Contemporary Funk 420 Items

Kat is unashamedly bold & confident in her abilities as a vocalist and songwriter, effortlessly merging Soul, and classic R&B which transpired throughout the mature and well rounded 10 tracks from her debut opus released in 2021.

Her long awaited second album Honestly is the perfect evolution, moving through into Blues and Gospel. “After Frank White [Sheffield Blues legend and mentor] died, Nick and I went back to our roots and decided to scratch that Blues/Gospel itch that Frank had given us a taste for.

On the Line is a fresh collaborative release between west coast and east coast Canadian artists Jonny Tobin and Maya Killtron, kicking off the beginning of 2024 in a memorable way. The song features a satisfying blend of soul, 80s funk, and yacht rock. Undeniable grooves come together with Jonny Tobin’s lush and funky production work, and Maya Killtron’s soaring vocal stylings elevate the track to a whole other level. On the Line will appeal to lovers of modern funk and beyond! The Light In All Of Us is a brand new instrumental track from acclaimed jazz fusion/funk keyboardist and producer Jonny Tobin. His production blends elements of dance music, modern jazz, and funk, with Jonny’s signature writing style - catchy synth melodies, uplifting chord progressions, and a dash of improvised solos. This colourful mix of aesthetics helps to set the track apart from other instrumental beat-based releases, and Tobin’s usual sense of musical optimistic shines through clearly in the music.

The journey gives your senses a taste of a future groove, erotica and nu-disco exploitation. With Private Alex is stepping forward musically into a new club direction, bringing a fresh sound to the production with retro drum machines, synthesizers, house piano, and killer funky basslines. Open the door and walk through the secrets of the night with ”Submission”, ”Blue City Club”, ”Dark Room”, ”The Visitor” and the singles ”I Feel You”, ”Attraction” and ”Odyssey 9000”.

The star-studded Sai Galaxy project returns, bringing together West African legends Steve Monite and Rob with multi-instrumentalist Simon Durrington, guitar maestro Alfred Bannerman and Egypt 80 trumpet player Bade for a second EP of vital Afro-disco and soul.
The EP follows up 2022’s Get It As You Move EP, blending layers of vocal harmonies and synth washes with a rock-solid disco base. The sound stays faithful to the analogue production techniques of the 70s and 80s, adding a modern touch informed by Durrington’s Digital Afrika project.
Lead single ‘Hold You Tonight’ features Nigerian disco icon Steve Monite (best known for his mega hit ‘Only You’), revisiting his 80s origins with a dancefloor-ready slice of dubbed out boogie. ‘Rich Man Poor Man’ (featuring Ghana’s very own ROB) slows down the tempo and brings the highlife influence to the fore, while ‘Sometimes It Rains’ brings a neo soul bump with the Omar-esque sound of Fijian vocalist Kaivili.

It may seem strange how excited we are about this 45 and the forthcoming LP considering it's an instrumental organ trio, but this group has some major buzz going up in Seattle. Ever since KEXP featured two live sets, the group has been gaining momentum. So they make their debut with this badass little 45, with the LP coming in February! Killer organ funk a la The Meters and Booker T & The MGs. Super in the pocket, tight and dirty drums, everything you want in an organ trio.

mess/age is the music of Kyoto-based friends Khan Brown and Ohhki. Formed in 2021, their unique sound was developed by chance with a circuit bent karaoke machine. Now combine that with logic beats, familiar breaks, Casio tones and their signature echo poetry, and you have songs that will be stuck in your head for a lifetime. We have warned you about "Hi Wo Kaou."!

The trio's collective musical DNA, the years spent constructing it in Houston's local-meets-global cultural stew, ensures the band continues to sound like no one but itself. A cascade of crisp melodies emanates from Marko's reverb-heavy electric, dancing gently around Laura Lee's minimalist almost-dub bass triangles, while DJ's drums serve as the tightened-up pocket and unwavering dance-floor on which all this movement takes place. Yet there's a freshness to A La Sala's instrumental interactivity, less concerned with getting further out than going deeper in, a profound desire to celebrate the world's external wonders. Where prior albums strived towards music's polyglot edges, such inquiries now sound like beloved intimacies. Here, Khruangbin's sonic touch-points - whether spaghetti-western film scores (on "Fifteen Fifty-Three"), West African discos (on "Pon Pón"), G-funk fantasias ("Todavía Viva"), living room dancing moments (the first single, "A Love International"), or even ambient found-sounds (on "Farolim de Felgueiras” and throughout the album) - are ingrained characteristics. This is who they are! Unique and huge (and growing), ambitious and driven. Khruangbin's aspirations and commitment to playful creativity even extends to A La Sala's vinyl packages, of which there will be seven distinctive covers and color-sets. Designed by the band using Marko's multitude of travelog photos, the images are windows from the band's living room onto a set of daydreams, scenes of impossible skies, external glances that illuminate what is going on inside. Each cover image comes with a matching color vinyl. These too are all about looking out and looking back, in order to better look ahead.

The trio's collective musical DNA, the years spent constructing it in Houston's local-meets-global cultural stew, ensures the band continues to sound like no one but itself. A cascade of crisp melodies emanates from Marko's reverb-heavy electric, dancing gently around Laura Lee's minimalist almost-dub bass triangles, while DJ's drums serve as the tightened-up pocket and unwavering dance-floor on which all this movement takes place. Yet there's a freshness to A La Sala's instrumental interactivity, less concerned with getting further out than going deeper in, a profound desire to celebrate the world's external wonders. Where prior albums strived towards music's polyglot edges, such inquiries now sound like beloved intimacies. Here, Khruangbin's sonic touch-points - whether spaghetti-western film scores (on "Fifteen Fifty-Three"), West African discos (on "Pon Pón"), G-funk fantasias ("Todavía Viva"), living room dancing moments (the first single, "A Love International"), or even ambient found-sounds (on "Farolim de Felgueiras” and throughout the album) - are ingrained characteristics. This is who they are! Unique and huge (and growing), ambitious and driven. Khruangbin's aspirations and commitment to playful creativity even extends to A La Sala's vinyl packages, of which there will be seven distinctive covers and color-sets. Designed by the band using Marko's multitude of travelog photos, the images are windows from the band's living room onto a set of daydreams, scenes of impossible skies, external glances that illuminate what is going on inside. Each cover image comes with a matching color vinyl. These too are all about looking out and looking back, in order to better look ahead.

Batov Records presents a full-length foray into the musical world of Italian producer and multi-instrumentalist Ayala, with particular emphasis on his love of African music, from Afrobeat to disco. Whilst earning the support of leading DJs such as Colleen Cosmo Murphy, Dave Lee, Danny Tenaglia, J-Kriv, and DJ Rocco, Ayala has built an increasingly visible profile producing and DJ, with releases across a wide range of prolific labels, such as Compost, Hector Romero's Latin freestyle label, Orianna, and leading Italian label, Rebirth, early supporters of the likes of Tensnake, Motor City DrumEnsemble, Soul Clap, Jimmy Edgar, and Deetron.

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.

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.

Orgone present their new 7inch “Bulletproof / P.C.H”. Keeping it instrumental on the A-side with an uptempo dancefloor burner featuring Brooklyn's own Ikebe Shakedown. And not letting up on the B-side, a super cool and slow lowrider jam called "P.C.H. (One More Mile) that features the soulful crooning of Jesse Wagner from The Aggrolites. A two-sided killer!

"it's Gonna BE Alright" is the first single from the sessions recorded for their third album right before the passing of lead singer Chadwick Murray. Uptempo modern soul b/w "you LET ME Down Again", a more downbeat song with a New Orleans vamp.

Mighty Eye Records is proud to present its debut release, the self-titled album by 10th Street. Comprised of some of the best NYC musicians to grace the music scene in the past 20 plus years, this ode to late ’70s disco, funk and boogie is sure to be a future classic!

Recorded at Soul Fire Studios (Williamsburg, Bklyn) over the course of two years, over two dozen musicians were involved in the making of this album, including members of El Michels Affair, Lee Fields & The Expressions, The Dap-Kings, Antibalas and more.

This eight track LP was produced and engineered by Jeff ‘Dynamite’ Silverman (Soul Fire Records, Truth & Soul Records, Aloe Blacc), assistant engineered by Lucas Goodman (Lion Babe), mixed by Chris Connors (Liam Bailey, Holy Hive) and mastered by Ryan Schwabe.

Notable contributions on 10th Street include Horn Arrangements by Michael Leonhart and String Arrangements by Leon Michels. Also including the ever talented Terri Walker (Lady) and Camille Sledge (Sister Sledge, Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra) on vocals.

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.

Members of Poets of Rhythm and Faruk Green present a heady approach to Jazz and Low Rock instrumentals from Berlin, Germany. Horns, drum breaks, basslines and keys seething with freedom and emotion. The debut LP from Feed LA works in tandem with the albums cover art, a beautifully structured abstraction of flowering sound beams, gently crashing into itself, uncovering intriguing rhythmic discoveries and subtle sonic nuances with each listen.

Feed LA is:
Özgür Bayraktar – keyboards, Daniel Ray Gahn – drums, Jeff Özdemir – bass, Michael Treetop Voß – trumpet, vocals

After their debut album Space Voyage for Warner Chappell, Eleven76 are back with a new album commercially available for the first time entitled Occhio Occhio. The album contains insect-themed outernational grooves with tropical and arabian flavours and smooth and buttered tunes with soulful vibes that are reminiscent of classic european library music. Vintage synthesizers and hot tape-recorded drums continue to lead Eleven76's mystique, with travels through funk territories and all the while frenzied percussion-heavy break beats keep b-girls and b-boys moving on the floor. Including the sold out first two singles "The Scarab’s Quest" & "The Hornet’s Nest" plus 3 exclusive tracks for this vinyl edition