Contemporary Funk Vinyl 416 Items

A simply killer 45 from the bay area's finest funk band, Monophonics. "Like Yesterday" is a monster A-side, which was recorded at the legendary Killion Studios in LA. While the B-Side, "Freedom" by Destruments is a beautifully soulful instrumental track.

Vinyl version of the debut album from this five man collective, based in Washington, DC. Blends downtempo, Latin, dub, house, reggaeton and more. Sophisticated and sexy (as is the cover art). Highly recommended to fans of ESL.

The man behind this fine selection of RK sounds needs no introduction, DJ/Producer Smoove has been an avid collector of all that is funk for more than 30 years and is one half of the renown duo Smoove & Turrell. He has releases out on Acid Jazz, Jalapeno and Unique to name a few, as well as having founded the labels Wack Records and Wass Records. Not only did Smoove lovingly hand-pick each cut that appears on MO’ RK II, but he is also responsible for 2 of the first-rate remixes that appear here: The New Mastersounds and Nick Pride & The Pimptones both get a Smoove reworking, while brand new afro-funk combo from Sydney The Liberators are remixed by Kokolo head honcho Ray Lugo, The Diplomats Of Solid Sound are given the Lack Of Afro treatment, Ray Harris & The Fusion Experience get a makeover by Valique and “Are You Ready” by Mr. Comicstore feat. Nicole Willis appears in a new discomix version. Other highlights of the compilation include a cracking gospel funk piece by William Joseph Fowler & The Disciples, some deep funk by recent RK signing Hannah Williams & The Tastemakers, and brand new material by Big Boss Man’s bass player Scott Milsom aka The Hawk. Plus singles by The Baker Brothers, Link Quartet, Floyd Lawson, Crabs Corporation and more!

The 12 track collection features previously unreleased tracks, alternate versions of existing classics as well as a couple of brand new Amy compositions, and has been compiled by long-time musical partners Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson in close association with Amy’s family, management and record label Island Records.

After almost twenty 45s under various pseudonyms, their thrilling and hugely successful debut album with London-based singer Gizelle Smith and a tour with concerts throughout Europe, Germany’s most prolific deep funk formation is ready to step further into the spotlight on their second longplayer.

The aptly titled ‘The Future Is Here’ sees the group explore new territories with features by hiphop legends Afrika Bambaataa and Charlie Funk, French singer Caroline Lacaze and German rare groove queen Su Kramer, while manifesting their unique raw funk sound and refining their unmistakable instrumental style that has long gained international reputation.

produced by Rick Rubin & Paul Epworth

Limited to 500 hand numbered copies!

20 Years HHV: our team has selected an album from each of these years that is particularly relevant and precious to us. On a monthly basis, we release exclusive and limited pressings of these records in collaboration with some of our favorite labels.

It's taken just two short years for Dunham Records - an imprint of Daptone Records - to establish itself as one of the most captivating creative forces in soul music. The brainchild of guitarist/producer Thomas "Tommy TNT" Brenneck, Dunham's indelibly atmospheric sound is epitomized by its flagship artist, Menahan Street Band. After releasing a handful of crucial 45s, Dunham Records prepares to enter the next phase of its evolution with the debut album of its inaugural vocalist, Charles Bradley.

Charles Bradley’s voice has evolved from a lifetime of paying dues, having nomadically labored for decades at various day jobs from Maine to Alaska – singing and performing in his spare time – before re-settling in his hometown Brooklyn and eventually finding a musical home at Dunham. In his distinctively rough-hewn timbre one hears the unmistakable voice of experience – each note and gruff inflection a reflection of his extended, sometimes rocky, personal path. It’s only fitting that No Time For Dreaming’s producer Brenneck (also a member of The Dap-Kings and The Budos Band) would recognize in Bradley a kindred musical spirit – a singer whose performances exude both raw power and poignant beauty. Recorded at Dunham Studios, and mixed at Daptone Records’ internationally revered "House of Soul" Studios, No Time For Dreaming is the inspired sound of an awakening.

Limited to 500 Copies!

20 years HHV: our team has selected an album from each of these years that is particularly relevant and precious to us. On a monthly basis we release exclusive and limited pressings of these records in collaboration with some of our favorite labels.

Originally released in 2011 with a limited pressing and repressed once a few years later in 2016. “Right now in cities across the globe, there are plenty of great Afrobeat revivalist bands aping the sound and groove of Fela Kuti’s legendary sound. Yet, surprisingly few of the new groups have strayed from an orthodox interpretation of the genre or done much real innovation. ..Ikebe Shakedown is here to change that. The band takes signature Afrobeat elements—big unison horns, slinky bass lines, tight little guitar licks—and blends them with tasty grooves culled from '70s-style horn-driven funk”. -Marlon Bishop, Wnyc

Ikebe Shakedown, the self-titled album and Ubiquity Records debut from the Brooklyn-based band, plays with elements of Cinematic Soul, Afro-funk, Deep Disco, and Boogaloo in all the right ways. Pushing their globally-informed sound and eclectic approach to tune-writing into new territory, “Self-titling the album is a way to introduce the audience to the many facets of the band -- to provide a more complete understanding of what we do,” bassist Vince Chiarito says. “Our sound has grown to incorporate our influences without overtly representing any one in particular. It just sounds like us," he adds.

When first I got to know that I was going to create the score for this short, I was pretty excited about the idea behind the film, and especially the story of the character Jens, who suffers from schizophrenia.I started inventing sounds to depict the character’s visions and hallucinations and I knew right away that I was going for a style more experimental than the two previous scores, Eastern Army and Mosaic, both written during the same year. The working process of the soundtrack for Hell is Other People (Helvede er de Andre) has perhaps been the most creative I have ever done. I just started recording sounds, effects and handmade percussion with no idea as to where I was heading, only the sense that I was going somewhere else, somewhere I had never been before. Somewhere where I felt very comfortable. All of the sounds are performed and recorded at night in my home studio Easy Beat Evil Bite and I used everything I could at home, everything I could get my hands on: wine glasses, chimes, shakers, African percussion instruments, angel harp, tambourine, sitar, hand drumming on a paper box or on naked skin, cymbals, synthesizer, effect pedals, the Rhodes, the piano and a lot of reverse recording from my old Revox tape recorder as well as electric and acoustic guitars. The title song “Every Missing Beat of Your Heart” and ”Falling Papers from a Staircase” are both very calm and reflecting tunes, characterized by a dreaming acoustic guitar arpeggio and a persuasive hypnotized tempo from an old metronome. On the track ”Metal Me” is a lot of psycho-blues; the strumming of an acoustic Yamaha is evident on three monotone chords and the 'sloppy' beat makes everything sound so heavy. I love the production of the song ”At the Clinic” where I chose to do a swing beat playing on the glasses to generate a more defined sound, like something you just can’t get rid of; like an annoying sound , and together with electric guitar playing in surf mood I really did something cool and easy there… I pictured the boy Jens walking up and down the corridors at the hospital and having trouble thinking clearly, or maybe seeing what other people couldn’t see. I think that all in all, I was most inspired by the sound of the 50’s in the making of this album; the warmth of the tremolo of in ”My Room” and the dark and psychotic mood of “Perspective” and ”Second Moon”. From time to time there is a touch of emptiness, death, agony and the feeling of loneliness behind those moments in tunes such as ”One of Us”, “No More Dead Flies” and ”She Suicide”. The second part of ”Every Missing Beat of Your Heart” I wrote on an acoustic guitar in Berlin during a short vacation. I remember having written the chords and the lyrics for the melody in half an hour and was very happy with the result. Signe Isager, who recently sang live with the band Alex Puddu and The Butterfly Collectors, sings in this song with me and I thought it would be a good choice to go with the end credits. For the making of the songs on this album I have been searching for the clinical, cold aesthetics of the rooms and corridors of a hospital and the warm sound of the sea from a house on the beach and I do believe this is what inspired me. It has been a great experience working on this album and the production, from the very start to the very end of the process, and being able to give what I felt was right for this picture at this moment.

Here it is: the most anticipated soul album of 2012!

Brooklyn’s funk ambassadors invite J.Bless, Captain Planet, Navagente & Juno What to pump up the volume, w/4 bin rattlers to ignite floors their own spin on the 'part gangsta, part janky' sound the Pimps have become known for.

Triple LP version comes with bonus 7”, detailed liner notes (8 page full colour booklet) and free MP3 download.

Conceived by Colombian musician Mario Galeano, the force behind the band Frente Cumbiero, and English producer Will ‘Quantic’ Holland, Ondatrópica brings together an all-star cast representing both the classic and modern styles of la musica Colombiana.

Over 3 weeks in January 2012 at the famous Discos Fuentes studios in Medellín legendary figures from Colombian music joined a group of younger Colombian musicians that included members of both Mario’s band Frente Cumbeiro and Quantic’s Combo Barbaro. The plan; “to re-interpret the tropical musical heritage of Colombia with new approaches in composition, arrangement and production in a classic and mythical setting.”

For the recording Will and Mario were joined by Colombian legends including big-hitting saxophonist Michi Sarmiento, multi-instrumentalist Fruko and accordion-playing don and singer Anibal Velasquez as well as a new wave of Colombian and South American musicians such as Chilean MC Ana Tijoux and El Chongo, a young percussionist and beatboxer from the city of Cartagena on the Caribbean coast.

A mixture of well known and classic Colombian styles such as cumbia, porro, gaita and champeta clash head-on with boogaloo, ska, beat-box, hip hop, dub and funk on the record. The tracks range from straight-up timeless pieces with one foot in the 1960s and 70s to progressive and forward-looking recordings firmly rooted in the 21st century. Mario and Will also adopted a 100% analogue recording approach in tribute to a sound and feel that the studio had been lacking for some years now.

Soundway’s exploration into Colombian music began in 2007 with it’s much acclaimed compilation ‘Colombia! The Golden Age of Discos Fuentes The Powerhouse of Colombian Music 1960-76’. That compilation features many original works from the above-mentioned artists as well as some of the main session men of the day that also played on this new record. It’s fitting then that Ondatrópica came together in the legendary Discos Fuentes studios in Medellín.

LA DJ/producer drops 2 inspired, illicit remixes: a glitchy, twisted electronic remix of Johnny Cash's "Straight A's In Love" b/w a moody, epic sounding remix of Nina Simone's "Feeling Good" that starts off with a scary sounding intro and then chucks in some big band breakbeats.

Originally it has been releases on CD as well as on 3 separate 7" vinyls. Thanks to the fine people at Tru Thoughts - we are very pleased to offer the full album on LP now in collaboration with the HHV Label!

"Quantic presenta Flowering Inferno" is one of the latest in the constantly evolving series of musical outings from the unstoppable Will Holland - aka Quantic - and amazingly "Death Of The Revolution" represented his tenth full album release on Tru Thoughts.

Debut 45 from the San Diego’s In Motion Collective. Heavy, danceable Afro-beat in the same vein with groups like Ikebe Shakedown, Budos Band, and Antibalas. Tip!

Famed painter Jean Michel-Basquiat was one of the co-founders of the band Gray. This anthology features reissue of their previously limited self-release plus unreleased material, and remixes from: Todd Rundgren, Hank Shocklee, King Britt, Sal P (Liquid Liquid), Deantoni Parks, Tewz, Free The Robots, and The Gaslamp Killer, along with features from Amir Yaghmai and Kool Keith. 1979, Downtown New York, Gray was making industrial music with sound. Jean-Michel Basquiat played the guitar with a metal file, Michael Holman played masking tape and steel ball bearings, Justin Thyme abstracted the keys, as Nick Taylor played his guitar with historical restraint.

Back in! Time for another dirty south rider, going deep south back to the A. It's been two years since his landmark debut on peoples potential unlimited, now B is back with his latest long play entitled "II". Eight previously unreleased selections from Hotlanta producer Wes Gray, recorded over the past couple of years at his home studio. Moon B's signature slank rhythms and cutting basslines you've grown accustomed to are all here.

The profile of French producer Guts has grown steadily in recent years and he is now considered to be one of the leading producers in France and a recognised name on the European beats scene. ‘Hip Hop After All’ features an array of stellar MCs and vocalists, including Grand Puba, Masta Ace and Cody Chestnutt. Double LP gatefold sleeve with insert & download card, exclusive content for the download card.

His hit "Brand New Revolution" was played by many radio stations worldwide and was used in Grand Theft Auto V. His compilation series ‘Beach Diggin' is now a reference point for summer and quality music in general.

After three instrumental albums, Guts decided to come back to his Hip Hop roots (he created the French rap band Alliance Ethnik in the 90's) and invited quality MCs and singers to join him in the studio. You can find on this album, Hip Hop legends such as Grand Puba, Masta Ace, Bob Power, Rah Digga, plus singers such as Cody Chestnutt, Patrice and a batch of new talent - Leron Thomas, Lorine Chia, Quelle Chris & Denmark Vessey and Dillon Cooper.

Previously unreleased sessions from mother/son recording pioneers Uku Kuut and Maryn Coote. Contains an alternate tape mix of "Mayday" from the peoples potential unlimited release UKU KUUT "Vision of Estonia" (PPU-034) LP.

Concept: On this new album for Ghost Box Records, The Advisory Circle (aka Jon Brooks) explores darker territory than on 2012’s more pastoral As The Crow Flies. This time Brooks hints at a Wyndham-esque science fiction story, where bucolic English scenery is being manipulated and maybe even artificially generated by bizarre multi-dimensional computer technology.

Sound: Brooks’ strong sense of melody and composition is still evident as are his renowned sound design and production skills. Consequently the album is a rich and rewarding experience that subtly showcases a wealth of musical experience. The usual analogue synth sound palette is augmented with found-sound from antique tape reels and Brooks’ ever growing tangle of home built electronics.

The latest installment from the highly acclaimed and sought after Rewind! series features covers of classics such as “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac by Shawn Lee and Adrian Quesada’s Electric Peanut Butter Company, a rousing reggae funk take by The Lions and Noelle Scaggs of Lynn Collin’s “Think (About It)” and Monophonics’ hit single “Bang Bang”. It also includes previously unreleased covers of “Spill The Wine” and “Daytripper” by jazz-funk master Johnny Frigo that were not included on his Luv N‘Haight “Collected Works” release. Brownout Presents Brown Sabbath’s well-received cover of “Planet Caravan” and post-punk anti-hero Black Randy’s manic interpretation of James Brown’s “Give It Up Or Turn It Loose” rounds out the eclectic vibe of the compilation.

In celebration of the 20 year anniversary of this classic album UMe will be reissuing it back on vinyl for this first time in almost 10 years, on limited edition white vinyl.

The Moritz Von Oswald Trio opens a new chapter. There's a new configuration to the project, with Tony Allen joining original members Moritz von Oswald and Max Loderbauer. Tony Allen, the legendary drummer who's amassed a formidable catalogue both as a solo artist and as part of Fela Kuti's band, has taken over percussion duties from Vladislav Delay. Together, von Oswald, Loderbauer and Allen form something close to a dream team, two masters of the electronic sphere meeting an afrobeat pioneer. Allen had already established a rapport with the group before they entered the studio to record Sounding Lines - he's been touring with von Oswald and Loderbauer for more than a year, playing live shows around the world. There has been an evolution on each new Moritz Von Oswald Trio record, and Sounding Lines is no different. The album, which was mixed by Ricardo Villalobos, maintains the project's trajectory—a fearless exploration of dub techno, classical music and jazz—but the prevailing mood feels looser and more organic than ever before. Allen's imperious percussive work sits tantalisingly in the mix. His drums meet the electronics of von Oswald and Loderbauer in a way that renders the project in new, vivid colours. There are 4/4 tracks, beatless interludes and complex jazz structures, with propulsive recordings ("3") coexisting alongside more languid moments ("1"). Sometimes Allen provides flourishes of drums (notably on "4") while at other times spectral synths come to the fore (as on "5"). Von Oswald, a masterful composer and arranger with a deep understanding of space, paints the crevices of each composition on Sounding Lines with rich detail. Individually, von Oswald, Loderbauer and Allen are formidable and hugely influential musicians. As a trio, they've conjured something remarkable.

It’s not every day you find a keyboard player with chops like John Camp. Plucked from the same Minneapolis Jazz vine that grew such deliciously ripened talents as No Regular Play's Greg Paulus and Aaron James (Gregory Porter band), we met Camp for the first time at the Marcy Hotel. Initially adding his signature touch to other’s Crew Love records and last year dropping an incredi- ble EP on Have A Killer Time, the Mistral EP marks his first official Crew Love release!