Contemporary Funk Vinyl 32 Items

Evolutionary Soul Music Spun with Writers Who Supported The Roots and Erykah Badu The theme of her latest album, "The Truth," is the "truth" that she discovered while touring the world, feeling the music scene with her five senses and interacting with many fans and musicians, which she calls "the highest art (real music). The Truth is that "real music" connects people across barriers. The Truth" was produced by Khari Mateen, a Grammy nominee who has written songs for Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, and many others. The song "I Love When" was co-written with Music Man Thai, who has written songs for Alicia Keys, Nicki Minaj, and others. The album embodies evolved soul music with a hint of its roots in soul, jazz, R&B, and funk, while incorporating the sensibilities of producers active around the world. The long-awaited new album is now born, containing a new sense of being led by music and connected by sound, the power of music felt locally, and a borderless sensibility that removes all barriers.

Twenty-eight years ago, pissed-off twelve-year-olds around the universe discovered a new planet, a Black Planet. Public Enemy’s aggressive, Benihana beats and incendiary lyrics instilled fear among parents and teachers everywhere, even in the border town of Laredo, Texas, home of the future founders of the Latin-Funk-Soul-Breaks super group, Brownout. The band’s sixth full-length album (out May 25th) Fear of a Brown Planet is a musical manifesto inspired by Public Enemy’s music and revolutionary spirit.

Chuck D., the Bomb Squad, Flava Flav and the rest of the P.E. posse couldn’t possibly have expected that their golden-era hip hop albums would sow the seeds for countless Public Enemy sleeper cells, one that would emerge nearly three decades later in Austin, Texas. Greg Gonzalez (bass) remembers a kid back in junior high hipped him to the fact that Public Enemy’s “Bring the Noise” is built on James Brown samples, while a teenaged Beto Martinez (guitar) alternated between metal and hip-hop in his walk-man, and Adrian Quesada (guitar/keys) remembers falling in love with Public Enemy’s sound at an early age. “When I got into Hip hop, I was looking for this aggressive outlet . . . and I didn’t even understand what they were pissed off about, because I was twelve and lived in Laredo . . . but I loved it and I felt angry along with them.”

Joseph Abajian (Fat Beats’ owner) must have sensed the deep hip-hop well lying beneath the versatile band’s Latin-Funk veneer. “I thought their sound would work covering Public Enemy songs,” Abajian says, and, “it was good to know they were P.E. fans . . . We came up with a track listing and they went to work.” Despite the band’s eagerness to work on new original material (an album of original songs is slated for next year), they couldn’t pass up the opportunity to pay homage to this iconic and influential posse.

Translating sample-based music to a live band turned out to be more of a challenge than they anticipated. Adrian tried to get inside the Bomb Squad’s [Public Enemy’s producers/beat-making team] head in order to find the inspiration to reinterpret P.E.’s songs: “imagine the Bomb Squad going back in time and getting the J.B.s [James Brown’s funky backing band] in the studio and setting up a couple analog synths and then playing those songs.” While some songs closely follow the original musical blueprint, others use the source breakbeats as jumping-off points later sweetened by Trombonist Mark “Speedy” Gonzales’ horn arrangements, synth wizardry courtesy of friend-of-the-band Peter Stopschinski, and DJ Trackstar’s turntable scratches. But don’t listen expecting to hear paint-by-numbers recreations of classic Public Enemy jams. “Our approach is never in the tribute sense,” Adrian explains. “We’ve always taken it and made it our own, whether it’s the Brown Sabbath thing or this Public Enemy thing.”

Coming off numerous tours as Brown Sabbath and even a stint backing the late legend Prince, Brownout is arguably the tightest and funkiest band on the road today and they’re psyched to bring this revolutionary music to the people. For a band without an overt political agenda, they collectively couldn’t resist the opportunity to play this music live, especially now. “If there’s any way that we can use the already political and protest nature [of P.E.’s music], we would like to try,” Beto says. “The album’s title, Fear of Brown Planet is definitely a relevant idea today and we’re not afraid to put it out there, because we want to speak out.” By reinterpreting these hip hop classics in their unique style and channeling the spirit of Public Enemy that first echoed around the world and captured their imaginations all those years ago, Brownout is doing exactly that.

Alex Puddu pulls an ace from up his sleeve with the new album The Gambler On his 10th solo album Alex Puddu is back and surprises with a strong set of songs, inspired by a mixture of the early 60’s sound of doo-wop vocal harmonies, together with R’n’B and a hint of jazz og surf references. It’s clear that one can unmistakably hear Puddu has a true love for the music of this period; unapologetically his sound references Dion and The Belmonts ,Vince Taylor and his Playboys, The Marcels and classics Movie scores such as West Side Story, The Wanderers, The Incident and Music To Read The Pretenders by Joe Rene Complex. Morricone’s string musicians and the legendary voice of Edda Dell’Orso On The Gambler there are numerous special guest appearances: First and foremost Ennio Morricone’s legendary vocalist Edda Dell’Orso, well known for her singing on the 60’s og 70’s Western soundtracks The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West og Giù la Testa. Dell’Orso sings on three songs on the album, while her husband, Giacomo Dell’Orso, has orchestrated the album and conducted a small group of Ennio Morricone’s string musicians under the name of Piccola Orchestra Cinefonica di Roma. With Alex Puddu on guitar, organ and piano, he is joined by Heidi Luke on drums, Henrik Mathiassen on contrabass, Mikael Fleron on saxophone, with Lukas Sherfey (The Movement) Stefan Moulvad (The Sandmen) and Anders Bruus (The Breakers) on electric guitar. Participating on lead vocals are: Steffen Westmark (The Blue Van - on two tracks), Peter Sandorff (Hola Ghost), Jess Møller Rasmussen (Taggy Tones), Duane Hobson (The Moonfires) and the Italian crooner Max Locci.

On Seeds, Georgia Muldrow takes a step back and leaves the beatmaking to Otis Jackson Jr., aka Madlib. As producers, Muldrow and Jackson are not worlds apart, so the switch requires no adjustment on the part of the listener. That said, this is one dense and tight set, barely over half-an-hour in length, and it's definitely in contention for Muldrow's most focused, funkiest, and (somewhat ironically) personal release to date. Throughout the record, the emphasis remains heavily fixated on her family as a unit of salvation and purpose. The most direct track of the lot is "Husfriend," where she honors her relationship with Dudley Perkins (a/k/a Declaime, who appears on “The Few”). Muldrow can't quite divorce the planetary and personal issues, heard vividly on "Best Love," which sounds just like a simple, sweet, straight-ahead love song until she starts asking her other half for money to build water wells on three continents ("We can make a difference if we try now"). Overall, Seeds is another left-field deviation in Muldrow's career: it's one of her most captivating and immediate front-to-back statements of purpose as a singer, but it's also the first album where she's handed over all the production duties to somebody else. In celebration of this album’s decenary run, Someothaship Connect is pleased to reintroduce an anniversary edition repress of this captivating release in partnership with Fat Beats.

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.

An album of compositions by Nicole Willis & Banda Palomita who are Ndioba Gueye (electric bass), Julius Heikkilä (electric, acoustic guitars), Antti Kujanpää (keyboards, synths and sequencer), Ilari Larjosto (drums) & Luiz Orlando Sá Do Carmo (percussion). Jimi Tenor appears on the title track My Soul Sensation on tenor saxophone. Produced by Nicole Willis with Ilari Larjosto. Recorded by Ilari Larjosto with Nicole Willis at Suomenlinna Studio. Vocals recorded by Nicole Willis at Persephone Studio except Free (at Suomenlinna Studio). Mixed by Ilari Larjosto at Suomenlinna Studio. Mastered by Sam Irl & Daniel Pfitscher. Executive Producer: Nicole Willis.

Best DJ in the world J Rocc gives you six bootleg bangers of electro ecstasy as Flaunt Edwards channeling legendary party people like Ron Hardy, Larry Levan, DJ Harvey, and Kraftwerk.

Mosaic is a heavy new three tracker from a band whose reputation exploded this spring with the release of debut album Murmuration. Lead track Mosaic is full of the warmth of this heatwave-summer, syncopation and groove in abundance. Driving melodic lines and keyboard atmospherics suddenly give way to one of James O'Keefe's most powerful guitar solos to date, wild and psychedelic. Transcoso brings the band to the downtempo magic that they have become much loved for. Heavily inspired by Azimuth, an hypnotic beat from drummer Jonny Drop eventually builds to a euphoric, almost slow disco climax for the final section. Maripose is a timely tribute. Debuted at their London album launch this take on the Freeez classic (although the live version in particular) explored a little more of the South London, Brit Funk influences that really drive the band.

Just in time for the summer, Moniquea is back with a future glass house staple entitled "All The Time." Riding thick, squiggly production from XL Middleton, modern funk's first lady delivers declarations of dominance that might make you want to stand up, pop and lock, or have a seat and slam dominoes on the table top. His Lady: Moniquea delivers a solid slab of modern g-funk on "His Lady," a future roller skate staple featuring an instrumental culled from the mid 2000's vaults of XL Middleton. The track still sounds fresh nearly a decade and a half later thanks to Moniquea's timeless songwriting and silky delivery.

Orgone takes on 13 funk and soul classics! Otis Redding, Funkadelic, The Meters, Aretha Franklin, Betty Wright, and Booker T are just a few of the artists Orgone cover on this mixtape collection with some help from friends as well! Expertly recorded and performed, you could make an argument for some of these being better than the originals, but we'll suffice it to say that it's a simply killer set from beginning to end!

The release comes on 180g. After a twenty-year search for the man behind the cult 70s jazz-funk group Opa, Far Out are honoured to present Barrio Opa: a new work from Fattoruso and his team of world-class musicians, including the sensational Candombe drumming ofthe renowned Silva Brothers. Recorded at Sondor Studios, Montevideo, the album is the natural development of the original Opa sound, fusing Afro-Uruguayan rhythms, jazz harmony and heavy funk attitude, under Hugo's unique musical vision.

You should all know by now I have collected a good few records in my time, hunting down that perfect beat. In search of that special piece I have found a deep love for the old soul ballads and funk that were for me great social statements, telling it just how it was. Growing up with these tunes and owning them I began to realise if someone didn't represent them to the next generation they would be long lost and forgotten. So please... enjoy this time capsule of music from another time... you'll hear nothing's changed! - Mr. G, 2018

Lonely Horizon is the 1st full length solo album by the talented funk musician and composer Michele Manzo. Drifting along a crest of lush chords, rhythmically driving vintage drum machines and rich, piercing bass lines Manzo has created a work which puts the mind at ease and compels the body to move.

Manzo’s Lonely Horizon was produced in his Italian studio and mastered by the legendary Dave Cooley of Elysian Masters in Los Angeles. With brilliant features from long respected Brooklyn MC J-Live and Mo’Funk Records resident boogie queen Moniquea, This 8 track vinyl is a must have for groove hounds, dance floor junkies and perpetual chillers alike.

In mid march of 2018 Manzo will be touring with UK soul staple Omar in promotion of Lonely Horizon’s record store day release. Two additional Italian vocal edits are included on the cassette recording and both cassette and vinyl are complete with exciting artwork which fits the sounds so closely that the lines between your visual and audio experience may feel blurred. Don't stress though, you’re just drunk on the funk.

RSN is a producer, DJ and musician from Athens - Greece. his upcoming album "Strange Eyes" is his 4rth one, but also his debut on Agogo Records. this single features the song "Black Sky" feat. Thaliah in the original version and a pretty great rework by Amerigo Gazaway.

Discover Le Deltaplane, fifth album by Andre Solomko, and third produced on Favorite Recordings, pursuing a collaboration that started more than 5 years ago.
Born in Ukraine in 1965 and now based in Finland, Andre Solomko is primarily a rich and engaging personality, but above all, a brilliant saxophonist, composer and engineer, whose contagious passion cannot leave anyone indifferent. After beginning a meteoric career in USSR, fate led him to Finland, where he started the adventure Vinyl Jam, a label / studio / group. It resulted in two self-produced albums that will capture the attention of some international collectors, including Pascal Rioux (founder of Favorite Recordings). Between 2012 and 2014, they released 2 albums together, Où es-tu maintenant ? and Le Polaroid, hailed by many tastemakers and meeting notable success in Japan.
Following Le Premier Disco Sans Toi, an acclaimed single released earlier this year and unveiling two new compositions with Disco flavors, Andre Solomko and Favorite Recordings also proudly present Le Deltaplane. Fully composed and arranged by Andre Solomko, the 6 tracks of the album are deeply infused with his longtime passion for Jazz-Funk and Movie-Soundtracks, this time also injecting more influences from WestCoast and Modern-Soul music.
Andre’s backed again by a team of great musicians, recording and producing the album in analog like he always did. As for vocals and lyrics, he teams up with Charlotta Kerbs, a young emerging and talented singer from Helsinki.
Andre Solomko, an artist who spreads love like in the good old days!

It’s the return of the sexual vigilante Sex Judas and his trusted sidekick Ricky. This time in full album mode. Norwegian producer Tore Gjedrem of Ost & Kjex fame, channels his love of comix, bohemia and fascination with human vice, the unspoken, the Red Light districts, the alleys of the mind into his alter ego. Sex Judas is no bad character but certainly says what it’s author cannot. “I wanted to create a world where any musical idea is possible, wound together by the world and word of Judas, the ultimate sinner, reborn as a child of Venus.” Inspiration ranges from Africa to 80’s NYC, from Bohannon to Quasimoto, from Norwegian New Wave to Acid House. With contributions by friends in the Oslo scene as hometown legend Dj Pål Strangefruit Nyhus, composer Ole-Henrik Moe, jazzpianist Bugge Wesseltoft, Sidiki Camara from Mali playing that beautiful Ngoni, and multi instrumentalist Ivar Snuten Winther, the album touches anything from blues, funk, disco and post-punk to IDM, acid house and electronic explorer music.

Rythm Rhyme Revolution LP #1 (Gareth Tasker & Barrie Sharpe): Gareth plays and Barrie produces. Their sound is individual - based upon the funk of the early 70s: however, with a totally modern production. The clean unique Sharpe production places every part of the puzzle into the correct space: “every note is audible”. They are accompanied by the understated, haunting jazzy horn of Kenny Wellington (Beggar & Co / Light Of The World). Fritz Catlin (23 Skidoo) adds the final edge with his Studer 169…

Limited Edition for Record Store Day 2018!

The King Rooster are a heavy funk quartet consisting of Ian Stevens & Mark Claydon (Bass & Drums from London funksters, The Getup) joined by Sam Montero on keys & James Forster on guitar. Collectively the band have played, recorded and shared stages with artists such as Sir Joe Quarterman, Alexia Coley, JTQ, Gizelle Smith, Reuben Wilson, Pee Wee Ellis, The Getup, Speedometer and Rhoda Dakar to name but a few. Having released a cassette only EP, Charisma Café, last year followed by a string of limited 7 vinyl only releases on various independent labels in Europe and the US, The King Rooster & Dinked Records are pleased to announce their self titled debut LP on heavy weight 180g black vinyl for Record Store Day 2018. Limited to 500 copies with picture sleeve and printed inner, each copy comes with a unique download card for digital. 14 tracks, including 8 previously unreleased ones. Droppin' hard hitting instrumental workouts along with some heavy vocal bangers, real funk is the order of the day!

Almost 2 years after the success of the album THE TONY ALLEN EXPERIMENTS and a few months after the release of the 7inch AMORE, Nu Guinea return to the scene with a new LP published by their newborn label NG RECORDS.
After touring the world looking for sounds suitable for their vibrations, NU GUINEA decided to go back to square one, Napoli, where Massimo Di Lena and Lucio Aquilina were born and raised. They watched their city from a distance reconstructing its energy from their studio in Berlin, calibrating the synths on the meridian of Vesuvius, the volcano that has always protected and threatened Napoli.
NUOVA NAPOLI is the result of a long musical research that has become a historical investigation on the sound that shaped Napoli during the ‘70s and ‘80s, starting from the contamination of genres (disco, jazz-funk, African rhythms) which ended up in Nu Guinea’s DNA.
In this album the synthesizers fill the spaces between the past and the future, tightening in a single body acoustic instruments, electronics and voices in Neapolitan dialect. It is the first time that the duo has worked with such a large group of musicians, some of whom are exponents of the contemporary Neapolitan scene.

WARNING: We recommend listening to Nuova Napoli while walking in the alleys of Napoli’s historic center, around wet clothes hanging and street vendors on tiny three-wheelers.

Monophonics are back with a 45 cover of a Frankie Valli and the Four Season’s “Beggin’” that fuses the complimentary and explosive soul, rock and funk influences, proving themselves to be the rightful inheritors of the Bay Area’s impressive psychedelic soul sound.

The debut album from Seattle's Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio. The group channels old-school organ combos like The Meters and Booker T & The MGs, but are making it fresh and feel new again! This LP is just killer from beginning to end and this is just the beginning for this group. We couldn't be more happy to be involved with such talented musicians.

Mestizo Beat is a Los Angeles-based band blending the styles of Afro-beat, Afro-Cuban, Funk, and R&B. Their debut release for Colemine is a fiery cover of Mongo Santamaria's "Featherbed Lane" and is sure to set dance floors on fire!

Orgone is back with more heavy funk from the West Coast. A dark mood and deep groove set the tone for a Funkadelic-like sort of vibe. Both tracks featuring Adryon De León.

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!

Gregory Porter's early works are finally made available on proper vinyl!

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.

Blue Note Records and Universal Music Classics & Jazz have announced the signing of the phenomenal jazz and soul singer/songwriter Gregory Porter. Porter has been in the studio with his working band and producer Brian Bacchus recording his third album and major label debut, which will be released worldwide on Blue Note Records this September. In 2010 Porter released his debut album Water (Motéma Music), which earned a GRAMMY nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album. His sophomore album Be Good (Motéma Music) followed in 2012 and earned him his second GRAMMY nomination for Best Traditional R&B Performance. The Huffington Post has declared Porter "the brilliant new voice of jazz," adding that he is also "heavily steeped in the passion, delivery and emotion of the best classic soul men."

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.

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.

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.

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