Back catalogue: Funk/Reissues

Review: Over the course of two fine, full-length excursions, Don Glori (real name Gordon Li) has perfected a warm, breezy and frequently life-affirming trademark sound that cannily joins the dots between jazz, samba, MPB, jazz-funk and soul. He leans into the latter elements more on summery third set Paper Can't Wrap Fire, drawing on the talents of a wealth of Melbourne music friends across nine sublime tracks. There's much to admire throughout, from the sun-soaked jazz-funk/soul fusion of 'Brown Eyes' and summery head-nodder 'Janet', to the spiritual jazz joy of 'Song For Ants', the Brazilian brilliance of 'Precious' and the oceans-deep nu-jazz shuffle of 'Saturn's Return'.

Review: Soul legend Isaac Hayes' enduring legacy as a soul visionary echoes through this second volume of his singles, which picks up from where the first left off. The collection spans 1972 to 1976, a time when Hayes transitioned from Stax to his own Hot Buttered Soul label. Tracks like 'Hung Up On My Baby' and the relentlessly funky 'Chocolate Chip' showcase his blend of lush orchestration with raw, gritty grooves, a style deeply rooted in the soul-rich streets of Memphis, where Hayes' early musical foundations were laid. As he moved away from Stax's structure, Hayes embraced a new sense of creative freedom, merging cinematic soul with the emerging sounds of disco, perfectly captured in 'Disco Connection'. The production, unpolished and alive, channels the intensity of Hayes' sound from the early 70s, pushing boundaries while remaining deeply personal. This release is a reflection of the man's profound influence on soul music, one that continues to reverberate through generations.

Review: Journey Through Life witnesses Afrobeat pioneer, pallbearer and powerhouse Femi Kuti's very latest transformation in sound, as we witness the artist turn vividly, self-reflectively inward. The LP proposes a rare self-produced window into Femi's personal evolution, spanning childhood memories to fatherhood and, of course, the unshakable presence of family. As he puts it: "At the end of the day for me family is all that matters. The essence is to manage such events and let love prevail." Long celebrated for his uncompromising political voice, Femi leans evermore into an already evident vulnerability, revisiting earlier material through several, pylonic stylistic anchors: his signature horn-laced grooves, not to mention themes of personal legacy and posterity.

Review: Second time around for Royksopp's superb contribution to the popular, post-club focused LateNightTales mix series, a beloved volume that first hit record stores back in 2013. For the uninitiated, it sees the long-serving Norwegian twosome offer up an attractive blend of synth-heavy Scandolearic shufflers (their own cosmic pop number 'Daddy's Groove'), dubbed-out soul (Rare Bird), swelling synth soundtrack fare (Vangelis), neo-classical (Johann Johannsson), reverb-laden accapella beauty (Prelude), sun-soaked blue-eyed soul (Richard Schneider Junior), nods to the KLF's Chill Out album (Acker Bilk), seductive slow jams (Byrnes & Barnes), vintage Balearica (Andreas Vollenweider, John Martyn) and atmospheric new wave (XTC, This Mortal Coil).

Review: The Nighttime Lovers series, which deftly showcases the forgotten and overlooked corners of 1980s disco, electrofunk and synth-powered dancefloor soul, reaches its 36th instalment. As you'd expect given the high number of previous volumes, the selections tend towards the defiantly deep, with more familiar artists being represented by lesser-known treats. So, instead of the much-loved 'Love Me Like That', Reel To Reel offers up the glossier, slap-bass propelled 80s soul of 'Don't Keep Me Hanging On', Cashmere contributes the sweet and tactile 'We Need Love' and GQ drops the eyes-closed lead vocals and horn-heavy peak-time hustle of 'Is It Cool'. Other highlights include Phil Upchruch's Marlena Shaw-sporting 'It's Got To Be You', Linda Clifford's superb 'I Want To Get Away With You' and the squelchy synth-disco of 'Decisions' by Anthony Lockett.