CORTEX Vinilo y CD

Review: .No, this is not a surprise jazz-funk outing from Dan 'Caribou' Snaith, but rather a reissue of the sole single that French outfit Cortex released as Caribou, way back in 1977. Copies of that record are now very hard to come by, so it's great that Trad Vibe have delivered this fresh edition. It's worth picking up for 'Californie' alone. The track is a near perfect fusion of the Gallic ensemble's usual loose jazz-funk sound and energetic, sun-drenched disco - all breathless electric piano solos, memorable guitar licks, dancefloor-friendly grooves and spiralling group vocals. Original flipside 'Stevie', a more relaxed and loved-up affair closer in tone to Cortex's usual material, once again resides on the reverse.

Review: Arising phoenix-like from the flames of a film soundtrack originally thought to have been lost in a blaze, 'Psychose' and its partner in crime 'Oh! Lord' now come as the latest reissued musical tidbits from French jazz fusion masters Cortex. Though the name of the film for which they composed these two tittilating trinkets is unknown, the vibe of the picture is certainly inferable from the tracks' light restlessness and hard-to-pin-down contrast. Bright clavs, electric pianos and rough-edged drums whirl about both mixes in stereo-optimized fashion, sultrily portraying the headspace of a 70s street urchin with a chromatic relish for life.