Jazz & Milk At Juno Download

Review: Out after a host of EPs and an album on their own Jazz & Milk label, eight-piece jazz/exotica/Brazilian group Dusty follow up the album with four fresh new remixes of some of their biggest tunes to date. Solo Moderna rework "Loco Para La Pista" around its Cuban piano parts and an addictive sax line that's nicely anchored by a soft house beat. "Voodoo" however is transformed on Romanowski's "Voodoo Island" mix into a hugely funky, breaks-driven Latin party-starter - mainly thanks to some smart looping of both clarinet and guitar.

Review: Spanish producer Kidboy enlists a team of talented singers and MCs on this new and diverse set of tunes for Jazz & Milk. The instrumental joy of the samba 'n' bass opener "Yo Me Voy De Aqui" leads into the mellow, warm and very essential nu jazz/hip-hop of "The Culture". Featuring Quantic, Bamboos and Breakestra cohort Ohmega Watts, it recalls The Roots and Common at their Philly-residing best, as does the BluRum 13 collab "A Moment To Think" which sports a beat worthy of late-period A Tribe Called Quest or De La Soul.

Review: A real feast of guitar-driven, psych funk exotica on this new LP from the enigmatic Mr Chop, who manages to conjure up the echoey, cavernous and raw textures of late '60s/early '70s jazz-rockers like Gary Burton or Charles Wright on this fantastic LP. With an all-live/no samples aesthetic, Mr C is even aided out by the drumming of Heliocentrics' legendary Malcolm Catto on "The Red Baron", while spooked-out and gritty rock doesn't get any better than on the excellent "Trip through the Water Door".

Review: In its original form, lead track "I Dream Of Bahia" is a breezy blast of humid summer air - a snappy fusion of Latin-tinged grooves, Portuguese vocals and cocktail-sporting jazz guitars. It's joined by a decent remix by Dusty & Bartellow, who turn it into a slo-mo house groove laden with sweaty Brazilian percussion and bowel-bothering sub-bass pulses. "Love Me Good", meanwhile, offers an Afro-tinged take on bumpin' soul, with a strong female vocal and more delicious guitar solos. Scene stalwart Simbad remixes, offering up two versions that sit somewhere between Latin-tinged broken beat and classic US garage - all bouncy organs, skippy beats and hissing hi-hats.

Review: Well known for over a decade as leader of Afro-rock powerhouse Kokolo, Ray Lugo has finally found the time to drop a solo album on the Jazz & Milk label, featuring esteemed vocalists and players such as Dap Kings percussionist Fernando Velez and Joe Bataan guitarist Andy Averbuch. With a mix of hip-hop beats, live Latin percussion and all manner of slinky, JB-inspired funk, tracks like the smoky "This Feeling's Gone" and "I Dream of Bahia" show a whole new side to Lugo and make for a pleasantly-varied and raw LP.

Review: This splendid package from long-time jazz dance/broken beat players Jazz & Milk is the audio equivalent of a New Year detox. If you need to flush out your system after a month of sludgy excess, you could do worse than check the two original tracks here - the breezy, sunshine vibes of "Do What" and Bugz In The Attic-ish "Move On Girl". Both come backed with a slew of excellent, floor-friendly remixes. Of these, it's DJ Moodz NuYorican Soul style re-fix of "Do What" that most impresses, though Don Pascal percussive, 4/4 dub of "Move It Girl" - think Simbad in his Marathon Men days - pushes it close.

Review: Having been on the radar of nu-jazz, broken beat and subterranean soul heads since way back in 2005, the Jazz & Milk label is now one of the longest-serving imprints in a fiercely underground scene. Here, they offer-up a digital reissue of Jazz & Milk Breaks Volume 2, a compilation that deservedly proved popular on CD first time round. In typical Jazz & Milk fashion, it features a breezy collection of floor-friendly cuts in a jazz dance style. There's plenty of variety within the 11 tracks, with decidedly robust nods to mambo, Cuban dance music and skittering electro-jazz nestling side by side with downtempo jazz, hip-hop inclined beatscapes and shuffling soul. If you've not yet got a copy, don't sleep.