Funk | Soul 323 Items

VERY strong track listing with some of the biggest Motown hits ever – should do very nicely going into Christmas gifting area and beyond as a strong catalogue seller.

Lovers rock style soul runnings from Sydney, Australia on this debut 7” from D.D. Mirage featuring Private Joy. The Original has a true 80’s lovers vibe with sweet harmonies from Private Joy and the flipside features a dubbed version. Labels and sticker designed by Bradley Pinkerton.

Limited edition. Gatefold.

Sitting atop a bean curd shop on grungy Geylang Road in Singapore, a room filled with vintage gear serves as the home and studio of Kribo Records, the home-grown independent label founded by the enigmatic musician and producer known simply as Maggot. This is where his madcap studio wizardry conjures up the muggy, sweaty, funky and groovy tunes that soundtrack his world within the melting pot culture of his homeland.

This is the Sound of Lecak, a regional stamp on the global retro funk and soul movement, inspired by the indigenous word that can mean moist, wet, muddy or even naughty. Filtered through his love of global soul and rhythms of the ‘60s and ‘70s, Maggot and his collaborators offer up a vibe that’s equal parts Thai Luk Thung / Molam, African Afrobeat, 70’s U.S. funk, disco, psych, soul, and U.K. pop. This collection of Kribo Records singles provides a peek into Maggot’s singular musical attitude, and provides a window into the unique cultural landscape of the Nusantara archipelago.

For the first time since the release of their 2022 debut album 'Drift,'the Winston Brothers are back with two new original tunes pressedonto one perfect 45.The A-side, 'Straight Shooter' is none other than that. A rolling funkescapade, the track gears you up for a b-boy battle with its funkyguitars, horns, and drum breaks. The energy is high, edgy, and of-therail and was recorded all analog via a Fostex 8 Track.The B-side, 'Island Travel,' is a dramatic and cinematic escape. Thischilled out afro-beat jam will have your head bobbing along to itshypnotic groove. Infused with elements of ethno-funk and spiritualjazz, 'Island Travel' features a dreamy flute solo from Kimo Eiserbeckand provides the perfect contrast from 'Straight Shooter'.

Strut presents the definitive reissues of two all-time classic Caribbean soul and funk albums, The Beginning Of The End’s ‘Funky Nassau’ (1971) and ‘Beginning Of The End’ (1976).
Emerging from Nassau in the Bahamas in 1971, the band was formed around the Munnings brothers (Ray, Leroy and Frank) and the first song they recorded, ‘Funky Nassau’, became a No. 1 Billboard R’n’B hit, selling over a million copies. “We wanted to create something new,” remembers Ray Munnings, “something that was truly Bahamian. We loved funk but wanted to include elements of junkanoo, the indigenous music of The Bahamas.” An album was written within a week and recorded at Criteria Studios in Miami. “We brought in more Bahamian themes, like ‘Monkey Tamarind’, a wild fruit that grows there.”
By the time of their second album in 1976, the band was managed by Don Taylor, also Bob Marley’s manager. “Don took us to Byron Lee’s studio in Jamaica and used Teddy Randazzo (Little Anthony & The Imperials) to direct the sessions,” recalls Munnings. “He gave us more of an uptempo jazz funk sound with Chicago-style horns.” The album led to a run of incredible bad luck. Booked to support Marvin Gaye’s ’What’s Goin’ On’ tour, the US Musicians Union stepped in and ordered a US group to fill the slot. They were then added onto a major Bob Marley tour in 1976 before he injured his foot, cancelling all dates.
These definitive official reissues of ‘Funky Nassau’ and ‘Beginning Of The End’ are remastered by The Carvery from original tapes and feature full length tracks from the studio sessions. Both albums feature a history of the albums and the band by vocalist Ray Munnings, alongside rare photos. ‘Beginning Of The End’ appears on loud-press 2LP for the first time.

Record Store Day 2023 limited release with regional focus limited to 1000 copies. Soul Jazz Records’ new Holy Church of the Ecstatic Soul: Gospel, Funk and Soul at the Crossroads 1971-83 is a one-off limited-edition heavyweight red vinyl pressing + download code exclusively for Record Store Day 2023.

The album draws upon the extensive links between Black American Gospel music and Soul music, showing how the sensibilities of gospel artists such as Shirley Caesar, Dorothy Norwood, Andraé Crouch and others crossed over into secular soul music during this period.
Many of the most successful soul artists – from Aretha Franklin to Al Green, The Staples Singers to Sam Cooke – all drew upon their upbringing in the church for their musical inspiration. This album discusses how important the links between the Black church and Soul music were in creating Soul, and spotlights some of the many important (and also little-known) Gospel artists who walked this line between sacred music and soul, funk and disco in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Holy Church of the Ecstatic Soul shows how sacred Gospel music was at home with Stevie Wonder and Blaxploitation-style funk and produced music celebrated both in New York’s underground discos (The Paradise Garage, Studio 54, etc) and later sampled by the likes of Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg and Mary J Blige.

Three Phase is the self-titled debut LP by mysterious Cairo based artist, 3Phaz. Falling in a dark dystopian area between Mahraganat & Shaabi on one side, and hardcore techno and Grime on the other, this record is like nothing you ve heard before. Three Phase is a brutal, hard hitting, deconstruction of the already raw and explosive Mahraganat sound.

Big Crown Records is proud to present the first single from Holy Hive's forthcoming debut full length Float Back To You.The A side "Hypnosis" is an up number from The Hive that catches the listener from the first notes of Paul's guitar. A good vibe tune inspired by the price you pay to stay out late at night and enjoy your life knowing you have work in the morning. Homer and Paul once again play up the fruitful relationship of oxpecker and rhino with Steinweiss' infamous in the pocket drumming that Spring's vocals float over. Harp and synth flourishes pepper the arrangement and the uber-catchy chorus makes this one a staple in their live set.The B side, "Broom" is a musing on the nature of seeing one's true love for the first time. Holy Hive have taken this tried and true subject and infused it with their signature soul-folk sound to create this gem of a b-side. Paul Spring's honesty shines through as he sings with his beautiful falsetto about his real life love at first-sight experience. Joe Harrison brings the tasteful bass and supporting guitar accents while Homer Steinweiss lays down one of his signature grooves. The drum break at the top features a rare and much sought after drum machine known by some as the "zim-gar". Also, Holy Hive is proud to welcome Leon Michels as the guest saxophonist on the this tune. It was all recorded at the Diamond Mine Studios with Jens Jungkurth as the engineer.

A little two-sided mean machine here! Jake Najor (drummer of The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble) brings two heaters! Both sides features members of SFSE, but the A is graced by none other than west coast funk legend Mixmaster Wolf (Breakestra) and man is it a deadly combo! The B is just a funky, nasty, mean, dark instrumental with some insanely pocket drums and a killer fuzzed our chorus. DJs need doubles!

Bounds follows Craven Faults"second full-length album Standers. Following loosely in the footsteps of 2020"s Enclosures release, here"s another 37-minute journey through Northern England via a lifetime obsessing at the fringes of popular culture.

Sam Barker returns with his first solo EP since 2020's BARKER002, this time on Oslo's Smalltown Supersound. While Barker's previous releases (2018's Debiasing EP, 2019's Utility LP) explored the possibilities of kickless dancefloor tracks, Unfixed sees him inverting the musical equation and exploring both the variability and sonic possibilities of a kick-drum - though the final result is not a concept EP.The four tracks emerged from a session that started out as both a technical study in bass drum design and cognition, specifically problem of "functional fixedness", which describes a mental block that restricts the use of an object to its traditional application. Exploring the so-called "generic parts technique", whereby an object is broken down into its component parts to help reveal novel solutions, the typical bass drum elements of waveform, transient, and noise were re-combined through modular synthesis to become fluid, expressive and dynamic.However, what began as a rule-based experiment was overtaken by a more organic music making process without specific conceptual constraints, which allowed the music to live and breathe. Tracks were started and then left unfinished, only to be approached again and again over lengthy intervals. Stylistically the result a mix of raw, stuttering, psychedelic growl, kosmische techno, and infinite iterations and of a single groove. In this regard, Unfixed sees Barker not only deeply invested in musical experimentation but also exploring his own biases in both composition and sound design. The result is, once again, a sound and musical framework all of his own.

This rare take on the Bobby Caldwell classic will bring latin warmth to any dancefloor. Por Amor was the title track from the first Itty release in 2021, after many requests for a repress it’s finally out again – now on a 7” with a new Comb dub version on the flip!

Leon Thomas - "Electric Dusk" / Celebrating the 1-year anniversary of Leon Thomas' album, Electric Dusk, with this translucent emerald green vinyl and exclusive poster. Featuring the standout singles "Breaking Point" and "Crash & Burn." Motown; Motown Records; R&B EXPLICIT

Acid Jazz group label Countdown Records presents a new 7” single series: ‘Mod Classics’. The first release is from cult group the Fleur De Lys, pairing their 1965 recording of Pete Townshend’s ‘Circles’, with the first-time single release of their cover of The Temptations’ ‘You’ve Got To Earn It’.

‘Circles’ was originally slated as The Who’s follow up to ‘My Generation’, before getting caught up in legal matters. The Fleur De Lys version was released to take advantage of The Who’s misfortunes, but it was rush-released and failed to chart. It remains one of the finest slices of the Pop Art Mod sound, and is as fresh today as it was then.

‘You’ve Got To Earn It’ is from a tantalising, lost session from 1966 (which also included takes of The Impressions ‘Amen’ and Don Covay’s ‘Sookie Sookie’). All that survived from the session was an acetate of this amazing cut, found by group member Gordon Haskell, from which this side derives. It was originally released as the title track of the first Fleur De Lys compilation on Acid Jazz in 2013. It has never before been available on 7” vinyl.

Tuxedo is back with a new single, “Shy,” the follow up to their critically acclaimed “II” album. In collaboration with the iconic funk band, Zapp. Tuxedo delivers a highly addictive new funk single for the dance floor.

Two amazing jams! The Perpetual Singers are a collective of gospel singers from Amsterdam - both songs produced by Arp Frique.

Supported by Gilles Peterson, Louie Vega, Antal, Lerato, Tama Sumo, Palms Trax, Gigi Testa, Hunee, Coco Maria, Josh FB + + +

"Hot Love It" - Lerato

"Amaaaazing" - Tama Sumo

"Ah amazing!" - Palms Trax

produced by James Brown