Recent Record Buys.....for April

Underground Vegetable 7" - Melting Pot. (Strictly limited Australian import white label 45)

Two sides of funky reggae from a mysterious Australian source. Side A actually sounds like Boris Gardiner's original version of reggae-funk breaks classic "Melting Pot", while the flip features a slower funk band version of Melting Pot.


RED ASTAIRE/SUGARLOAF GANGSTERS/SWING SESSION - Gamm Doin James Vol 2 (GAMMJB002/A)

"After the hugely popular "Doin' James Part 1" we finally have the equally good 'Part 2' in the series! Red Astair, Sugarloaf Gangsters and Swing Session all provide their own 2008 takes on the Godfather of soul with some ultra funky cuts. Gamm deliver once again", says Phonica records.

Uptown Funk Empire - Now/Do The Boogie 7" (Soulab)

After Metropolitan Jazz Affair, The Dynamics and Mr President, master of musical ubiquity Bruno "Patchworks" Hovart proudly presents Uptown Funk Empire, a burning tribute to one of his all time greatest loves: Funk.



Bruno “Patchworks” Hovart, as a self-taught musician and typical teenager, started playling guitar, bass and keyboards at age 15, covering James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and Cream in his bedroom and, later in college bands. His first releases are in the mid 90s, with deep house and disco live bands and various electronic projects. He quickly develops and shows very special skills for vintage disco/funk productions with a contemporary flavor. This gifted boy's been working with artists such as Amp Fiddler, Archie Shepp, Mr Day, Paul Randolph... and for many recording labels such as I Still Music (usa), Favorite Recordings (france), Infracom (germany), Further Out (uk)...

Uptown Funk Empire is an exciting and ambitious project, worthy of its name.
While the first album is simply called "The Empire Strikes back", it's no joke...
Forget the whole revival thing, this sounds like an actual rebirth of the real funky stuff.

Click here Website.

It's like being back to the better days of Funk without a travel machine... the vibe is vintage but the sound is fresh...

That's not funky music, that's FUNKY MUSIC !

This album is huge and it covers all the golden age Groove styles : Boogaloo, Soul, Disco, Boogie, Funk... but the music flows in the hands of a gifted modern producer. Bruno " Patchworks" Hovart plays bass, keyboards, computers... handling with love all composition, programming, arrangements, vocals...

With brilliant vocal featurings by silky Juan Rozoff, Brit-Soul legend Noel Mc Koy at his best, high-voltage divas Ange & Janice... and the funkysoul brother Bruno "Patchworks" Hovart himself on the mic... it's pure funkiness !

Beware, "The Empire Strikes Back" and is kicking... so get up & dance ! (Website)

NAOMI SHELTON & THE GOSPEL QUEENS - What have you done/I'll take the long road 7"

"Naomi Shelton first lifted her soulful voice into our family back in the Desco days of the late 1990's. Under her maiden name, Naomi Davis, she gave us Fourty First Street Breakdown which has become a secret weapon for funk DJ's. Next came the coveted Wind Your Clock 10, which surfaced only as test pressing due to the record company's untimely demise. Later she fronted Sugarman and Co. delivering 2001's Promised Land.

All of these have earned her a box seat in the theater of Funk & Soul collectors. However there is another side of Naomi that has been stirring folks longer and deeper than any funk record could ever. Like most great Soul singers, Naomi is first and foremost a Gospel singer. She has spent her life lifting her voice in churches from Alabama to Brooklyn. Though her Gospel voice (and true last name of Shelton) has been a part of the Daptone Family's life for years, performing under the musical direction of the legendary Cliff Driver whose band often featured members of the Daptone rhythym section, it has never before been allowed to fully blossom on wax in it's most natural, beautiful, and powerful form."

"As good a slice of authentic gospel funk as you're gonna hear!
Daptone has a good track record when it comes to unearthing authentic funk/ soul singers...Naomi Shelton is the latest in line and doesn't disappoint.
Former vocalist with Sugarman and Co, Naomi is now a solo artist in her own right and on this her debut outing delivers a truly awesome gospel vocal that fits perfectly over the hammond driven backing track...underpinned by the ultra tight Daptone rhythm section..Top Stuff!" Fat City Records....


Various - Nitrogen Trip Hop Sources from the past 12 Inch (Compost Records 022-1)

"This sampler is from an early Compost Records compilation features the stunning Balek from Marc Moulin under his seminal 70s alias Placebo on a nice loud pressing. Moulin brooding electronic breaks driven jazz helped shape many decades of modern music. Everyone from Portishead to DJ Shadow to Dan the Automator to Aim owe much to the pioneering and tireless jazz fusion work of Moulin in the 70s." Fat City Records.

Tracklisting:

a1 Placebo - Balek (4:19)
a2 Alberto Baldan Bembo - Nitrogen (4:20)
b1 Michael Bundt - The Brain Of Oskar Panizza (9:43)
b2 Jan Jankeje - South Indian Line (2:29)