THE BLASSICS Vinilo y CD

Review: Funk Night Records continues to offer up new slabs of fabulously fuzzy funk from The Blassics, a nine-piece outfit from Finland that has been operative for the best part of a decade. Remarkably, this is the band's fifth single this year. On the A-side you'll find the "Slofat Version" of their tribute to the polyrhythmic percussion, raw bass and dancing horns of Afro-funk, which is aptly named 'Afro Cookie'. It's a chunky musical biscuit that looks set to energise dancefloors with its sugary delights every time it's dropped. Despite its title, flipside 'Psych Afro Funk' is not that psychedelic; it is, though a rather fine and pleasingly laidback ramble through the more relaxed end of the Afro-funk spectrum.

Review: Funk Night Records' latest limited-edition "45" comes courtesy of The Blassics, an expansive Finnish band whose self-released albums regularly join the dots between funk, Afrobeat, jazz-funk, soul and, more surprisingly, space-age jazz. "Bongo Rap Version" is a little more straightforward than that their eclectic approach suggests, offering a tidy mix of Incredible Bongo Band style grooves, undulating bass, occasional Afrobeat horns and raw guitar riffs. They opt for a more laidback approach on "Sensuous Encounter", wrapping a more laidback Afro-funk style groove in flanged guitars and echoing electric piano solos.

Review: The Blassics, an enlarged Finnish outfit who specialise in anything from soul to broken beat and electronic-minded jazz, invariably lead us to believe that there is just so much soul up in the northern hemisphere. Their label, Odd Funk Records, is one of the most consistent and reliable sources of the genre across all of Europe, and they've rarely turned in an album which has made us anything but ecstatic. In fact, this latest work, the aptly named Becoming Waves, has been playing non-stop on our local stereo for a good half day, which is something of a marvel given the quantity of music that comes through our doors. While the essence of this album is very much on the funk area, we believe that the brains and muscles driving it are made of something much more leftfield, and it very much encompasses the electronic domain. At times falling into dub, of the best lo-fi quality, we believe this to be the tip of the week, and an LP that shouldn't not go unnoticed. A marvellous and quirky journey for all.

Review: After releasing two LPs within the space of 2015, Scandinavian jazz collective The Blassics return with a new album that marks the onset of a conceptual trilogy for Odd Funk Records. The Blassics' core duo Tuure Tammi and Juha Sarkkola are behind the Odd Jazz series, described as an exercise in non-academic, avant-garde jazz where "ethnical grooves meet analogue sound aesthetics." This debut volume reveals yet another talented side to The Blassics, focusing on improvisation and the creative freedom that comes with it. Fans of spaced out jazz from the late '60s and '70s will certainly warm to how Tammi and Sarkkola approach the style across these sumptuous 12" freeform cuts. A fine start to the Odd Jazz series!

Review: For their latest 45 missive, Funk Night Records has decided to offer-up a double-header of fresh instrumental funk from two Scandinavian combos. The A-side features Finnish scene stalwarts The Blassics, whose 'Silver Mercury' offers a fiendishly fuzzy mix of low-slung drum-breaks, clipped guitar riffs and all manner of tipsy horn solos. Fellow Scandi-funk outfit Broaks take over on side B, building on the smoky, seductive sound of their recent self-titled debut album. 'Her Ability to Transform' is a weighty but sparse and stripped-back trip into hip-hop influenced Afro-funk territory that comes laden with drunken horn blasts, Tony Allen style drumming and some nimble, subtle turntablism.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent condition***


For their latest 45 missive, Funk Night Records has decided to offer-up a double-header of fresh instrumental funk from two Scandinavian combos. The A-side features Finnish scene stalwarts The Blassics, whose 'Silver Mercury' offers a fiendishly fuzzy mix of low-slung drum-breaks, clipped guitar riffs and all manner of tipsy horn solos. Fellow Scandi-funk outfit Broaks take over on side B, building on the smoky, seductive sound of their recent self-titled debut album. 'Her Ability to Transform' is a weighty but sparse and stripped-back trip into hip-hop influenced Afro-funk territory that comes laden with drunken horn blasts, Tony Allen style drumming and some nimble, subtle turntablism.

Review: The Blassics is a multi-member collective known for the excellent blend of jazz, funk, afro and soul across a series of standout records over the last decade. They take care of the a-side of this red hot release from Funk Night with 'Flowman Break', a bubbling, loose limbed funk bumper that is full flavour and full of playful funk. Tatasomba's 'Kaleidoscope' is a little more paired back and coy, with a conversational bassline and jangling cow bells that keep you on the move.

Review: The production pair of Tuure Tammi and Juha Sarkkola hail from Hameenlinna, Finland and first came together to record as The Blassics in 2010. Initially it was an instrumental funk project that looked to record collecting, sampling and deejaying for inspiration and then ended up as a six-piece live band in 2013. Here they appear on the flip of this 7" from Odd Funk with 'I Wanna Show A Lil Trick', and they are also involved in the making of A-side cut 'Fankkisafka', which has Rosteri, a Finnish rap group from Kuopio, serving up the bars.