Soulab France At Juno Download

Review: Lyons' Uptown Funk Empire made a splash a year or two ago with groove-packed album, The Empire Strikes Back. Now here's the accompanying long player, literally bursting with remixes of a selection of cuts. "Now" gets reworked as piano-soul by Uraz Kurt, as avant garde funk by Staro75 and straight up disco-house by Patchworks. The Gemini Bros give "Boogie" a flute-heavy makeover, while Moto take it in and electro-house direction. "No One's Gonna Stop Us Now" gets turned into Jamiroquai by Uraz Kurt and skippy funk-house by The Gemini Bros. Also "You've Got To Have Freedom" gets some retro Tijuana Brass stylings by Patchworks.

Review: France's Soulab label is largely known for it's jazzy, soulful sounds. Here though, it's all about the lazy, hazy sounds of the 70s & 80s. Over 13 tracks we get taken on an analogue party heavily indebted to the likes of Roger Troutman & Shalamar. The mellow g-funk of Uptown Funk Empire's "Take You Out" starts things lying down, before the electro-soul of Fatback 4Way's "Sweet Summer Daze" livens things up. From then on we get classic boogie (Cool Million "Lift Me Up") , retro pop (Confection "Lift Me Up") and even flute-core (Uptown Funk Empire "Boogie").

Review: France's Soulab Records are back with yet another compilation of soul-heavy grooves, and considering that these types of comps are exactly what they do best, it ain't no bad thing either. All the usual label affiliated suspects are here and over the course of the 13-strong tracklist we get acoustic ragtime (Weeland & The Urban Soul Collective's "Josephine's Lament"), retro 60s organ wig-outs (Slow Motion Replay's "Ragged Mustang"), barbershop harmonising (Allen Hoist's "The Closer I Get To You") and raw, thundering gospel (Dan Electro's "Let Them Come").

Review: We can always rely on French funkateers Soulab to keep us supplied with regular selections of vintage sounding modern soul gems. This latest compilation features a host of their regular artists and once again the quality is up there. Highlights include the futuristic electro-funk of LA Mitchell's "The Ease", the hazy g-funk vibes of Uraz Kurt's "Remember The Light", the dark, broken electro-hop of Isaac Aesili's "Freedom Cry" and the crazy garage boogie shuffle of Proser & Azaxx's "Prince Is Not Dead".

Review: Led by German guitarist, songwriter and producer Patrick Wieland, an international cast of musicians come together perfectly for this long player - mixing nu-soul, studio funk and jazzy licks over ten golden tracks. Fans of slow and low R&B will love the excellent "Lil Sumthing", complete with some radical auto-wah brass hits and silky smooth beats, while "Prepositions" recalls early Erykah Badu and The Roots. We also can't get enough of the Stevie-ish "Lullaby" and the 30s-balladry of "Josephine's Lament" - two songs that close a beautifully crafted modern soul record.