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

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: 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: 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: Apart from having been a pinnacle of both Sahko's and Warp's success over the years, Finland's Jimi Tenor is simply a great musician, a true visionary when it comes to dance - and non-dance - experimentalism, and one of the few truly imaginative minds left; yes, we know that's a bold statement, but it's what we truly believe. Here he is on Philophon with a deeply explorative 7", starting with the psychedelic hymns of "Order Of Nothingness", a song that seems to be drenched in 70's mysticism, but that somehow also sounds utterly contemporary. "Tropical Eel" is more left of field, where digitised Eastern melodies bleep to a steady, jazzy rhythm that simply calls for a head-nod. Recommended.

Review: Based in Mannheim but rooted in the positive vibes that emanate from Dresden, Born To Shine kicks into action with a strong focus on boogie, funk and disco which is demonstrated by the bucketload on this 12" from First Touch. Zeljko Pijuk Schmitt and Nanthara Vorabouth have been feeling the funk since 2009 (seek out there debut self-titled LP issued on their own Highsteppin' label) and they arrive on Born To Shine after a recent outing for the excellent Omega Supreme. It's hard to step away from listening to the four tracks on Daycruising with a feeling of anything but positivity, such is the sunshine contained within these 12" of vinyl with the Moon B style tucked funk of closer "Bayflower" our pick of the bunch.

Review: Australian funk troupe Deep Street Soul have become stalwarts of the Freestyle label since their debut back in 2008. Soul Come Alive is a dinked 7" sampler for what to expect on their upcoming album for Freestyle, Come Alive!, and we can't wait to hear it on the basis of these two tracks. The grit is deep with this crew! Lead track "Soul Come Alive" sees the vocal might of May Johnson's singing centre-stage, orchestrating the other band members into delivering a genuine slab of soul music. Complementing this, "Done Me Wrong" sees the band let loose and head deep into the funk for a true gritty shaker. Big moves from Freestyle and Deep Street Soul.

Review: It would be fair to say that Sir Waziri Oshoma is not one of Nigeria's better-known musicians, despite having a high reputation amongst collectors. Throughout the 1970s and early '80s, he recorded and released a number of albums - each packed with his distinctive interpretations of the then dominant Afrobeat and Highlife sounds - with the backing of his Africa 70 style house band, the Traditional Sound Makers. Volume 3 initially appeared on the band leader's own label back in 1980, and here gets the reissue treatment thanks to the folks behind Paris record store turned label Superfly. Its' four lengthy workouts are naturally superb, making it one of those hard-to-find gems that should be in any Afrobeat enthusiast's collection.

Review: New Orleans edit collective Supajock tap deep into the source with two outright classics, break-blazed for the modern age. The cleverly named Professor Shorthair takes the reins for this 45": The Meters' sing-along happy-clapper "Hand Clapping Song" gets broken down over a sturdy, almost militant snare-based swing while Ernie K Doe's "Here Come The Girls" gets its bombast reduced to create a more subtle soul sensation. Instant party pacifiers.

Review: Barcelona's premier outlet for funk, Rocafort, hit paydirt with this licensed reissue of some genuine rare funk from across the tracks in New York. Cross Bronx Expressway were originally a house band for J&S Records owned by Zelma Sanders. As legend goes, the female record producer was known to call at the last minute to gather her band for a recording session. These two cuts originate from the rare time the Cross Bronx Expressway were afforded in the studio and were done in only a couple of takes. Consisting of self-taught musicians, the Cross Bronx Expressway were evidently born with the funk in them on the basis of this 7"! "Help Your Brothers" is killer.

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: Man of many talents Jan "JJ Whitefield" Weissenfeldt established Karl Hector & The Malcouns back in 2008, incorporating members of previous projects Poets of Rhythm and Syrup. Unlike those projects, which paid tribute to funk and disco respectively, The Malcouns effortlessly blend elements of Afrobeat, highlife, psychedelia and, most intriguingly, krautrock. This third album picks up where its' predecessors left off, delivering a range of tracks that blend African vocals and instrumentation with the loose, low-slung experimentalism of krautrock, and the distinctive grunt of vintage funk. It's a formula that guarantees success time and again, with highlights including the Fela-on-a-trip wonkiness of "Shangold", and the hazy tropical bliss of "Transition X".

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: If it weren't for young and energetic bands like Breakdown Brass, the New York soul and funk scene would be a true relic of the '70s and '80s era. Luckily, these whipper-snappers know how to lay down the truth, and their reinterpretation of Rick James' "Mary Jane" is a total winner - all brass and instruments, of course. On the flip, you have a brass version of Nadev Nirenberg's "The Horseman", a masterful adaptation of what is surely one of the most hummable rhythms ever. Limited!

Review: Destination Mali: it's the early 70s, funk bands are popping in all directions and Rail Band and Les Ambassadeurs du Motel de Bamako are two key players. The former lay down a springy jam that opens with mischievous horns and won't quit until the final tinny guitar twangs. The latter pay homage to the big man JB with a heavy organ-slapped groove, big bold band orders and a dramatic crescendo. Powerful.

Review: The self-professed 'Screaming Eagle of Soul' Charles Bradley continues his twilight storm into the affections of modern funk and soul fans with a prime seven inch taste of his upcoming album Changes. Bradley's latter day rise in cahoots with the inestimable Daptone has been a heart-warming story and he sounds in great fettle on this 45. Lead track "Change For The World" finds Bradley delivering an upbeat and brassy call to arms, detailing the current turmoil and offering a simple yet powerful prescription, "we've got to change our love, we've got to change for the world." Fans of the arrangement will be happy to see it appears in instrumental form in the shape of flipside track "Revelations."

Review: Weston's curatorial crusade continues as he unearths more criminally overlooked/under-pressed rarities from the golden ages; "Losing You" comes from Courtial and Errol Knowles outstanding 1976 soul jazz album. The most straight up soul joint from the album, it's an instant sweat-fest with real guts behind both the vocals and instrumentation. Flip for the jazz funk whirlwind that is "Getting Down". Taken from their eponymous, once-super rare ($1500 per copy rare) album (also released in 76), it's an instrumental hurricane led by strings, horns and bombastically swung drums. Powerful. DJ Support from DJ Spinna,Snowboy,Sadar Bahar,Dom Servini,Faze Action,Pete Jelly Jazz,Flea Market Funk,ParisDJs.com, Marc Hype,Nicola Conte, Volcov and more

Review: Fresh from teasing fans with his highly limited run of mixtape CDs, UK beat-muncher Boca 45 releases an equally limited 45 with one brand new original and a stone cold classic from his 2006 LP Vertigo Sounds. "Soul On Top" sees him tap into the sleazy smoky soul sound with New Zealand singer Louis Baker, all horns, bass and golden vocals. "Diego's Theme", meanwhile, is one of his hallmark early releases; a sweaty, dramatic Latin firecracker it hasn't dated one bit in nine years. And probably never will.

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: 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: 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.