DJS: MOST CHARTED - FUNK - MOST CHARTED IN APRIL 2016

Review: UK funk outfit spearheaded by drummer Mike Bandoni returns to the source with a pressing of the original version of "The Strut". A sweaty, Hammond-snapping, break-busting jam with slippery wah wah guitars all laid down by Mike himself. It was a freaky gem when first dropped on the band's debut album in 2008 but this previously unheard and unreleased version is even heavier! Flip for a brand new original: "Spiritual Interlude II (The Heist)". A deeper groove driven by Bandoni's stately breaks and laced with ghostly organs care of co producer Nino Auricchio that rise like voodoo spirits throughout the track. Serious stuff. And only 300 pressed, too.

Review: One doesn't usually associate Italy with funk music on a gospel tip, but this is exactly what's happened on the third outing from fledgling label Cannonball. The Jackson Bros, a still mysterious outfit on our end, throw down the absolute truth on the vocal edit of "Thank You", a glorious and majestic pseudo disco ride that'll please everyone from dad to grandma. The instro cut is firmly in place for all your dance floor needs.

Review: When it comes to the very best in motown and vintage, Michigan-schooled soul, there are very few betteer than the late, great Erma Franklin. Here, we have what is possibly the artist's best and most powerful tune "Hold On, I'm Coming", one that you'll instantly recognise and warm to thanks to that lovely, powerful crescendo on the chorus. On the B-side, another absolutely timeless bomb, the wonderful "Light My Fire" - made famous through The Doors - in all its original glory and style. What a song.

Review: Two Gilles Peterson classics on one 7 inch !! As per usual, the unstoppable Mukatsuku delivers the undeliverable, and somehow the label boss Nik Weston has managed to license a pair of sought after tunes to find on the second-hand market. It's the second instalment of the Club Jazz series with this 45 a Hungary vs France sound clash.Hungary easily wins this one thanks to the sublime rhythm that is "Bamba" by Dimenzio, an inimitable jazz-dance leviathan that manages to mash-up all the right elements of jazz together with something a little weirder and electronic - a truly supreme piece of music that is recommended to ANYONE. Marius Culter's "Diamant" is a high calibre jazz funk missile, and works beautifully as a stand-alone, but its somewhat swamped by the sheer quality of its counterpart. Recommended. As played by Dean Rudland, Mr Thing, Ashely Beedle, Faze Action,Red Greg,Scrimshire,Frank Booker,Nancy Noise and Pete from On The Corner Records etc

Review: Freshly minted German funkateers Born To Shine made quite the impression on us with their debut release earlier this year, First Touch's Daycruising 12", and this second release is just as good. The format may be swapped down to a 7" but none of the funk is lost, as you'd expect from an artist who calls himself Frankfurt Funk. Clearly filled with a love for the US West Coast funk style, Chris Neal's breakout 7" as Frankfurt Funk hits the spot brandishing a pair of boogie burners too hot to handle. Title cut "Master Blaster" swerves hard with tight organ and synth play over a break that snaps with real satisfaction, whilst "Summer Madness" eases down the tempo for a warm slow ride through the vibe.

Review: LA's Orgone crew are specialists in smooth, seductive soul music, and you could say that the band is waving the flag very high in the air for the continuation and health of the genre. It was their original material on Ubiquity back in the early 2000's that gave them their fame, but these two new nuggets on Colemine are pretty on-point in terms of dancefloor destruction: "Do What You Came Here To Do" is a rough and twisted sex bomb that sounds like it was made in '76 - a tune that would make a great addition to a Quentin Tarantino flick - and the "Ronin" instrumental is simply a great, devastating piece of instrumentation for you to get DOWN to.

Review: In amidst a veritable deluge of seven inch-shaped sharpness from Japan's crucial Soul Garden label this week comes this absolute must grip 45 session from Q.A.S.B. The nine-piece Tokyo funkateers have been holding it down since 2005 and this seven picks out a horn heavy highlight from last year's Q.A.S.B. III LP in the shape of "Good Guy." Throwing down a similar vibe to the Quantic Soul Orchestra, this track is all about the lead vocal from Amy A and those warm, tooting horns. Face down and QASB engage flipmode, slowing the tempo down and cranking the sass up on "Bad Boy". If seven inches were vegetables this would be one hot pepper!

Review: The Foster Jackson Group are one of those forgotten but highly coveted one-hit disco wonders that exist in the bottomless pit that is often classed simply as 'soul'. All that aside, these people made an incredible 12" back in 1979 that has been going for serious bucks on the second-hand market, but thankfully the prodigious P&P Records have saved the day yet again. "Feel The Spirit" is a devilish, inimitable disco jingle that is split between the more percussion ridden "Long Disco Version", and a more contained, more floor-focussed "Disco Version" They both contain that instantly addictive dose of piano, though. Check it out, you'll know what we mean...

Review: Fans of Osaka funk fusionists Stepak Takraw are spoilt this week with a deluge of musical goodness by the band arriving courtesy of Soul Garden. After spending an hour or so assessing the respective charms of these records from the crew, it's this Slugfest 7" that stands out in particular. Up top the title track pulls no punches, a slick lick of funk guitar riffage acting as the lead for the band to follow and lay down a taut, fast paced funk composition that leans on their well-honed talent for throwing cumbia elements into the mixer. "Yellow & Green" is there for those who prefer their funk to sound a bit more traditional.

Review: Seen on the regular alongside fellow colluder Jim Dunloop, dusty-fingered German funkateer Marc Hype returns for another round of 7" action on the ever-dependable Dusty Donuts label. Up top, Hype teams up with Naughty NMX for a heavy duty tweak of James Brown classic "The Get Down" with the added weight to the drums really sounding fresh on a good system. "Pays the cost to be the boss" indeed! Naughty NMX goes solo on the B side, retreating another J Brown standard "I Got Ants In My Pants" with some added Public Enemy - the results speak for themselves. Good work all round.

Review: Fresh from 72: Two enormously influential funk gems from Jimmy Castor bunch's debut album It's Just Begun: The heavily-sampled title track is a veritable racecourse of a groove, hurtling around with cyclical glee and hooky chanting vocals while "Troglodyte" is a playful observation on man's more basic wants and needs. Both have aged exceedingly well... As has almost all of Jimmy Castor's work.

Review: 1968's "I'm Chief Kamanawanalea" is perhaps one of the greatest forgotten nuggets of pure breakbeatism, and the original by The Turtles dates back to 1968. The date isn't perhaps that surprising in relation to the sounds used and the quirkiness of the tune, but it's the fact that it sounds like straight-up hip-hop from early 80s NY; Chief Rocca aka J Rocc does a bit of editing on this version, but the meat and bones of the original are definitely there. Steady B features on the flip with a remix from BDP, and this one is a pure throwback hip-hop banger like they used to make them - think Run DMC but much more from the underground.

Review: Tennessee's legendary jazz pianist, Harold Mabern, is surely one of the kings of the mighty Prestige label, and his material helped bridge the gap between jazz and funk back in the 1970s, alongside the likes of Idris Muhammad, The Jimmy Castor Bunch and all those geniuses. "I Want You Back" is a stone-cold classic and contains one of the most hummable trumpet lines ever, and if you hear closely it's been reworked and sampled by none other than the King of pop when he was only a little one. Funk Inc's sublime "Sister Janie" resides on the flip, a more lo-fi funk bullett for the diggers, and complete with a dusty organ!

Review: Future funk king Temu lays down two deliciously juicy covers for Tugboat Editions. Synth-slapping, talkbox-tickling raw funk, first up is a cosmic twist on The Jones Girls 1981 soul jam with lavish lolloping beats and big woozy chord changes. Flip for the funkiest rendition Kraftwerk have ever experienced; listen to his expression and inflection... Few men have ever worked a talkbox with such finesse. Incredible.

Review: Magdy El Hossainy is a bit of a legend, a relic from the glory days of North African music, when all sorts of cutting-edge rhythms were being dreamt up in small, DIY studios. He is a member of the '70s outfit Abdel Halim Hafez, putting out a string of glorious material on Moriphon before separating due to his partner's passing. He's back in 2016, and the keyboardist still passes with flying colours - "Music De Carnival" is a heads-down, murky percussive tune with Hossainy's sparkling synth keys, and a swelling bit bass for its bottom-end. The Steven J re-drum remix, as the name implies, twists the drums into even more dangerous folds and comes out a total winner - a seriously destructive tune for all sorts of DJ's to alleviate over. Recommended.

Review: With a name like Tortilla Factory, it's no surprise this band emerged from the Chicano scene of 1970s Texas. Despite releasing several albums throughout the decade, the band's music remains frustratingly difficult to locate in the vinyl format. Step forward Fryer's Athens of the North label who come through with a fine 7" of their material primed for the floor. "Cookin'" is nuthin' but a fine, sleek funk track with all the trimming - horns, slap-bass, organs, you name it! "Cokin' & Tokin'", on the other hand, is a funner, more uplifting, and an absolute pleasure to move your hips to. Funky doesn't even cover it..!

Review: The Bacao Rhythm and Steel Band are one of the curious outfits who sound as if they're right out of the '70s, when in fact they are happily playing on their instruments in 2016, and making some serious burners. Their zesty ad energetic blend of horns, steel pan and live drums is the sort of African funk for those looking for some fresh and innovative rhythms in this day and age, with "Love Like This" providing exactly that - a bass-heavy, tripped-out kinda groove that spits quality from all angles. On the flip of this tidy 7", Cat Stevens classic "Was Dog A Doughnut" is taken on a more tropical flex, stripping down the groove and laying out one hell of a steel-pan concoction. Bless.

Review: Fancy a whirlwind trip around soul and funk's most evocative moments and talented individuals with sliver tongued tour guide whose prose flow like lyrical sweet nectar? Look. No. Further. Frequent Stevie Wonder collaborator, lyricist, radio show host (both in the US and in the UK on the BBC for spell in the 80s) and certified G, Gary's genius two-part homage to 60s/70s soul and funk is a genuine work of wonder. Essential.

Review: The Originals label is on straight-up fire at the moment, coming through rough and ready with a whole heap of gorgeous disco reissues ready to be cranked-up by contemporary producers. "Funky Music Is The Thing" by The Corvettes, a funky-as-hell soul train, is beefed up by Mr Fantastic with a tidy little edit, whereas The D.O.C and their "Lend Me An Ear" hip-hop joint gets a nice touch-up of the modern B-Boys.