Back catalogue: Funk

Review: This fourth volume continues this series' mission of bringing some rare Afro-disco gems up to date for modern dancefloors. New life is brought into lesser-known classics while preserving the vibrant energy of the genre right from the off with Side A offering up the infectious, organic sounds of 'MPDD' while Side B offers 'MKZB' which has a seriously groove-heavy bassline and smartly layered percussion. Both of these are proper secret weapons for DJs and pure bait for dancers.

Review: Two of James "Gem" Prewitt's two early 80s disco-funk tracks, 'My Love Box' (1981) and 'Juicy' (1983), come courteously reissued via AOTN, raring a snapshot of his exceptional talents and entrepreneurial funk fastenings. Recorded in St. Louis, Missouri, 'My Love Box' marked the beginning of Prewitt's journey, with the 27-year-old attending Forrest Park Community College at the same time as establishing his own label, Keyes Production. Not only did he write, produce, and perform all these tracks, but local success with 'My Love Box' inspired him to team up with Loretta Mathison for the creation of 'Juicy', which ensues here as the orally honeyed slow jam of choice, and which picks up the pace at the midpoint through gospel operatics and wooing coos. This collaboration led to a two-year singing tour, firelighting them from beneath and propelling them from the Philippines to Germany.

Review: An exceptional, almost entirely unreleased jazz-funk LP from Roland Haynes Jr., previously known only for a single 45 released in 1983 (included here). If you're thinking undiscovered James Mason, you're on the right track. This LP is huge, even by the highest standards. Until now, that rare single was the only material trace of Haynes and his band. However, Haynes meticulously documented his musical journey, recording both packed-out live gigs and studio sessions. The tracks on this release come directly from Haynes' personal archive, offering an incredible glimpse into his unreleased, carefully crafted studio work.

Review: Pellegrino & Zodyaco's skillfully intertwine Neapolitan disco, funk, jazz and world music while channelling a spirit of creative escape of this new album, which is inspired by Henri Laborit's 'Eloge de la fuite'. It explores conscious escapism as a return to authenticity and seeks a "common language" through sound by merging Mediterranean melodies with global rhythms, vintage instruments and ethnic percussion that all bridge past and present. Four years after his last outing, Morphe, Pellegrino is still in top form here with a soulful, genre-blurring portrait of modern Naples that reflects the fact that, in the city, musical traditions meet modern experimentation.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


A fresh compilation album documents the best of the late 70s disco-funk-jazz-everything band Phyrework, synthesising a pyrotechnist's hand and a cutting engineer's ear. The Texan group were signed to Mercury in 1978 and released a hotly acclaimed debut album, and while their talents matched the likes of Sly And The Family Stone and Earth, Wind & Fire, they remained criminally under-world, resulting in the band's disbandment after the release. So this is a salvaging effort worth your while; a whopping nine of the songs have never been heard before, and only a complementary two appeared on the original early 80s single. All produced by Michael Cooper of Con Funk Shun, the likes of 'My Funk', 'Never Felt Like This' and 'What Happened To Us' command an extra jerkiness and synthweight bolshiness not nailed by many of their much-more-famous contemporaries.

Review: NPG Records and Paisley Park Enterprises, in partnership with Warner Records, are pleased to announce the release of a brand-new audiophile Blu-ray featuring 2024's Dolby Atmos mix of Prince and the Revolution's iconic 1984 album, Purple Rain, as well as Prince's original 1984 stereo mix, in high-definition 24bit / 96kHz audio.

Prince shattered all expectations and made music history when he released the album Purple Rain, followed by the hit movie of the same name weeks later. The 9-track LP went on to win two Grammy awards ("Best Rock Performance by a Group" & "Best Album of Original Score Written For A Motion Picture"), two American Music Awards, a Brit Award, and an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. In 2012 the Library of Congress added the album to the National Recording Registry, which only accepts sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." Purple Rain spent 24 weeks at #1 on the Billboard album charts, sold over 25 million copies worldwide, and appears on countless 'Best Of' polls, most recently achieving the #4 spot on Apple Music's Top 100 Albums Of All Time.

The 2024 Atmos presentation of Purple Rain featured on this Blu-Ray, was meticulously mixed from the original multi-track master tapes by Prince's protege and Best Engineered Grammy nominee Chris James. It was released via all participating Digital Service Providers on June 21, 2024. "In 2024 we started our year-long celebration of the 40th anniversary of Purple Rain, we are thrilled to present Prince's masterpiece in ATMOS, providing an immersive, surround auditory experience of Prince's legendary album. This highly crafted release will present Prince's iconic work with more space and depth while preserving the beautiful songs that have shaped music and popular culture, and touched the lives of countless fans around the world." - Paisley Park Enterprises

Region code: universal

Review: This Price album was originally part of the 2023 Diamonds and Pearls Super Deluxe box set, but now the triple vinyl live recording arrives on standalone yellow vinyl in a fancy triple gatefold sleeve. It was initially captured on January 11, 1992, at Prince's Glam Slam club in Minneapolis and is a performance that showcases Prince and The New Power Generation at their creative peak, just ahead of their epic world tour. Spanning over 100 minutes and 14 tracks in all, the still electrifying set focuses on material from the Diamonds and Pearls era and includes a preview of the then-unreleased 'Sexy M.F.' to make for a fine snapshot of a new era in Prince's evolving sound.