A remarkable compilation from James Brown of unstoppable heavy funk classics and unreleased gems. Originally released in 1986 to capture the ears of the sampling generation, this compliation has now been nicely expanded making it even more essential than ever. Covering a period from late ’69 to the early 70′s, it is JB at the height of his considerable funk powers – suddenly the godfather grew from a diminutive 5’6″ to seemingly become a kind of colossus funk godzilla, stamping his grooves over cities and leaving an indelible influence in his wake.

He was able to capitalise on the formation of a new band, the J.B.’s, consisting of both young and experienced musicians. For perhaps the first time in his career, JB took influence from the young members led by a 19 year old Bootsy Collins on bass and his brother, the recently departed Phelps Collins (R.I.P.), on guitar. Their enthusiasm and excitement at having been picked to play in the band was clear and infectious. On the other side, the mature band members who had stuck with JB through thick and thin were now showing the benefit of experience – notably seasoned drummer Clyde Stubblefield who cut the Funky Drummer for JB in late ’69, a track that is considered to be the most sampled piece of music in history. Indeed the mix of this old and new proved at times explosive as the re-edit of Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose proves with its break heavy interplay between Bootsy and Clyde – surely one of the best examples of funk out there. The “re-edit” simply takes out the crowd overdubs and tightens up the break, rather than mess with anything it shouldn’t. Whilst Talkin Loud And Saying Nothing can be seen as a militant strike against Vietnam War era politicians, elsewhere the celebrations of I Got To Move, Hot Pants and Soul Power are enough to charge anyone’s batteries. Add to this the previously unreleased and rhythmically stunning full version of Blind Man Can See It which leads me to wonder what else may be lying unreleased in the vaults. It is true that no one else had more releases than JB with a new single pretty much every week and an average of five or six album releases a year, some of the good stuff was going to get left behind.

These songs are an explosive and dynamic expression of the human condition in the inimitable style James Brown and only James Brown could have achieved. At times militant and revolutionary; whilst also celebratory, innovative and down right funky, funky, funky. This serves either as a fantastic introduction to James Brown or essential collection for any funk fan.

“Clap your hands and stomp your feet…”

It has been a three year wait to find out if L.A. based Orgone could deliver a satisfying follow up to their first release on Ubiquity, 2007′s excellent “The Killion Floor”. An epic album at 17 tracks and over 76 minutes that reflected a wide range of all things groovy, It might have seemed a little over ambitious for an album were it were not for the fact the meandering journey and change-up in the styles kept it sounding fresh and groovy until the very last note.

“Cali Fever” was recorded at the same Los Angeles analog recording studio, KillionSound – a studio that grew out of Orgone’s original need to have a rehearsal space. The new album is only slightly less epic than its predecessor at 12 tracks and 55 minutes long and once again we are treated to a fantastic journey through the bands many influences, expertly produced with a suitably raw and warm sound, resulting in an album of very high quality that I think surpasses the high quality of The Killion Floor.

The structure of each track is solid rhythm and tight brass punctuation, whilst on top is more loose playing, often drifting out into a dream-like trip. It is definitely a nice balance between the raw and refined here, whether they are playing afro beat, rock, soul, funk or a mix of all, the band handles with competence and flair. This is altogether a much funkier affair, in fact I’d have to say it is pretty damn funky throughout. Singer Fanny Franklin is certainly one to watch at the moment, if it seemed she was perhaps underused on the last album, then she is perhaps also a little underused here. I say perhaps because I just love the instrumentals too. The big difference here is all the material is Orgone’s own penned – and mighty fine it is too. An excellent showcase for Fanny’s strong vocals are the very funky cuts “Got To Give It Up”, “Overtime” and “Doing Me Wrong”, I think I will be spinning these a few times. Even the more club disco influenced “It’s Time Tonight” grew on me. A lot.

From the strorming opener, everything in-between and then closing a sturdy set with an epic instrumental, soundtrack styled “The Cleaner”, I was certainly set back down to Earth a happy funkonaut. In fact I had to make the journey another several times just to make sure it was as good as I thought the first time. It was.

http://www.myspace.com/orgone

Long time Milwaukee area performer Black Wolf has been trying to make waves in the music industry since the early 1970s – perhaps his biggest claim to fame until this point was recording a couple of tracks at Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom studios as part of the group The Essentials. In 2004, Black Wolf befriended Andy Noble when the two met at Andy’s Milwaukee record shop, Lotus Land. The two shared their passion and considerable knowledge for soul, funk and classic R&B and decided to form Kings Go Forth, a ten piece who have gained a significant reputation in and around Milwaukee for the quality of their live shows, a quality which shows on their debut album, following a handful of 45 releases.

The band play a rich percussive sound that’s authentic in its sound and production. A fiery break on the opening track One Day sets a standard which is perhaps never equalled elsewhere on the album but when the second track fires up, the super tight I don’t Love You No More, any complaints are shelved, then we are transported to a more Northern Soul sound with You’re The One, and the anthemic Fight With Love and dreamy High On Your Love. There’s even a remix by legendary producer Tom Moulton who phoned to ask if he could do it. Its hard to describe the exact quality of Black Wolf’s vocal style but if I can put a compliment his way, at times he reminds me of Jackie Wilson. Anyway you don’t have to take my word for it as you can listen to the entire album yourself right here http://luakabop.com/kings_go_forth/

Well worth a mention is the fantastic cover art by none other than “Imaginary Soul Superstar” Mingering Mike, who deserves an article of his own on this site, which I promise will be forthcoming. This is the first time Mike has created cover art for a record that actually exists!

As a huge fan of Sly Stone, I was delighted to get my ears around this new compilation, which on listen proved to have Sly’s unmistakeable stamp all over it. A musical prodigy, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer and celebrity disc jockey in the San Francisco Bay Area, Sly went on to huge international fame after appearing at Woodstock Festival in 1969, a series of hit records (many of which have become classics) and international acclaim followed as the Family Stone: a mixed sex, multiracial, colourful and dynamically presented collective came to represent the psychedelic direction many soul acts had moved into as well as the, then emerging funk movement that would ultimately spread its indelible influence into soul, jazz and blues alike.

This compilation, extensively researched by Alec Palao and with extensive liner notes, interviews and pictures shows Sly’s diversity and versatility, yet the style is predominantly funky soul. Material ranges from collaborations: the Rolling Stones-a-like Beau Brummels; tracks Sly made with his good friend Billy Preston; to stable acts, Sly’s sister Vet’s group aptly named Little Sister and Joe Hicks who was signed to Sly’s Stone Flower label; brother Freddie’s pre Family Stone band, Freddie & The Stone Souls who prompted Sly to suggest Freddie bring the best of that band with the best musicians Sly knew to form the Family Stone; to demos and early versions of songs that would later appear on Family Stone albums.

Stand-outs for me are “Dance A La Musique” by the “French Fries” (not confirmed but quite obviously the Family Stone), a fuzzy cover of “Dance To The Music” with a French twist for fun, it shows how great a good piece of fuzzy, psychedelic soul can be; the Family Stone’s early version of Otis Redding’s “I Can’t Turn You Loose”, for me even better than the versions they later did; plus earlier versions of other Family Stone tracks, particularly “I Ain’t Got Nobody (For Real) and “Take My Advice”, this compilation is a fascinating insight into the forging of the Family Stone itself, and the way Sly’s stamp on his production work was so unmistakably his sound, you can pick him out easily even when he’s in the background playing one of the instruments. So with that in mind, this is perhaps more interesting to those who know Sly’s material well and I would encourage people to check out key Sly albums first, particularly Dance To The Music, Stand, There’s A Riot Goin’ On, Fresh and Small Talk. If however you already know and like his music, I’m sure you will find this as big a delight as I did.

For over a decade now, Brooklyn songwriter, producer, musician, and label owner Gabriel Roth and a solid family of like-minded musicians have spearheaded the return of true funk and soul music as it was in it’s heyday in the late sixties and early seventies. The label Roth set up with Neal Sugarman, Daptone Records, from the ashes of Desco Records, has become the most influential and highly regarded on the soul and funk scene today. Its family has outgrown the label’s ability to get the work done, creating a scene of associated labels and acts that slowly feed the hunger of its expectant fans.

Ultimately what the group strive for is to produce soul music with genuine passion, authenticity and warmth and I’m glad to say “I Learned The Hard Way” is all of these things. Daptone’s “House Of Soul” studio has become somewhat of a legendary place amongst those wishing to achieve a genuine sound (the already classic album photo shows the band in the building’s back yard). Like Motown’s Hitsville U.S.A., Stax’s McLemore Avenue Studio, Willie Mitchell”s Royal Sound, or the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio before it, what is evident in the recordings in all of these places is a tangible atmosphere as important a player as the musicians. With its vintage equipment, floating recording room and living areas to relax and create in, the House Of Soul seems to have taken on a mantle worthy of legend and its character is evident in the sound of the recording.

There is plenty of detail here as each track is lushly layered with strings, backing vocals, hand-claps or chimes. Characteristic horn arrangements sit on solid bass, neatly plucked guitar, syncopated drums and the orchestration touches lift the music behind Sharon Jones’ commanding vocals, now sitting comfortably in her distinctive style, with her “hmmms” between words, her “ooh yeahs” and her sheer range, ability and power. Displaying its edges perhaps most in the track “Money” there is some wild roughness to Jones’ singing that many of today’s producers would mistakenly smooth out. Other stand-outs, “Better Things”, “The Reason” and “She Ain’t A Child No More” show the benefits of execution from a band that know when to show restraint and control, rather than to push their skill under your nose, each member seeming to understand they are a piece of the puzzle.

Much like the great soul records many of us used to thumb through as children in our parents’ record collections, this is the real deal, classic sound of great soul music the way it should be done. Whilst many wish to attach a “retro” label, this to me is very much the sound of “now” – if only more people could take note and strive to produce records of this standard. I Learned The Hard Way will be very much at home sitting in the prized collection of any music lover.

http://www.daptonerecords.com

Daptone's House Of Soul in Brooklyn

Recording on 8 track Ampex tape

House Of Soul recording booths

The sample classic “Hung Up” by Salt has been covered with a big difference by the supertight funk orchestra Osaka Monaurail and now available as a 45 and digital single. The big difference is it now has lyrics for the first time – and great lyrics they are too, warning of the trappings of getting “hung up on my bad-self”. The original is perhaps best known for being cut-up by DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist in “Brainfreeze”. I got mine, go get yours:

http://www.soulseduction.com/common/item_detail.php?ItemCode=B311750

Anyone who has seen Japan’s Osaka Monaurail live can testify to their mighty force onstage. Easily one of the best modern funk acts around. And while I pine for a new studio album from them (despite a couple of nice side projects, their last studio album proper was 2006′s excellent “Reality For The People”), this does serve as an excellent showcase of what the band are capable of and a nice memento for fans to take home from a gig. In fact I’d also recommend their first live album, 2005′s “Eyewitness To The…” a powerful set of live grooves.

“Live In Spain” is a CD only album, which may annoy vinylheads, however it comes with a bonus DVD with live performance clips and some nice behind the scenes tour footage too. Together with the CD, a perfect showcase for one of the worlds’ #1 funk bands.