Hip-Hop Vinyl New Releases - News

Tashan, we believe is one of the greatest soul singers of modern times who first became known as a solo artist for his debut album 'Chasin A Dream' on Def Jam in 1986. There wasn't many better released soul albums in the 1980s. Tashan released was his 'Life Goez On' album in 2002. This album was only ever released on CD. We are releasing in partnership with Tashan two songs from the album in 'This Could Be' and 'After Hours.'

Soopasoul is an enigmatic producer, who's purist approach to jazz, funk and soul music has resonated with DJs, break-dancers, music connoisseurs, critics and casual listeners alike. Since furthering his legacy by creating a hugely successful edits series, Soopasoul returns with some more original cuts in the shape of 'A Wild Mad Beat' and 'Swing Down'.

'A Mad Wild Beat' does exactly what it says on tin. Kicking things off with a tough break that knocks so delightfully hard, this energetic vibe moves swiftly into a lead sax being given the freedom front and centre to flow over tight horn stabs, guitar licks, percussion and a monster of a bassline.

But it doesn't stop there. 'Swing Down' switches things up on the flip, with it's up-tempo feel-good rare groove. The band are in full swing here, deftly providing the playful call-and-response to the sexy call-to-action found in the lyrics, all skilfully delivered with the intention to get the dancefloor into the right mood to party all night long.

Repress of the funky instrumental 45 by The Soul Investigators featuring Jimi Tenor!

For those into sounds from the deep dungeons of the soul jazz underground, the 2nd quarter of 2015 looks promising. Out of its mist come The Soul Investigators in a slick red convertible, featuring a mean flautist riding shotgun, a position we Finns like to call the seat for those in fear. The velvet smooth winds emanate from none other than Jimi Tenor, a person some might even describe as a renaissance man.

The sufficiently psychedelic jazzier exercise "Vulture's Prayer" should get your mind wondering into a turn of the 70's London, featuring a hippie gone bad, smacked out in furs in a hedonistic basement bacchanal, just before discovering himself at the opening desert scene of the "Holy Mountain". Flipping the disc over to "Bad Vibrations" we find ourself in a more funkier urban setting, possibly at a Yusuf Lateef inspired bar session in Chicago's South Side. Don't know, why they call them bad, because they sound so good. Better get yourself a slice and why not even a second helping.

Most people will remember the Boots advert from 2007 which used Ernie K. Doe's infectious funky 'Here Come The Girls' and caused a surge of new interest in this killer 1970 New Orleans vintage groover. The Sugababes then nicked it and managed a Top 3 hit. However, accept no substiture for the original! An essential Allen Toussaint song and production which should be in everyone's 7Inch box as a staple. Instant flloor-filler anywhere and everywhere.

Massive crossover hit from the American Gospel star Kirk Franklin, marrying Patrice Rushen's classic with R&B and hip hop leanings to create this uplifting, inspiring and infectious feel-good sensation.

A true Tony Humphries, Southport and soul collectors favourite finally getting a full single release.

A classic gets re-imagined and extended with added live percussion and dub delays in both original and instrumental versions.

Is It Love Creation brings slap bass funk to the party straight from mid 80's New York.

Dwight Thompson’s album Hypocrisy took hearts by storm in the 70's. The soulful, charismatic singer hailing from the USA released his ground-breaking Album “Hypocrisy” in 1975 on the Dutch Label Poker. A well sought after pearl of deep funk and soul on a small, misty label from the Netherlands.

A soulful masterpiece.

The third installment of this reissue series brings us the dreamy sounds of Kip Carmen & Danny Horton, two seasoned musicians telling us the story about a very special island.

At the time of recording in 1980, Kip had already enjoyed a successful career in the entertainment industry after getting signed to Hi Records in Memphis and working together with artists such as Al Green and Jimmy Allen Smith. He then teamed up with Danny and a few other musicians starting a residency at the Long Island night club 'The Lion's Cage' where they played every Sunday night.

Originally released on 7" only, the two songs have now been restored from the original master tapes and are pressed on a 12" including a previously unreleased extended version containing a part that was originally left out.

IZIPHO SOUL are extremely proud to announce our continued partnership with the legendary Rena Scott! Rena delved into her musical vault and retrieved a song which we are thrilled to release on a vinyl 45. ‘You’re So Far Away’ is a tale of the frustrations of a long distance love affair and Rena’s sensuous vocals over this thumping dance tune will surely rattle your woofers!
The idea of developing a further spin to the project was born via the majestic Nigel Lowis and his hot new mix. Rena recorded fresh vocals and the layers were constructed piece by piece - you will hear this attention to detail as the song unfolds. We hope you enjoy these distinctly different versions; the work and dedication from all involved in getting this record to market has been immense.

Packaged in a beautifully designed picture sleeve.

Upstairs, a band from Frankfurt, Germany was active from 1977 to 1983. Though considering themselves mainly a rock group, the band incorporated elements of funk, jazz rock and disco into their music. On their rare and privately released debut album “It’s Hard To Get In The Showbiz” from 1980 they created something that could be called Germany’s definite answer to AOR, yet still with an edgy and unique krautrock flavor.

The album starts with "Wontcha Try," a track where core songwriter, guitarist and lead singer Helmer Sauer is telling the story about being dismissed from his job: "They tried to tell me in a fucking gentle way, that the time had come to kick me…". Sauer serves more personal, hard-edged lyrics on the album as well. On "Happy Hooker," for example, he tells the story of a working girl in the red light milieu: "The job is as hard that you really can never imagine, she serves for the money, degradin' herself in a way - if you'd know how she's feelin' you wouldn't laugh at all". An empathetic view on the subject of prostitution rarely heard at that time.

But aside from the profound lyrics and songwriting, the album has a lot to offer on the groovy side of things. With catchy bass lines, rhythm guitar, Fender Rhodes, Moog synthesizer, Clavinet and swift crisp drumming "It's Hard To Get In The Showbiz" is one of the best examples of late 70s flavored funky rock from Germany. Additional to the aforementioned "Wontcha Try" another DJ delight should be "Make Your Steps On Better Lines" which showcases a superb synth line and disco funk flavors. We also get the slick mellow latinesque AOR grooves of "Get On A Plane" as well as the now-classic "You're Just Yourself", which marks the most soulful track of the LP. As followers of our label are already well aware, "You're Just Yourself" was featured on the compilation, "Boogie On The Mainline – A Collection Of Rare Disco, Funk And Boogie From Germany 1980-1987" from 2018.

The band mainly performed locally and never really had ambitions to release their music on a bigger label. Too bad that Upstairs only released this one album. Of course, the highly sought-after original pressing is almost impossible to find nowadays. Therefore, we are proud to finally make this record available again after 40 years for a reasonable, regular LP price. Only 300 copies of the carefully re-mastered repress have been produced, and included is a printed lyrics insert identical to the original.

As this is already the 10th release on our label we want to thank you for your support! Stay tuned for more hidden gems unearthed by The Artless Cuckoo.

Originally released on the Ovide label from Houston, Texas in 1970 and currently going for around £175, if you can find a copy.
‘Get Your Point Over’ is a brass-led funky dancer that beautifully compliments Sebastian Williams’ soulful vocal style, while the flipside, ‘I Don't Care What Mama Said (Baby I Need You)’, is a slower
groove that lets that vocal really soar, arriving complete with a groovy psychedelic guitar break before Williams testifies to his lady amid some punchy brass stabs.
Two stellar tunes from Sebastian Williams (aka Roger Williams of no-hit wonders The Quarter Notes), whose solo recording career amounted to just three 45s, all five years apart, along with a couple of releases as Sebastian And The House Rockers and finally, in 1975, just Sebastian.
Imagine vintage Tavares lead singer Chubby Tavares at his gritty best with a funky brass section in a soulful Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes styled blast.

Both tracks mastered from the original sound source for maximum soul sound.

Official Reissue on 7" of the as rare as sought after Electro Funk/Boogie 1984 release by Penguin Feet The Teardrop Kid.

Repress!

Hand-Stamped - Vinyl Only

The edition that marks the start of the brand-new Comets Coming could not be more suitable: it is that Rodrigo Brandão, like his grandfather Herman Poole Blount, dust of stars that the world knows as Sun Ra, may have his feet on the Earth, but he has definitely a sidereal head.

Brandão arrived recently to Portugal, but already left a strong mark in the most adventurous Lisbon scene, having performed several concerts in which his language has been wrapped in the exploratory sounds of musicians such as Rodrigo Amado, João Valinho, and Hernâni Faustino. The agitator, poet and spoken word artist, brought a vast experience that over the years saw him collaborate with artists as distinct as the members of Metá Metá or Prince Paul (that one!) on BROOKZILL!.

This work, however, came in his luggage, across the ocean, on the rediscovery trip that brought him from Brazil to Lisbon. OUTROS ESPAÇO was recorded in São Paulo in late 2019 with a luxury crew: Tulipa Ruiz and Juçara Marçal added to the microphone, Thiago França played flute and alto & tenor saxophones, Guilherme Granado dealt with the synthesizers and effects, Marcos Gerez measured the overall pulse with his electric bass, Thomas Rohrer played soprano and 'rabeca' (fiddle), and Paulo Santos dealt with the percussion. In addition to the base band, OUTROS ESPAÇO also features some members of Sun Ra Arkestra's current incarnation. Respectively: Danny Thompson (RIP) on baritone and bongo, Elson Nascimento on 'surdo' (tom drum), Knoel Scott on tenor and soprano, with the giant Marshall Allen in a prominent role leading the collective towards the unknown, while playing the alto sax and synthesizer.

In OUTROS ESPAÇO, Brandão reaches for words from different origins, from contrasting times and cultures, all with magnetic resonance imaging: what is not from his furrow comes to him from Candomblé (“Quando Os Orixás Desfilam Sobre A Cracolândia”), from his readings of Sun Ra (“Eu Sou 1 Instrumento” is an adaptation of the poem I Am An Instrument), or from the school's playgrounds (“Jamais Nos Esqueceremos”). And in these words there are teeth and nails ingrained in injustice (“Quantos Coltrane...?, “Todo o Dia Tem +”) and kaleidoscopic delusions that result from the speed of light (“Sol da Meia Noite”).

The crew that travels through these OUTROS ESPAÇO (PT for "Other Spaces") has freedom as the main fuel, jazz as a measure of their reach, and all swings in the world as maps, so they can lose themselves at the end of the cosmos. There is urgency and reflection, craziness and precision, surprise and well-known ancestral raw material, that makes us vibrate inwardly with the same trembling as the comets that are coming.

The visionary and veteran Scotty Hard was responsible for making everything sound like the music of the spheres, dealing with the mixing from his INGUASONIC SOUND studio in Brooklyn, NY.

And lastly, in January, Rob Mazurek, another frequent ally of Brandão, another notorious space traveler, offered a poem that frames this project. Among other things, he writes:

Make this place sing

Make this place thunder

Make this place shake

It couldn't be in any other way.

Dark Entries is humbled to continue digging through the archives of legendary producer Patrick Cowley. While best known for his production on chart-topping cybernetic disco anthems such as Sylvester’s “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” or his own “Menergy”, Cowley, who passed away from AIDS-related illness in 1982, left us with a substantial body of work. Since 2009, Dark Entries has been working with Cowley’s friends and family to shed light on the lesser known facets of this singular artist’s output. This has resulted in a string of celebrated archival albums, including Catholic (featuring Jorge Socarras), School Daze, Muscle Up, Afternooners, and the recent Mechanical Fantasy Box. Some Funkettes, the latest addition to this series, is a collection of previously unreleased cover songs recorded from 1975-1977. These raw, unembellished tributes both showcase Cowley’s early musical interests and chart the development of his production techniques.

Some Funkettes opens with Cowley’s sauntering instrumental rendition of “Do It Anyway You Wanna”, the disco classic by People’s Choice. Next is a psychedelic reworking of the Temptations’ “Papa Was a Rolling Stone”, here hazily retitled “Papa Wuzza Rollinston”. Over its 7 minute runtime, the track’s metronomic, minimal groove builds to a frantic synth solo - this is pure Bay Area motorik. “Spiked Punch”, a curious riff on Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon” follows. Cowley’s lurching, minimalist reimagining of Hancock’s opus prefigures the work he would later do on Sylvester’s masterpiece “I Need Somebody to Love Tonight”. Side B opens with a truly important historical document: Cowley’s cover of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love”. The Moroder-produced disco anthem was a critical influence on Cowley - he would later resculpt the original song into arguably its highest form with his 15-minute-long remix. The instrumental cover version here is sparse and euphoric, brimming with classic Cowley synth signatures alongside the infectious Moroder bassline. A relatively faithful take on Bazuka’s 1975 funk classic “Dynomite” follows. The record closes with the dub version of “Spiked Punch”, which highlights developments in Cowley’s recording and synthesis techniques by way of its resonant burbles and spring reverb-laden passages.

Some Funkettes was made possible with help from Patrick's brother Jim and his former studiomate Maurice Tani. All songs were mastered for vinyl by George Horn. The sleeve is a collage designed in 1975 by Cowley’s former roommate Francesca Rosa that was found covering a reel to reel box. It features a yin-yang symbol and a photograph of a scruffy 24 year old Patrick, to which we added his original handwriting. Each record comes with an insert featuring a four page essay by Francesca as well as a postcard featuring liner notes and a photograph by Cowley’s roommate and best friend, Theresa McGinley. Vocal versions of “Papa Wuzza Rollingston” and “Do It Anyway You Wanna” are included as bonus tracks on the digital and CD releases. This peek into Cowley’s formative years arrives just in time for what would have been his 70th birthday.

Original KILLER drum breaks by Mike Bandoni. Exclusive to the Crate Breaks series. 100% Killer No Filler.
Founder and band leader for Funkshone. Former drummer of the Craig Charles Fantasy Funk Band. Drummer, multi instrumentalist and composer.

Wild One: Think funky, flowing rap vocals. Warm heavy drums, funky horn melodies and dirty basslines. Think Jurassic Five and 90’s Boom Bap Hip Hop! What makes “Wild One” different is the unique production style of DJ X-Rated. Using rare vintage samplers and animal nature recordings in the percussion of this record.
Andy Cooper is an accomplished songwriter, performer, producer and arranger who hails from and resides in Long Beach, California. Andy helped form and produce the Hip-Hop trio Ugly Duckling which, over the span of 20 years, released six albums while frequently touring the globe, their success has taken them to over 30 countries. Recently, Andy wrote 16 songs for ‘Recorded In Hollywood’, a musical about the famous, Los Angeles record shop ‘Dolphins of Hollywood’.

Kartel is delighted to announce the 18th March release on Soundway Records of Magical Thinking by Antibalas multi-instrumentalist, Chico Mann. Tipping a genre-bending wink at 80's funk, boogie and electro stylings, with just a hint of Afrobeat spicing the mix, Chico effortlessly merges a downtempo groove with timeless pop sensibility to create a contemporary dancefloor classic. UK/European dates for March/April will be announced shortly.

A chunky slab of shimmering synth-soul on a hip-hop beat throbs out of the speakers on the new Chico
Mann and Kendra Morris single. Served up with trademark afro guitar licks and spacey synth stabs this
beautful one-of release follows their killer album-cut 'Same Old Clown', the highlight of the Chico Mann 'Magical Thinking' full-length of 2012. Kendra Morris explains: 'Nobody Wants To is about trying to fll the void and then being too stubborn
to let go....I feel like we all have this thing in us that we search to fll.. sometmes we are doing alright and it seems to maintain itself but then there are tmes usually when you're on some sort of self
destructve warpath where it just is this hollow thing and you try to stuf anything into it to feel good.... it feels good for a while but then it kinda botoms out ' Kendra's long-tme collaborator Jeremy Page (who produced both of her two albums for Wax Poetcs
Records) and Chico Mann built the instrumental - Kendra 'had a ton of vocal ideas' the second she heard it and Nobody Wants To was born. Chico Mann recently re-located from New Jersey City to Los Angeles where he's working on new mate-
rial both as Chico Mann and with his new psych-rock outit Here Lies Man The track plus an instrumental version will be released as a 7 inch Vinyl.

For his next release on Soundway Records,
Los Angeles-based Dexter Story hooks up with long time friend and compatriot of music, the saxophonist, jazz composer, producer and band-leader Kamasi Washington. A fierce, rumbling electro Ethio-Funk groove provides the platform for an intense and powerful interplay between Washington on tenor sax and Todd Simon on trumpet. An instrumental cover version of Tilahun Gessesse's 1970s cut of the same name, it's Story's homage to the oppressed Oromo people of Southern Ethiopia. Backed on the flip by the one cut from Story's 'Wondem' long-player that did not make it to vinyl when the LP version was cut, Nia Andrew's
sublime and atmospheric collaboration on Eastern Prayer
will keep all those happy who grumbled at it's exclusion
from wax first time around. This is a record that no lover
of Ethio-Jazz, Afro-Beat or Funk should be excused for not
owning.

Award-winning, London-based Family Atlantica are back with their far-reaching second album 'Cosmic Unity', which follows on from their 2013 eponymous debut - an album that won the band a range of awards including Songlines Magazine's Best Newcomers 2015.

'Cosmic Unity', like the band itself, mirrors the mixed-up, intercontinental terrain of their home town. Moving through genres as diverse as psychedelic highlife, steel- pan Ethio-funk, calypso, biao and scorching equatorial jazz underpinned by deep afro-Atlantic dance rhythms, they have created a cohesive, forward-looking sound that echoes classic tropical recordings of the past whilst still sounding fresh and contemporary. Lush string and horn arrangements give way to acidic commentary on the immigration system and slavery as well as incantations of unity.

Producer and multi-instrumental director, Jack Yglesias (also a core member of the underground pysch-jazz-funk unit The Heliocentrics) leads the explosive ensemble. Alongside Jack, the band features the powerful vocals and poetry of Venezuelan diva Luzmira Zerpa and the percussive West African mastery of Nigerian/Ghanaian Kwame 'natural power' Crentsil as well as Adrian Owusu (Guitar).

Joining them as guests on the album are two musical legends: The Sun Ra Arkestra's bandleader Marshall Allen on alto saxophone, ewi and vocals, and Nigerian Afro-beat colossus Orlando Julius on tenor sax who was at the time of the recording living with Yglesias and Zerpa. The diversity of the Family Atlantica project is reflected in the lyrics, with singing and poetry in Spanish, English, Yoruba and Portuguese. This is a rapid-fire, rhythm-heavy journey, simultaneously moving between the past and future of trans-Atlantic roots music.

Peter Sagar — also known as HOMESHAKE wrote the majority of his fifth studio album, Under the Weather, in 2019, when he was going through a long, unrelenting period of sadness. “I was in a deep, deep depression,” he recalls of that time period now. Sagar and his partner were living in Montreal, and while everyone was out being social, he was inside listening to ambient music, binging Star Trek, and writing songs. (Sound familiar?) “It was a bit of a dark pit,” he says. “That’s kind of what the whole album is about.”

Under the Weather is hazy and moody, the pace slow as syrup, and from beginning to end, a fog falls over every synth and guitar line. “Oftentimes when you’re in a dark place, you’re supposed to journal and that helps release the pressure,” Sagar says. “For me, it always found its way into the music.”

Capturing the cloudy sound of a depressive funk was no simple feat, especially in the headspace Sagar was in for over a year. For that reason, he decided to enlist his friend, Jerry Paper ’s Lucas Nathan, to help with production on the record. Having Nathan contribute helped Sagar dial back some of the “dry, pristine digital sound” that defined his fourth studio album, Helium , and add back personal analog touches that drew people to the HOMESHAKE project in the first place.

As Sagar readies for the album’s release this September, the record he wrote about feeling isolated, alone, and despondent has begun to seem eerily prescient. “I’ve been writing about feeling isolated my whole life,” he says — but with age, he has come to understand them better. “I had a fairly clear idea what the album was going to be like based on where I was emotionally at the time,” he says about Under the Weather . “I just try to make music that is honest about how I’m feeling.”

Soundway fans frst got a taste of Jay-U's infectous beats with the track 'Some More', featured on the Soundway compilaton Nigeria Disco Funk Special: The Sound Of The Underground Lagos Dancefoor 1974-79'.
Originally released by EMI Nigeria in 1977, this now-rare album was writen by Jay-U and engineered by disco-boogie artst Goddy Oku. Opening with the up-tempo reggae number Reggae Deluxe', the album descends into mind-blowing jazz-funk featuring several killer saxophone solos. The journey ends with a trip into psych-prog rock, with a sound not dissimilar to that
coming out of the early 70s Britsh rock scene.
(*Note: track 5 from the original recording will not be included in this reissue)

British flavor for this brand new 7" from Legofunk Records with
an impressive action! Poetry edit over the epic music…

Britsh quintet Me and My Friends are set to release their captvatng and mesmerising second album,
Hide Your Way, on Soundway Records this summer. A unique and singular blend, it's the sound of Eng-
lish folk colliding head-on with the golden-era music of 1970s West Africa and the West Indies.
Towering vocal harmonies, soaring cello and clarinet lines, colossal basslines and drum paterns
combine on an exquisite rollercoaster-ride of the emotons from euphoria to melancholia and back
again.
Bound by a mutual love of the sun-drenched vintage sounds of afrobeat, soukous, highlife and roots
reggae, the UK-based 5-piece re-invent these infuences around the instantly recognisable voice and
fnger-style guitar of songwriter and singer Nick Rasle. The band's sound involves a meetng of diverse
musical backgrounds: Fred Harper's gospel-infuenced drumming and James Grunwell's deep basslines
provide the bed for Sam Murray's growling clarinet tone and Emma Coleman's strident cello and faw-
less ear for vocal harmony.
Having enthralled festval audiences across the UK with their breathless live show, Hide Your Way sees
the band embarking on a deeper exploraton of the playfulness and rhythmic agility which has come
to defne their sound. A rich and varied pool of musical ideas sits alongside a plaintve lyricism, as the
songs tell tales of regret, corrupton, loss and deceit. The result is something fresh and original, mar-
rying the emotonal vocal power of folk music with early jazz and delta-blues singing and the driving
rhythms of West-Africa's golden era and the heart and soul of the great roots-reggae songwriters.

Soundway are proud to present two blistering LP's of afro rock funk from Nigerian multi-instrumentalist & his band MonoMono. Both with bonus 12"s

The Heliocentrics are a group for which genres are meaningless and boundaries invisible. Since first appearing on DJ Shadow's 2006 album The Outsider the group have gone on to release a string of records that float through jazz, hip-hop, psych, krautrock, and musique concrete whilst collaborating with numerous genre heavyweights from Mulatu Astake to Gaslamp Killer and picking up prestigious fans along the way, such as Madlib and the recently departed David Axelrod.
The primarily instrumental group, who operate out of their vintage analogue studio in East London called the Quatermass Sound Lab, bring in a new singer on album number four - a young Slovakian singer called Barbora Patkova. The result is an album that takes the band, already solidified in ever-expanding grooves and rhythms into new previously unexplored dimensions.The group's deep-set ability to craft music intuitively and impulsively stems from a desire to avoid typical processes or generic structures. Since its conception, the band's music has mainly been created from live improvisation. This musical approach gives the band its own sound and identity -'for anything to happen it must be at that time from the people in the room, and on the spot'. A decade of such sonic adventures has resulted in a tightly knit bond that the group refer to as almost a form of telepathy' with musical changes that otherwise would be near impossible to write.

Selam means 'peace' in Amharic, the language commonly spoken in Ethiopia. Peace on you, peace for this world that knows it so little and needs it so much. It is an aspiration for everything, but also, as in North Africa where its equivalent is ‘salam’, a greeting to the interlocutor, an invitation to fraternity. With this third album, Arat Kilo addresses us its greeting as well as a wish for universal peace. It's not a sign of a new beginning after two already exhilarating recording adventures. On the contrary, it is that of a blossoming in the form of an opening. An openness that is not accompanied by any renunciation or compromise. The group, which brings together six French musicians passionate about ethiojazz, has made sure not to get away from its favourite field, these sweaty funks and fivelegged jazz strangely twisted in the witchcraft of Swingin' Addis, a brief parenthesis today considered as a golden age where some Ethiopian producers and musicians took advantage of a loophole in the censorship system established by Haïlé Selassié to unite traditional turns - the only ones authorized by the Negusse Negest regime - with Western jazz, soul and pop. In this album, Arat Kilo never leaves Addis Ababa in the early 70s where charming singers and electric orchestras developed, in an almost clandestine way, heady melodies and melodies full of mystery. The four characteristic ethiojazz scales are found there, which blend the ornamental chiselings and harmonic cement of each title, on a par with the associations of timbres and rhythms inherited from this composite aesthetic. But the band managed to bring to fruition the evolution that was taking shape in its previous album: on the one hand by accentuating the dancing character of its compositions - following an almost natural vocation, so much so that the prodigious drums of Florent Berteau, the bass of Samuel Hirsh, the percussion of Gérald Bonnegrace, the guitar of Fabien Girard, Aristide Gonçalves' trumpet and keyboards and Michael Havard's saxophones and flutes seemed predisposed to fit together to form a fabulous groover machine in every tone, every meter -, on the other hand, by incorporating with amazing ease two singers used to walking across very different horizons, Mamani Keita and Mike Ladd.

It’s been a rollercoaster of a launch for Daje Funk records, a brand new limited 7” imprint which popped out of nowhere in 2019. Their first two releases, which dropped in quick succession, were nothing short of stellar with huge edits coming from Les Inferno, De Gama, Massimo Berardi & The Funk District. All were well received both critically and by the DJ community with support from some of the best selectors out there including Moplen, Fingerman, Jacques Renault and Lego Edit.

You will be pleased to know that DFR003 is just as ridiculously funky pairing up edits from Italian super producer DJ Rocca and another duo of seriously hot Italians Dirtyelements & Drunkdrivers.

DJ Rocca, who surely must be one of the busiest producers on the scene, kicks off proceedings with his supremely tight edit of Crew SDR’s ‘Don't Give Up’. This one is feel-good party funk all the way, designed first and foremost for the dance-floor. Building the groove with some great drum programming, jazzy keys and a hip shaker of a bassline, it hooks you straight away before setting things properly alight when the Saxophone kicks in. Changes galore keep the attention and the dance-floor moving. A wonderful track!

Flipping over Dirtyelements & Drunkdrivers go to town on Fat B’s ‘Keep It coming’. Bringing in some of the funkiest elements from The Fatback Band’s Bus Stop, it’s a ripping 6 minutes of pure dance-floor joy. The bassline and horns tear up the soundsystem as the looped up vocals merge perfectly with some sublime keys to give the track a dubbed out but hugely energetic disco-funk feel.

DJF003 is another release packed with serious quality. Make sure you grab it quick as this one will fly out of the door.

Favorite Recordings presents this single reissue released by SOL Discos, a new sub-label launched as a partnership between Pascal Rioux and DJ Waxist. Following their recent collaboration on projects like Lamar Thomas' single and Caribbean Disco Boogie Sounds' compilation reissues, Favorite Recordings offered the French DJ to become the coordinator and A&R of a new imprint aiming to reissue rare and forgotten music with a Tropical and Disco flavor: Sunshine Music'...
Today, SOL Discos is delighted to introduce its very first release, with this official 7" reissue of Hiram & Direct. Initially recorded and released in Detroit (Michigan), it has been a hard to find record since then, with only a little number of known copies floating around and changing hands within the Soul collectors / DJ scene.
Musically speaking, the reissue has been switching tracks sides from the original release, putting the focus on Love Flight' as the A side. Indeed, Love Flight' has some strong dancefloor potential for any DJ into underground Disco & Modern Soul. Just listen to those synths! On the B side, you will find a different vibe with Turn It Around', an excellent ballad with beautiful vocals & harmonies. In the end, both tracks have nothing to envy to some of the best Soul classics.It's with great pleasure and honors that SOL Discos and Waxist make this little known gem more accessible to today's music' enthusiasts, through this legit reissue!

Heavy reissue of this seminal record from 1979 by the two brothers that would from the better known group ''Toura Kunde''! A beautiful blend of Afro disco stompers & mellow Reggae tunes.. Big one! Comes in gatefold vinyl illustrated with photos from the artists’ archives and liner notes by Frank Tenaille, the band’s official biographer. TIP!!

Hi-Life & Afro-Funk essential from Ghana! The legendary K. Frimpong's fantastic rare second album recorded in 1975 at Ghana Films Studio. K .Frimpong was born on July 22nd 1939 at Ofoase in the Ashanti-Akim district and entered right into music after elementary school by joining "Star de Republic" and later “Oko's Band” after which he left to K. Gyasy's band where he worked for more than 6 years. As a prolific songwriter and singer, here's the reissue of his 2nd album, a modern fusion of Hi-life and the traditional beat called "Ahyewa".The excellent background is given by the Super Complex Sounds band which makes the Ahyewa beat abundantly, dancable, and colourful. Originally produced on “Ofo Bros”, label of the Ofori brothers in Kumasi, this two long sides recording were divided in 6 themes each sides, and make a deep 16 minutes long hi- life trance. A must have vinyl of percussive Afro-Funk & modern Hi-life for all the music connoisseurs.

Super soulful new PPU from Maryn Coote.

We are proud to announce the creation of our label Discopathe Records! As our first release, we chose to defend Ginger Ale, the debut album from Soyouzz, a young band from Montpellier (France). This first EP influenced by modern jazz/funk vibrations was inspired by Herbie Hancock, Snarky Puppy, Vulfpek and Louis Cole. Welcome aboard SOYOUZZ spacecraft. Let yourself be led into a unique and colorful retrofuturistic sound experimentation of 25 minutes and 5 steps to Ginger Ale. A collective of six musicians will be your captain. You will feel some pleasant turbulence during the flight, as you will go through deep bass sound with curls from brass instruments, going from a killer groove to a mind- blowing trance. Don’t panic, the spacecraft will stabilize by flirting blithely with electronic music.

The Colorful World of Arp Frique is the exotic and super funky debut album of Niels Nieuborg. After his surprising, very well received debut release on Rush Hour, Arp Frique continues collaborating with Orlando Julius, Ed Motta, Americo Brito, Ronald Snijders and more! Tip!
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Pulsating NYC style live disco vibes, interwoven with both Caribbean and Cape Verdean sounds, are themes throughout the record with danceability always guaranteed and a healthy finishing touch of weirdness present across most tracks. First single 'Nos Magia' was shortlisted for Track of the Year 2017 at Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards and has been given airplay by BBC Radio 6 Music, BBC Radio 1 and NTS whilst club DJs Antal and Hunee have all supported the track in their sets.

The Arp Frique alter ego is a reference of course to two things Nieuborg clearly appreciates in music: firstly the sound of the Arp synths and secondly, by referring to Chic's 'Le Freak', he is also showing love to the genre of disco. Be sure to know however, that you are not listening to edits of seventies jams. Arp Frique's music may sound vintage and authentic at times but all tunes are original and made with live instruments. Mind you though, that all compositions are the product of the insatiable creative urge' of just one man.

As part of a wholly different career,
Nieuborg once owned a venue and programmed various venues and festivals, like his latest succes, 'Festival Magia' With that knowledge in the back of your mind, the impressive cast on the album - which follows on 2017's 'Nos Magia' EP (Rush Hour) - seems logical. Nevertheless, the status level of the contributors is astonishing. There's a Cape Verdean funana song featuring legend Americo Brito on vocals, an infectious Brazilian disco funk hit-to-be with Ed Motta, two tracks with Surinam's famous Ronald Snijders on flute, three collaborations with afro-beat don Orlando Julius and so much more... immerse yourself!

Recorded at Gallo Studios in September 1976, Chapita was Dick Khoza’s lone solo release on the infamous
South African As-Shams imprint. With Dick Khoza wrapped in a tribal blanket on the album’s cover, Chapita
is an assertion of African identity and pride. A true South African Jazz classic that offers long songs with
underlying funk. A masterpiece of the genre. New 2021 transfer from the original reels.