opus which will take you far and wide, like all the best jazz should.

Review: Iconic label Strut have really hit their stride in 2010 with a veritable slew of retrospectives, compilations and artist albums covering everything from disco to Sowetan Jazz. They round off a fine year with the auspicious introduction of a new series of mixes called Disconnect with Leo Zero at the helm. The concept behind this series is to invite Strut's favourite DJs and producers to explore the darker, more extreme corners of their record collection. Armed with this creative freedom, Leo Zero has delivered 75 minutes of delightfully subversive music that sets the standard high for subsequent volumes. Commencing with the lilting afro beat of Desmond & The Tutus - surely Tigersushi's most underrated act? - Leo draws on his fifteen years experience as a DJ and producer with a Balearic mix in the truest sense, veering effortlessly between spiky 80s punk funk, reggae that sound tracked Zero's Soulsonic parties, a Sting cover version, nu beat chuggers, kraut rock and EBM throbbers. This is an invitation to consume the lesser broadcasted reaches of a record collection you should not turn down. Golf claps to Strut for including a bonus CD that has eleven of the tracks in unmixed format!