Review: Breakbeat Paradise instigate another funk quest... But if you follow them for more than a minute you'll know the funk never left them. Label founder Badboe takes the lead, working a Bussa Bus vocal over a warm upbeat summer jam groove. Father Funk follows with a Natisni vocal and a '70s-style Lalo Schifrin OST groove. Dig deeper for piano-pumping diva-driven soul on Timothy Wisdom's "Bad Mother" and a superior EP-closing ode to Grand Puba via Tom Showtime. Brought the funk back recently?
Review: Got your freak flag? Well fly it high, baby, Tru Funk are kicking off the year with five slick and simple nu funk nuggets that ooze sample magic while riding with their own original flavour. Label newcomer Bezum ignites proceedings with a fruity flute jam while Father Funk follows in hot pursuit on a smoother west coast style attitude and a very sneaky vocal sample. Funkanizer provide the halftime sounds with a wah-wah guitar-snapping block party joint while Robinson Groove and Telephunken bring up the rear, the former boasting a flute-fuelled p-funk homage, the latter a brazen Hammond basher. Each one of them will set your floor off in style.
Review: However many new directions dance music goes in, there will always be a place for simple-but-effective bootleg mash-ups of familiar grooves and hip-hop acapellas. To be fair to the Booty Fruit camp, they do it better than most, offering reworks that balance dancefloor playability with a tasteful approach to production. There's a distinct hip-hop feel throughout, with Roast Beatz's harmonica-laden Beasties booty "Hick Stick" and Livingstone & Conosis' bumpin' "Tuna Salad" - a Charli 2na rework - standing out. Check also the head-nodding disco-skank of El Bomba and Hidden Riddim's "Miss Discoflex".
Review: After signing with legendary agency and former label Finger Lickin', Father Funk quickly became one of the biggest names in breakbeat and ghetto funk. Fresh off the back of two Canada tours earlier this year and the 1st anniversary of his own successful Bristol based night 'Father Funk's Church of Love', the father has cemented himself as one of the freshest taste makers in the UK right now. Taking huge inspiration from the disco and funk sounds of the 70's and 80's, this debut record is the first full release that is completely original and free from his best-known sampling work. It captures the energy of the funk and soul golden years whilst combining it with modern dance music and disco culture, not sticking to one particular genre. With over three years in the making the father has been able to collaborate with some of the freshest names in the scene, including London rap duo Too Many T's, Ghetto Funk legends WBBL and Slynk, Canadian hip hop group Illvis Freshly and neo-soul singer Hilary Beckett.
Review: When most daddies get home, you know you're in for it over some misdemeanour or other. Not this one, when he gets home it's all about the party. Father Funk wouldn't know deep or dark music if it came up and slapped him in the face Tango-style. Instead he does what he does best, like here where he presents five fruity, happy tunes to make us all forget our woes. Some of our faves include the buzzy-electro-bas-and-go-go-beats of the title track, the frantic funk workout of "Block Party" and the 80s soul-sampling hip-house sing-a-long "Soul City".
Review: Pater party starter Father Funk shows us who's the daddy with four more slinky, sample-soaked nu-funk jams. Ranging from the ballsy swing of "Jungle Strut" to the more salubrious, well-oiled slinks and winks of "Start Movin'", once again FF's EP lives up to its title in every way... Climaxing with a smoky-eyed shake up of Dusty Springfield's "Spooky". Sexy.
Review: An EP that really does live up to its name: Everything about Father Funk's first full EP for Scour genuinely is phenomenal. Bursting at the seams with a full flavoured rainbow of grooves, we're spoilt for choice: the Bootsy-level chaos of "Love Shack", the Cuban heel clicking fiesta fire "Gringo Lingo", the surprisingly salubrious disco licks of "Filthy" and, of course, the Van Helden salute that is the title track. "Phenomenal Funk" = phenomenally funky. More please daddio.
Review: After Father Funk positioned his place as a serious contender for Funk Therapy's best new artist, he teams up with Bear Twists for an absolutely rocking episode of electro-heavy badness! The pair first roll out "Love Is The Answer", an absolutely rocking bass nugget, followed by the "Disco Biscuits" itself, a broken beat groove with nothing but funk dripping from its off-kilter flex. "Flutter" is a slower, bleepy head-nodder that certainly nods to the downtempo moments, and "Child's Play" comes through with the veritable jazz vibes, strumming those riffs and blasting those horns to fill us with that inimitable FriYAY feeling..!
Review: Booty Fruit goes in for the kill on the second helping of the Cherry Bomb series, a twisted fusion of boogie breaks, sample-heavy chops and house-flavoured grooves. This time it's Roast Beatz, El Bomba and Father Funk who teams up to spray the madness out in full effect. If you're into the combination disco, funky and breaks, then look no further...
Review: Swiss booty dealers Tremendo launch a new series and the title says it all. The label's established funk sound is still in abundance, but it rolls with a heavier bass twist. In some places the low end urgency is more obvious than others - DJ Soo and Tim Livingstone's earworm bassline rips through "Boom!" with true musical mischief while Father Funk's "Feel The Beat Y'All" is less dirty and more cheeky with its classic swing motifs and occasional wobbles. Elsewhere we hear Jayl Funk pay homage to classic 60s funk, Trotters and Telephunken munching on raw squidgy bass and El Bomba getting all slinky and sexy. Get dirty.
Review: From their recent online musings, it seems that the award-winning Scour Records seem to be as equally fond of the other type of swinging as they are the style of music they've done so well at releasing thus far. Thankfully here we're only about the music and what a lot of it there is on Scoured Swing Vol 1. Here label owner DJ Spinforth selects eight of the best new jams around. Highlights include the classy, laid back opener "About Me" by The Fritz, the dubstep-meets-Charleston vibes of "Swingers" by Father Funk and the epic electro-swing monster "Cufflinks & Caviar" by Tuxedo Junction.
Review: With glitch and funk being two crucial ingredients in Adapted's bass-baked cake, it's kind of surprising that they haven't curated a set like this before. 15 tracks, each one focusing on the more laidback, groove-heavy side of the dance, the title really does say it all. You want highlights? Of course you do... Check the shimmering, soaking wet guitar lines and Bootsy-busting P-funk of Beat Fatigue's "Funk Tube", the 80s synths and LA vision of Farfectch D's "The Fever" and the grizzly gurgles and short, sharp horn stabs of Spekrfreks' "Juke Joint". Job done.
Review: Breakbeat specialists Scour turn in the fifth chapter of their Scoured Cream series and as you'd expect, it's all beats and instantly seductive basslines. Sitting somewhere between breaks and electro, these tracks are guaranteed to get any party on its way, especially if it involves university dormitories or student unions! Our tops picks have to be Phibes' "Needles" for thos soulful vocal samples, "Rockin' Cold" by Rollomatik and Cockney Nutjob's "Firepower" for the undeniable comic effect of that sample...you'll know what we mean!
Review: Skimming the purist, fullest fat cream from the nu-funk crop, Scour's behaviour at the forefront of the party-minded movement is nothing short of commendable. Their most extensive compendium to date, vibes range of the Little Walter-sampling "Ain't No Coolin" to the filtered jazz funk chops and slaps of "The Program". Between these two disparate-yet-wholly-consistent flavours you'll find subverted swing (Father Funk & Howla's "Got Swing?"), stark Jackson Five string struts ("Soul Rocka") and classic rap ("Two For The Crates"). Whipped and unashamedly fresh, Scour really are the cream of the crop right now.
Review: A brand new label dedicated to the nu-funk crusade, Funk Fusion are launching with a serious statement of booty-shaking intent. With concentrated mid tempo party vibes littered throughout the set, there are some genuinely unique examples of creativity here... Including the harmonica and slap-bass mischief of "Seems Like A Dream", the rich crooning dancehall vocal of Waykin Bakaman on "The Scury", the haunted house-level scratchy bass on "Monster". With other highlights coming from X-Ray Ted (a discofied version of Junior Senior) Phunk Sinatra (Busta Rhymes goes Bollywood) and Rory Hoy (gritty horn heaven that nods to Exit Planet Dust), this really is a fantastic way to launch a label.
Review: Scour's dedication to the glitch funk movement continues with this full-frontal seminar of juicy low-end party discussions. Highlights include the twisted swing swagger of "Strictly Dynamite", Howla's bass bitten rail-road sing-along "Long Road", WBBL's body-slamming Kasabian booty "Fiyah" and Father Funk's take on Ram Jam's never-tiring "Black Betty". Not a dull moment in sight, this is a must for all breaks, glitch and nu-funk selectors.
Review: This label recently launched by DJ Spinforth (and pals) as a next step extension to his biweekly column for the Ghetto Funk blog called 'The Scour', to highlight and showcase the unsigned talent that he encounters while 'scouring' Soundcloud. The next logical step was to actually release this stuff, so here's the impressive debut compilation snappily called Scoured Cream. Originally intended to showcase just five tunes, its now boasts eight including the stop-start blues-hop of "Sun No Shine", the wobble-soul of "Hell Yeah" and some electro-swing courtesy of Hong Kong Ping Pong.
Review: Telephunken's Tremendo imprint continues to settle itself into the party, making itself more than at home. A cool septuplet of cuts, the swaggering block busting vibes are introduced by Telephunken themselves with a very naughty Rage Against The Machine sampling mosh-masher before we cruise into myriad styles from west coast Cali soul (Father Funk's "Real Funky") to chop-blistering big beat (The Bang! Bang! Show's tongue-in-cheek "Do Your Whoomp") to slow n' steady bass squelchism (Stereo Beatz "Feel The Panic"). Tremendo? Tremendous more like.
Review: Bringing new levels of heat to the nu-funk fire, Rise Above returns with three more surefire party ruckuses. WBBL kicks off with a pitch-perfect update of Bomb The Bass's "Bug Powder Dust" on "Buggin", Sammy Senior looks further back and taps into the deepest pool of classic jams with a savage bass-scorched "Sweet Funk", and finally X Ray Ted closes the show with a cool homage to Al Jarreau, complete with a cameo from Mr Biggie Smalls himself. New blood? Bloody great, more like.
