Funk | Soul 379 Items

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There has been a constant demand for Mel Williams’ Modern 45 ‘Can It Be Me’ since it was first spun at the Torch all-nighters in the early 70s. Its classic 60s stomping sound has made it a Northern perennial. The flip is the original instrumental of Mary Love’s ‘Lay This Burden Down’ that was pressed by Modern in 1974 for shady UK dealer Simon Soussain. Instrumentals are back in vogue and this is one of the very best.

Mayer music without his voice is still Mayer music!

Still in shrink but opened with hype sticker. Original inner sleeve.

A few years ago, Melodies family members Floating Points and DJ Red Greg got their hands on a couple of original 70s obscurities. While these standout records shone brightly in their own right, the two DJs saw the potential to create their own edits behind the scenes, finely attuning the original versions to modern-day dancefloor standards. Of these new recordings, they cut only five copies for themselves and a few DJ friends of theirs.

Today, Melodies International is very proud to bring you MEL006 and MEL007. Fully licensed, lovingly mastered to the highest possible standards and carefully edited to dial up that dancefloor enjoyment, these two ‘You’re A Melody’ classics weren’t originally meant to get official releases. But due to popular request, they are now available to play and share in very special moments at parties around the world.

Stix Recordings rounds up all those essential Mato 7" anthems onto this extended player, with all the cuts remastered for the occasion! Includes two unreleased hits featuring Blackstreet (No
Diggity) & Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre (The Wash). Woopiwoop, that's the sound of reggae-hip hop perfection!

USM are pleased to announce the release of Marvin Gaye: 1961-1965, a collection of his first seven studio albums on 180g vinyl in one fantastic box. This includes the stereo mixes of The Soulful Moods Of Marvin Gaye, That Stubborn Kind Of Fellow and When I’m Alone I Cry released as LPs for the first time ever.

The pop world lost one of the most important soul singers ever to grace the world on 1st April 1984. Marvin Gaye has left behind a series of fantastic hits plus a big handful of tracks which deserve the title of masterpiece, all Collected on this album.

The past few years have found Sean McBride, the artist behind Martial Canterel, in a state of flux, ebbing back and forth between material displacement and musical aestheticism. His expert pedigree in electronic sound and arrangement bridges the gap created by an undecidability between life at home and abroad His new album, Lost At Sea, is an attempt for the artist to locate this elusive common ground.The album's introductory track, Giving Up, has all of the hallmarks that Martial Canterel has utilized in the past_melodic chorus, upbeat rhythm and classic sequential dynamism. Where the song diverges is in its core theme of nature: nature's return to a period of restoration after the failures and recklessness of humankind.The slower pace of songs like Scampia and Puszta yearn for McBride's complex love affair with far flung destinations. Re-evaluating the political strife and social unrest in these historical locations, McBride delves deeper into political and geological reference points creating symbolic representations using mechanized percussion, white noise and various sine waves.The conceptual nature of Lost at Sea reaches even deeper depths within the waveforms of Astralize, a track based upon academic Donna Haraway's pre-civilized theories of human neglect after the `azstralization'.

Nearly 40 years after releasing two of the greatest funk 7-inches of all time, the breakbeat masterpieces "Space Funk" and "Midnight Theme," the legendary Manzel is back on Fraternity Records with another sureshot double-sider. Originally comprised of Manzel Bush on keys, Larry VanDyke on guitar and late Steve Garner on drums, the 2017 incarnation of the group adds powerhouse Jay Mumford, p.k.a. J-Zone, in the drum chair and is lean and funky as ever. "High And Tight" is a classic party jam, complete with chanted vocals and a couple drum breaks that establish the new man in the trio is no joke on the skins. "Standing On Mars" continues the favored space-related vibe of Manzel's past releases, an uptempo jazzy instrumental dancefloor mover that simply cooks, with Manzel doing double duty on electric piano and organ.

GED Soul is thrilled to announce the highly anticipated reissue of the legendary debut album from Magic In Threes. Out of print for over a decade, this atmospheric 2011 library funk gem has become somewhat of a rarity, fetching absurd prices in the second-hand market. The 2024 reissue has undergone exquisite remastering by Jukka Sarapää from Timmion Cutting and is pressed onto premium black vinyl. Don’t sleep on the chance to own this iconic GED Soul album on wax.

James Brown had several incredibly talented funky divas in his late 60s and early 70s stable, including Vicki Anderson and Marva Whitney. But as great as those two powerhouse singers were, Lyn Collins was the strongest hitmaker of that funky JB era. Her strong voice and commanding stage presence - which earned her the nicknames The Female Preacher and Mama Feelgood - quickly proved to be a potent addition to the People Records universe. In the spring of 1972 her second single, the driving and ridiculously funky “Think (About It)” hit the R&B music world like a ton of bricks. As fans young and old know, thanks to its timeless, relentless groove and powerful vocals, “Think” gained a powerful second life in the 1980s thanks to the hip-hop generation, fueling the platinum smash “It Takes Two,” by Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock in 1988 and additionally sampled by dozens of hip-hop and dance music artists up to the present day. But Collins was far from a one hit wonder: she was as vocally adept on ballads as she was with full-blown funk. She proves this throughout her debut album, which was released in 1972 on James Browns new People Records - the imprint's second full-length release. To wit, aside from the title smash: a powerful and emotional cover of Bill Withers "Ain’t No Sunshine"; the socially progressive "Women’s Lib"; the Gamble & Huff-penned "Never Gonna Give You Up" (originally done by Jerry Butler); and even a daring, muscular take on the song “Fly Me To The Moon,” made famous by, among others, Frank Sinatra. Throughout Think (About It), Collins shows that she was a vocal force to be reckoned with. Backed by a James Brown assembled musical crew that included Pee Wee Ellis, Fred Wesley and, of course, James Brown himself, the platter was bound to impress and succeed. And that it did.

As our label is celebrating its ten years anniversary in 2017 it's about time for an appraisal. we asked LUTZ KRAJENSKI - an exceptionally gifted Jazz arranger and more than talented keyboarder who is also based in our homecity Hannover - to re-interpret some songs from our catalog. They have been recorded with the help of various guest musicians stemming from Krajenski's inner circle of friends in the music scene as well as the singer ALANA ALEXANDER who played an important role in shaping the sound of the album.

the full album will be released in early 2018, but here we go with a first taste: "I Got Hope" is originally written and recorded by THE HI-FLY ORCHESTRA and a special bonus to this 7" Single is the cover version of TIMMY THOMAS' classic tune "Cold, Cold People".

Back in! Obscure Philly disco from 1984 recorded at Sound Modification, includes Tom Noble Edit on the flip!

15 years ago, Ludovic Llorca was an up and comer in the French house scene but also somewhat adjacent to it, pulling his samples from low-key jazz instead of the glitzy disco numbers immortalised by Daft Punk. His critically acclaimed debut New Comer went largely under the radar but has retained a modest cult following, its chic, blissed-out mood something of an antecedent to the kind of sound now well-served by the folks at Mood Hut.
Longtime fans anticipating a fresh helping of jazz-oriented deep house will be surprised to the hear the The Garden is both stylistically and structurally different from Llorca’s earlier material. Funk and soul are to The Garden what jazz was to New Comer but rather than sample the classics, Llorca fashions new tunes in the style of the greats with the help of several guest vocalists, making this is very much a collection of songs rather than beats.
All Right conjures a sticky urban atmosphere with bluesy sustained piano chords that recalls Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On?, while Trigger Happy, with its squelchy synth lead, is an unmistakable nod to Stevie Wonder’s Superstition. Add to that list You, a jaunty finger snapping homage to the Jackson 5, and it’s obvious that The Garden is less an experimental reimagining of familiar sounds than it is a retro revival project along the lines of Dâm-Funk, and a good one too.
The record’s standout moment and black sheep however, is Waiting. The only track without a featured guest, it’s a noir-ish swagger of a groove is built around an irresistible bassline that keeps on giving. With its icy strings and descending minor chords, it’s sinister and strange in a way unlike anything else on The Garden and yet oozes the very essence of the funk.