As the subtitle suggests, Harmless’ latest compilation selected by Bill Brewster focuses on the influence of black American funk and soul on the rock scene. There seems to have been a growing interest in this genre, folk-funk, funk-rock etc over the past few years and I for one am slowly but surely opening my mind to it. Not all here is to my tastes but it’s nice to see the inclusion of Chicago’s percussive ‘Happy Cause I’m Going Home’ along with Odyssey’s infectious horn driven soul sensation ‘Battened Ships’. Other standouts are the album’s opener, a great version of ‘Spooky’ by Classics IV, the Steely Dan influenced ‘Hesitation’ by Honk, the crossover soul sound of Elkie Brooks’ ‘Spiritland’ and the one I’m currently playing, Gino Vannelli’s ‘People Gotta Move On’, which comes off like a Stevie Wonder track. The CD features a bonus disc mixed by Brewster under his Fat Camp guise and includes some tasty re-edits.

Following on from last year’s brilliant ‘The Soul Of Disco’ compilation, Joey Negro and Sean P again put their heads together, this time coming up with a selection of 20 boogie rarities. To these ears some of the tracks really haven’t aged well and suffer from the crashing drum machine and synth effects so prevalent during the 80s. However there are some real delights contained within, namely Mid Air’s ‘Ease Out’, C Brand’s epic ‘Wired For Games’ and Lowrell Simon’s sought after masterpiece ‘Love Massage’. Other worthy inclusions are Vera Brown & The Rich Girls’ ‘Living Too Fast’, ‘Am I Gonna Be The One’ from Colors, Samson & Delilah’s ‘I Can Feel Your Love (Slippin’ Away)’ and the gospel flavoured ‘I Am Going To Love Him’ by Sanctuary. Takes me back to the days of wet look perms, headbands and formation dancing!

These latest offerings from Ryota Nazaki follow a similar path to that walked on his previous sets, seamlessly fusing elements of jazz, Brazilian, house, broken beat etc. The Flora Purim fronted ‘Dentro De Mim’, ‘Dentro Mi Alma’ featuring Sonia Santana and the title track on ‘Cannibal Rock’ all shine brightly, as does the twisted broken cut, ‘Beeping’. ‘En:Code’ opens with the spiritual vibes of ‘Pathways (Jazztronik Theme)’ with Valarie Etienne and Rob Gallagher, a track 4 Hero would have been proud of. It then passes through the Marcos Valle blessed ‘Rio. Sol E Mar’, ‘Little Tree’, a violin led waltz and the epic tech-jazz title track. I hear through the grapevine that Pantone are soon to release the best tracks from this pair on a single CD album for the UK market.

Here we have the first collaboration between Roger Eno and Will Thomas aka Plumbline, both of whom have released projects on All Saints and Hydrogen Dukebox. This is a beautiful cinematic album with a whole host of influences, which literally include sounds from clocks, cars and church bells, the kind of thing you would expect from Matthew Herbert. In fact the first track “Transparency” could easily be the work of Herbert himself. The recording “Transparencies” began with joining the dots of various churches and buildings among the beautiful landscape of East Anglia. Things then moved to New York to be manipulated by Will, which gives the album the gritty rhythms, melodies and soft tones. Lovely stuff.

I’ve been holding back buying this album for a few months hoping that vinyl copies might appear but in the end I just couldn’t wait any longer. Nicole Willis has been on the scene for years but I still get the impression that she still hasn’t received the attention she fully deserves. Not many people can say they’ve worked with Brand New Heavies and Curtis Mayfield and that they were one of the original members of Dee-Lite or recorded for the legendary Mo’ Wax. As I’m sure you’ve guessed, this time Nicole teams up with Finland’s funk band The Soul Investigators, who have built their own reputation over the years. The final result is a wonderful 70’s funk mash-up that could easily fool any music purist into believing this was recorded back in the day.

It’s been around five years since Grupo X broke through with their debut album "X-Posure" and it’s great to have them back, even though they’ve never really been away, with an extensive live schedule. "Food For Your Latin Soul" continues where they left off, with a mix of Salsa, Bugalu, Latin, Brasilia and Jazz. All eleven songs have been written by bandleader Jonny Enright and Jimmy Le Messurier, and once again on lead vocals we have Lisa Millett, who’s caused quite a stir on the house scene, but the six tracks she features on here are much better suited to her vocals. Five years is a long time in the music industry but it’s been well worth the wait.

Most people will be interested in this compilation because it features Carl Craig’s excellent remix of Theo Parrish’s ‘Falling Up’, which featured on a limited 10", and has been seen going for silly money on Ebay and played by just about every DJ across the land. This isn’t just about one track because this is a damn fine compilation, with ten more quality remixes, six of which were unreleased until now. Twiddling the knobs are Amp Dog Knight, Marcellus ‘3 chairs’ Pittman, Gilbr and Beatdown Brothers, to name a few. In fact just about every Detroit producer is on here. A mix cd will also follow shortly compiled and mixed by Norm Talley. Third Ear looks after its punters.

Here’s the next instalment to ?uestlove’s compilation for BBE, and as the title suggests, it is no surprise this was released on 14th Feb. He again digs back with more classics from Al Green, Delfonics, Natalie Cole, Delfonics and Bobby Womack. If you’re after romantic lyrics for Valentine’s Day, then you’d better give this a miss today, but what it does is give you is a small insight in to the good old days of real soul music, and lyrics which a number of current bands could take some pointers from. BEE never fails to impress.

I believe this will be the last release on this excellent and constant label, and what a way to finish its reign of everything soulful. Here is a mix of unreleased and essential tracks from the back catalogue. Of course Break Reform appears, but here are the essential remixes by Domu, Unknown Quality and Yam Who? Nanar sounds so, so good on unreleased tracks with Low Budget Soul, Kamara and the classic, but rare, Aztec Productions. Other tracks worth mentioning are Low Budget Soul featuring Marcia Escoffery and the Break Reform remix of Alison Evelyn’s ‘Found A New Thing’. This may be the end of Abstract Blue, but Simon S and collective will be back with new label Futuristica very soon: roll on 2006.

This first compilation from Wah Wah is well overdue, and of course, features some of their classics and some unreleased bits, and every single track is essential. Excellent unreleased tracks come from Talc, Max Cole, Aaron Jerome and Jamie Finlay. These four tracks should be enough to have you running to the shops. It’s also great to hear again 12th Floor’s’Take It Back’, Alison Crockett’s ‘Like Rain’ and Unforecene’s ‘Don’t You Worry’ with Alice Russell. Bonus ball are the fantastic Belleruche, who should have more material appearing soon. Top marks to Simon Goss and Dom Servini for mantaining such quality over the years.

Soundway presents its first collection of music from Central America, specifically Panama City, and what a way to kick of the series. Those not familiar with Soundway should take note now and start hunting down their excellent back catalogue. This compilation is based around the sounds of the clubs and bars of Panama City and Colon with influences imported from Jamaica, Trinidad, Europe and South America to create their own unique brand which have not been singled out before. This is simply an awesome selection of rare Jazz, Funk and Soul which has never been released outside of Panama until now. Also included are extensively detailed liner notes and pictures to give us an insight in to this exciting decade in music.

‘Lost’ was released in USA in 2004 and you can see why Definitive Jux has signed it for distribution in Europe. This has been getting some serious attention and is certainly one of the more intelligent Hip Hop albums around at the moment. Cool Calm Pete is one force to be reckoned with his quirky, yet enjoyable lyrics: when was the last time you heard a song about dental hygiene sound so good -the laid-back beats, catchy hooks and the now standard cartoon snippets, which just about every Hip Hop album features, thanks to the influences of Madlib and MF Doom. I hope he’ll be back with more of the same, very soon.

Munich’s DJ Force aka David Muallem delivers his debut album for Compost Records ,and in true tradition it’s another album you need in your collection, mixing tempos and styles of new and old, somewhere between Hip Hop and House. The soundtrack provides old skool B-Boy rhythms and electronic dancefloor bombs that will appeal to the kids, especially with those 80’s style synthesizers. David has got his ideas set high because he also brought in some heavy-weight vocalists, including Martine Girault, Shawn Lee, Audrey, Lyrics Born, Wordsworth and Beans. With each one he’s not gone for the same old sound expected from the specific vocalist; instead he’s pushing things forward and trying out new ideas to great effect. Compost’s on a winner here.

Uprock Recordings started back in 2000 with the merging of some serious heads. One of the seven original members is Steve Austin and here is his latest album. He has worked with some of the big names in hip hop, the broken beat scene, and is a regular MC and DJ at CO-OP, which has certainly given him a wealth of knowledge and experience. Steve has gone back to his roots and turned out an album which displays UK hiphop at its best. Even though there are some obvious samples used, especially in ‘Rapper Have No Style’, they are worked to perfection with Steve’s lyrics, timing and production. Fans of Roots Manuva and TY need this.
 

Now this guy has been hotly tipped as one to watch for 2006, with his work compared to Mogwai, My Bloody Valentine and Sigur Ros. Well, I’m not sure about the latter but it definitely has hints of ‘Loveless’ in this album and you can also hear the influence of Mogwai scattered about.
Self confessed non-DJ, Fake is a live performer who has been on the scene now for a few years with many a 12" kickin’ about on James Holden’s Border Community label. His live sets definitely cater more for the dance floor whilst ‘Drowning’ is the mellower side of his work.
The album is a brilliant chord driven, chime tingling timeless beauty that will get electronic fans buzzing around their robotic communities.
With this sort of talent this guy is gonna be around for a long time. Those in the know will already be looking forward to this release, but if this is the first time you’ve heard his name and are a fan of Boards Of Canada, M83 or Vector Lovers then definitely give it a listen.