Back catalogue: Broken Beat/Nu Jazz/Nu Soul

Review: It might be summer 2023 as we write this but it's Autumn 2021 for the Free Robots. This 7" is part of the Time Flies labels removed series where today's producers rework yesterday's classics from the world of Italian golden age soundtracks and library music. This focusses on music from a 1978 album Futuribile by Gianni Safred, a talented pianist and electronic producer. It is a woozy mix of jazz drums and hip hop rhythms with spaced out synth work and experimental effects. The flipside features the original version which is more retro-future and spaced out with less dynamic rhythms.

Review: A new four-track EP reflecting ever-expanded horizons for the band, 'Bloodline' is the latest output from loose-limbed, soul-stirring funk band Gabriels. Quickly finding fans in the likes of Elton John, Celeste, Paul Weller, Benji B, and Gilles Peterson, Gabriels should soon find plenty more on a record that could soundtrack a David Lynch epic; such is its drama, its suspenseful, late-night orchestral ruminations. Capped by frontman Lusk's voice - a weapon that swoops through the octaves breathlessly - Gabriels have that rare ability to make you re-evaluate music, and what it can do, in a heartbeat. Whilst Lusk provides the wow factor with that ridiculous larynx, Gabriels are very much a close-knit trio. Producer, keyboardist (and full-time video director) Ryan Hope hails from Sunderland but calls LA home. Fellow producer-composer and violinist Ari Balouzian, a man with endless musical projects on the go at any one time, gives Gabriels' songs a real 'feel' to them. Sultry, soulful mood music certainly isn't the band's modus operandi, but this new experimental EP should paint an altogether more rounded idea of where Gabriels are at today.

Review: Yet two more Brownswood bubblers rise to the surface, this time under the well-organised branch of the tree known as Brownswood Remix Editions, which does what it says on the lovey-dovey carving. Here, back-to-back debutants Musclecars and Laroye receive the Olympic torch from London-based acid jazz group Galliano, who've blazed a thick trail of flame since their original formation in 1988, not to mention a recent reformation in 2023. 'Pleasure, Joy & Happiness' hears a house musical chorale from Musclecars, with added vocal mystifications threshed in the stereo field, producing a Balearic effect. Laroye's version of 'Circles Going Round The Sun' brings swelling "Kaytra" grooves and bumper drums to an anticipatory mood, provided by the original's solo siren song and urban monologue.

Review: Tom Kerridge's Girls Of The Internet project is back after a successful debut via WNCL Recordings, landing on the excellent Ramp Recordings with an aptly rampant four-tracker that's just in time to catch the rest of the summer heat! "When U Go" is a super-chilled, super-vibing deep house sketch with a marvellously sexy wave of female vocals, then remixed into something more 'tech' by FYI Chris. On the flip, "Running" wins our hearts over as the killer tune on this EP, not least because of its painfully soulful vocals and mild-mannered elegance on the instruments and groove beneath it; The rework, from Finn, once again adds a lot more of a tech-house vibe to the arrangement, and a whole load of bass on top of that. TIP!

Review: A true Chicago veteran with over 100+ releases to his name(s) steps into a fresh chapter with this first EP on a new label, delivering four cuts that reaffirm his mastery of deep house expression. 'Lush' opens with silky, melodic textures, driven by emotive keys and a warm, jazzy touchipure late-night soul. 'Magic (Gherkin Syndrome Mix)' ups the energy, blending jackin' rhythms, funky basslines and a misty atmosphere, while still rooted in deep house sensibility. Flipping to Side-B, 'Showing Off' cools things down with a laid-back piece that is a worth alternate to all the heat elsewhere on this disc. Closing track 'U Don't Own Me (Destructive Beauty Inst)' dives deeper still, a spacious, textured instrumental that has a timeless, defiant spirit. Every track feels like a personal statement from an artist still pushing forward, rooted in tradition but reaching more great emotional heights.

Review: This naive street soul gem is so rare, that - prior to its repress here by Heels & Souls - it was barely accessible anywhere save for a potential L500 re-flogging on eBay. Luckily, those with their best interests at heart do the glorious work of repressing the tracks 'Over You' and 'Shining Through' - as well as their slightly different dance mixes - to EP-length wax. You're lucky to be in the presence of some quintessential street soul here, featuring detuned vocals, crude plodding drums and digital strings that evoke shafts of evening light on city concrete. And if you're ever suffering a bad breakup, 'Over You' is the harsh remedy.

Review: Gratts returns with a release that perfectly balances club-ready energy and laid-back vibes. The opening track, 'Sunsets (FBI Mix)', pays tribute to Sydney's DJ Simon Caldwell, blending dubby West Coast deep house influences with smooth, atmospheric vocals from Lesley Williams. On 'Sundays With U (Neapolitan Mix)', Gratts delves into jazzy, bruk-inspired sounds with a standout soprano sax performance by Andreas Poppelbaum and lyrics in the Neapolitan dialect from Ambra. The 'GT Remix' of 'Sundays With U' shifts gears, enhancing the original with a deep, dancefloor-focused rhythm. Gratts and his collaborators create a textured release that's as suited for radio as it is for late-night sets.

Review: Dynamite Cuts continue in their mission to share jazz, funk and soul deep cuts with the world, this time pulling a timeless gilded funk rabbit out of their hats. Gregory James Edition took on the collective mantle of "Prophets Of Soul" at the moment of their 1973 debut, which would only then be followed by the 1979 record Gonna Grow Some Gold before an eventual disbandment. A shame, since 'Ain't No Sunshine' and 'Changing Things' stand out as the record's finest offcuts; the first track uses its various clavinets and Farfisa Combo organs to estrange an existingly capricious funk sound, rendering it rather odd, alien, spacious. 'Changing Things' contrasts with upswells of gushing piano set to a funk backbeat, which come yet measured by an admirable key change control, again held down by lead player Gregory Bibb.

Review: Groove Chronicles are as legendary as it comes when you're talking about garage acts. They have such a rich legacy and it dates as far back as 1997. The dup known as Noodles & Dubchild are now back with another 12" that is going to fly off the shelves and offer up their much sought-after Brokenstep edits. These have been getting big time plays from influencers like Gilles Peterson and Bradley Zero and take in sax-led good time grooves, bustling broken beats and blissed-out instrumentals.

Review: Guest's Guest Mini Edits Vol 5, released on Cuts, is a delightful fusion of funk and soul. Side-1 features 'Strange Games,' a smoothed-out funk instrumental that exudes magic. The track is elevated by big 1970s strings, adding a touch of disco flair while maintaining a slower BPM, making it uniquely great in itself. Side-2's 'Niagara Falls' offers a deep tribal groove, evoking the vibe of a 70s drama theme show, reminiscent of something you might hear on 'Starsky and Hutch' or 'Emergency!' This EP beautifully captures the essence of that era, making it something to check out for fans of vintage funk and soul.

Review: Mother Tongue sure knows how to serve up some beautifully escapist and Balearic sounds and that's exactly what we have here with this seductive new 12" from Tiombe Lockhart feat. Georgia Anne Muldrow. This welcome return to the label from Lockhart comes as a teaser ahead of her new album Going Forth By Day. On this evidence, it's going to be a real doozy because 'An Osirian Dream' is utterly angelic. The vocals soar to the heavens next to celestial melodies over a gentle rhythm. Also included a beatless version and a couple of T's takes which get more jazzy.

Review: Rahaan is an absolute don when it comes to disco done right and with genuine soul. He's been rolling it out in original and edit form for many years and none of it ever goes out of date. Here he presents Gregory Carmouche & Cherelle Cherisoul Sullivan on the second release on the Yellow Taxi label. 'It Is What It Is' is a lovely loose jam with noodling chord work, rolling drums and magnificent vocals that bring plenty of sunshine next to playful whistles. Those vocals are more centred on the B-side opener while an instrumental remixes peels them away entirely.

Review: Sound Signature kick off the new year with a pleasing reissue of some smoky soul from Theo Parrish's outlet for his most jazzy tendencies. On "Seasons Of My Life" Billy Lo croons over a muted trumpet while a surprisingly rough stomp gets hammered out of a live kit. It's a dreamy, sunkissed jam with all the loose, free-flowing elements you would expect from something with Parrish's stamp on it. Marcellus Pittman helps out on "Feedback", as a sparser, meandering groove does the nasty with some restrained keys. For that Detroit beatdown flavour away from the dancefloor, this is as good as it gets.

Review: The first vinyl release to grace the freshly-decked halls of the newly minted Lost In The Rhythm label, the EP known by no name other than 'EP' is a promising debut sampler of a new curative effort and community-first initiative, helmed up by Rob Coley aka. RevolutionsLDN. With the express aim of blending the soulful, intestinal feelings of deep and Chicago house with its ancestral roots, the EP achieves a rawly hewn yet neatly knitted sound; one first laid down by Floyd Vader and DJ Solid on the A, the latter of whom especially dazzles with the saw-washed amapiano-ish melancholy of 'I Like To Kiss', whose machinic dunduns serve to taper off our inhibitions to a sunset vanishing point. The pace is lifted on the B-side's choice, Mikekon's 'It's Yours', which indulges a sparse Afro-driven palette, as we're treated to a suggestive, therapeutic monologue from vocalist Novakone Omega: "I'm giving you... *the*... license... to get you some... break you off some... take you some... come get it... it's here... it's waiting..."

Review: Tenor saxophonist, bandleader and composer Nubya Garcia returns with her sophomore album, Odyssey, her second release on the Concord Jazz imprint, out in September 2024. Backlit by a decidedly crimson red, Garcia comes back by the likes of Kwes. and Joe-Armon Jones for a full dozen tracks of epical spiritual jazz travails. Laconic yet ipso facto expressive, Garcia remarks of the record that she felt that it ended up 'transversing so many things'; rather than settling on just one universe as a homeward base, Garcia finds freedom in the continual movement between universes. Led by the tense but no less joy-inflective 'The Seer', on which moods of broken jazz, and that of a treacherous but sagacious journeys, is evinced, Odyssey kicks things off on a larger-than-life note.

Review: Stone's Throw has never really made any wrong moves in our opinion, and here the label puts its full force behind a deceptively powerful album. Taking us to places that are deeper than perhaps what the imprint is best known for, this is immersive, hypnotic, otherworldly stuff made from a variety of plugged in machines, analogue and otherwise, including a semi-modular synth. The result is a journey-style collection packed with atmosphere but one that's also painstakingly detailed and textured. Sound waves are rendered almost visible by the movements, drones, tracks and other pieces here, drum and effects machines producing the kind of noises that mesmerise and suck you in further as time passes. Tunes to get lost in, the only remaining question is whether anyone will ever want to return.

Review: There is no stopping the prodigious producer Felipe Gordon who turns out huge amounts of work, without ever sacrificing artistry. He brings soul and jazz to his deep house sounds and this is the fourth time he has landed on Clone. 'Profundo' gets things underway with singing synths and shuffling deep beats, then 'Hold On' centres escapist and sunny melodies that take you to the Med. Elsewhere 'I Don't Know Why' brings spoken word vocals to lavish house and 'Takes Time' oozes sex appeal with its steamy sax notes and gentle piano tinkles. All of these cuts are laden with great musicality that puts many producers to shame.