Back catalogue: Funk

Review: ** Repress for the breaks dons ** The long awaited new Visioneers Limited Edition 45 produced by Marc Mac of 4hero is here at last on BBE offshoot Omniverse. No messin' here as Visioneers go straight for the funk jugular with two dope versions. On the A-Side a version of The Shadows classic ''Apache'' gets flipped by Visioneers remake of Johnny Pate's B-Boy bomb "Shaft In Africa". Heavy horns and bongos aplenty - this is just wanted the doctor ordered. It's limited, it's hot, go get it!

Review: Veteran Swiss DJ/producer Alex Attias has long been one of Europe's more versatile and open-minded DJs, so it's fitting that BBE have given him a chance to flex his curatorial muscles. LillyLillyGood, which shares its name with a monthly party and label Attias runs, was inspired by Attias's desire to present "really good grooves that people want to dance to or listen to or home". He's done just that, whizzing through an unmixed selection that giddily flits between trippy, polyrhythmic acid madness (Grooveman Spot), jaunty jazz-funk (Freeeze, Cro Magnon's ultra-deep hook-up with Roy Ayers), synth-fuelled broken beat business (Tatham, Mensah, Lord and Ranks), deliciously spacey deep house (the Zanzibar remix of Nicole Willis's "Curiosity") and killer disco (Attias's own edit of Velvet Hammer's "Party Hearty").

Review: Capturing the essence and feels of the long-standing event he runs in his Swiss hometown of Lausanne, veteran digger and selector Attias presents a brand new compendium of sweet compositions that sum up he's at creatively and spiritually. Gems on gems on gems: highlights that we guarantee will appeal to your good tastes and dancefloor include the hypnotic vibraphone wash of Cro-Magnon's "Midnight Magic", the slept-on jittering funk of Tatham, Mensah, Lord & Ranks's "Cascade" and Material and Nona Hendrix's ludicrously funky, ultimately sleazy slinker "Over & Over". We suspect you'll be playing this record over and over, too...

Review: Founded in the early '70s by karaoke's accidental inventor Irv Kratka, Inner City Records's stamp on jazz was one of the strongest during its 15 year tenure. Paying respect to traditional and fusion, it caught the world's attention and admiration in a very special way. Super-Intendant selector Kev Beadle was one of its most influential pushers on this side of the pond, so he's the perfect man to select and secure the 14 label-defining classics you hear right here. A great starting point for any Inner City starter and a well-considered, dynamic collection for collectivists, this captures a unique moment in jazz that still sparkles and pops to this day.

Review: Last year saw BBE call on Kev Beadle, a well respected digger, selector, radio host and label boss, to dust down his curation hat and put together Private Collection, his first compilation in almost two decades. Given the critical reception to that twelve track selection of independent jazz from the '70s and '80s it's little surprise to see BBE invite Beadle to dig through his personal archives for a second edition. Many of the tracks included here are the epitome of rare, given the fist airing outside the legendary club sessions that Beadle played back in the day and focuses more on the modal, spiritual and cosmic end of the jazz spectrum. A most enlightening collection from Mr Beadle.

Review: Like deep funk? Then you'd surely know of the legendary Keb Darge: the Scottish DJ who invented the term. Known as a leading authority on funk and soul music of the 1960s and beyond, he went from modest beginnings in Wigan, before moving to London in the '70s, bringing the sounds of Northern Soul to punters in the capital. Namely His 'Legendary Deep Funk' night at Soho's seminal strip club turned music venue Madame Jojo's. Following up his last compilation put together with Paul Weller; 2009's Lost & Found (Real R'N'B & Soul) LP, Darge presents hits from the 'Deep Funk' series to celebrate BBE's 20th year. Diggers will most certainly appreciate appearances on here such as Soul Drifter's "Funky Brother", Kenny Dope's edit of Family Of Eve's much sampled "I Wanna Be Loved By You", Joe Washington's "Blueberry Hill" and the classic "Love Call" by Ramsay and Company amongst many others.

Review: With crate digging partner Kon otherwise engaged producing in-demand disco edits, DJ Amir has kept himself busy. Here, he delves into his seemingly bottomless crates to put together a compilation of "rare music from across the Americas". Interestingly, much of the music - and, let's be honest, you won't be familiar with any of the featured artists - was recorded in New York during the 1960s and '70s, largely by immigrant musicians from Brazil, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. That ensures a heady mixture of salsa, boogaloo, mambo, Latin-tinged funk and soul, rhumba, and Afro-Cuban jazz. In other words, it's a killer collection of lesser-known Latin gems. What's not to like?

Review: Andy Smith's Reach Up - Disco Wonderland Vol. 3 continues his exploration of the "Discosphere" with 16 more and one again carefully curated tracks. Featuring artists like Buscrates, Trailer Limon, and Rena Scott, the compilation also includes stellar edits and remixes by Full Intention, Yam Who, and Skratch Bastid. Initially curated during pandemic lockdowns and inspired by virtual DJ sets, Andy continues to share his superb collection via the legendary BBE Music label and once again this triple vinyl LP offers a treat for DJs, collectors and audiophiles alike.

Review: It would be fair to say that Bristolian selector Andy Smith has extremely deep crates. It's for this reason that he's been responsible for tons of killer compilations over the years. This one, the second in his disco, boogie and proto-house focused "Reach Up" series, is another gem. It cheerily moves between disco old and new, mixing tried-and-tested classic cuts from the likes of the New Jersey Connection, Ted Taylor, Chain Reaction and The Gibson Brothers with more recent retro-futurist cuts (see his subtly house-friendly re-edit of Will Session and Amp Fiddler's superb "Lost Without You" and Full Intention and Nick Reach Up's modern electrofunk treat "Night of My Life"). While confirmed disco enthusiasts may own some of the tracks already, there's enough lesser known goodness to make the compilation an essential purchase.

Review: Bristolian turntablist and crate digger Andy Smith has long been renowned for the depth of his funk, soul and hip-hop selections, though it's only in recent years that we've discovered the quality and diversity of his disco collection. He continues to flex those credentials on the third instalment in his Reach Up - Disco Wonderland series. While there's plenty of obscurity on show, as you'd expect, Smith has chosen to include contemporary nu-disco cuts and fresh re-edits alongside vintage picks. So, while we cuts from The Sunshine Band, the disco-highlife of Orlando Julius and some late 70s electro-disco courtesy of French outfit Quartz, we're also treated to fresher tracks and edits from BB Soul, Birdee and Nick Reach Up, Yam Who and Full Intention. Throw in a killer DJ mix of the same material by Skratch Bastid and you have a genuinely essential collection.

Review: The concept behind this new collection on BBE is a simple but effective one: sommelier Frederic Beneix has picked out a selection of wines, and beat maker DJ Cam has dug deep to serve up some rare but fitting musical accompaniments that were produced in the same year. Wine4Melomanes, therefore, is a unique collection of sounds from all over Europe that connects the complexity and sensuality of a tipple with the rhythm and melody of a song. Most are lush and sophisticated jazz cuts that sound good whether you're drinking or not. Delicious.

Review: Some 13 years after the first volume we find ourselves at Volume 5 of Spinna's Strange Games & Funky Things series. Rare gems and well trodden classics of 70s rare groove, disco, funk and soul are all given a new lease of life; there's out and out floor fillers in the shape of Richard Evans' "Capricorn Risin" to Brazilian classics like ''Ramons Desire'' by Franisco Aguabella. Elsewhere you'll find string laden disco with ''For The Love Of Money'' by The Philly Armada Orchestra and jazz fusion with Hiroshi Fukumura's ''Hunt Up Wind'' and a barrage of lesser known classics .Sample spotters will have a field day whilst the rest of us will just immerse ourselves in two slabs of wax filled to the brim with sublime and classic grooves of days gone by. Essential!

Review:  DJ Spinna is known for many things; his productions, sublime DJ mixes and many a hip hop classic as half of Jigmastas. He's also a complete Stevie Wonder obsessive who runs a popular Stevie-themed club night called Wonderful. A series of albums that expand on the party's concept was a logical next step and The Wonder Of Stevie now arrives at a third volume. This edition has clearly been painstakingly curated by Spinna and BBE, consisting of other people's covers of the man's work. Highlights include sweet and sugary 'Buttercup" by The Jackson 5, the bluesy honky tonk jam "It's My Pleasure" by Billy Preston and Quincy Jones' pure liquid funk version of "Betcha' Wouldn't Hurt Me".

Review: The Grasso is greener in Bologna: home to two of the most well-connected collectors in Italy. Suppliers to the likes of Kenny Dope, Phil Asher and Dimitri, Gino and Federico have carved their crate craft to insane levels over the last 30+ years... As shown on this detailed, widescreen boogie, funk and disco collection for BBC. Splattering the vibrant collection with a handful of their own edits (TB Funk's salubrious struts on "Free Blow", fly-by boogie falsettos on Living Color's "Plastic People"), the Grasso bro's have put together a package that's eye-opening, enlightening and damn fine to party to. See you on the other side.

Review: A recent relocation to Berlin seems to have inspired BBE to throw themselves into the musical heritage of the techno capital. A forthcoming mix from celebrity Berlin DJ types Sick Girls represents the present and future of the city, whilst this GI Disco compilation is borne out the blog of the same name. Run by Kalle Kuts and Daniel W Best, GI Disco is their conduit to express their profound love for the funk, soul, disco and proto new jack swing that flooded 1980s Germany when US Soldiers were stationed on Cold War duty. There's some stone classics on this such as Freeze's Arthur Baker produced "I.O.U." and the Fonda Rae sung "Touch Me" from Wish, but it's the lesser spotted gems which make this compilation worth investigating. Caprice's "100" and "Riccochet" by BB & Q Band in particular delight with their raw electro boogie vibe.

Review: As someone who briefly escaped 70's Glasgow and got a taste of the golden age of NYC Disco, Al Kent is a perfect choice to lead you through a classy selection of some choice and rare Disco treats. Having used his huge collection in the past for re-edits and originals, he also took the bold step of forming his own band in 2007 under the name The Million Dollar Orchestra.

The selections here reflect the point at which Funk and Soul mutated into Disco, with most of the tracks capturing that pre-Moroder organic sound. Lee Alfred's Rockin-Poppin Full Tilting for example has a laid back vibe similar to Curtis Mayfield's more uptempo tunes. New Ghetto Express's version of Standing On The Verge of Getting It On (originally by Funkadelic) up's the tempo on the wigged-out classic, again combing the Funk with a Disco groove.

Lypso Disco by Smile Street People, as you'd guess from the title, has a playful Calypso lilt and bounce to it. Cosmic Disco by Patricia White on the other hand doesn't sound like something that Todd Terje or Lindstrom got their cues from, but it is a fun song with some brilliantly random thumb-piano playing in the background!

Anyone looking for samples will have a field day among these tracks, Sweet Daddy Floyd's I Just Can't Help Myself for example has a break in the middle to die for. You could loop up 4 bars practically anywhere and have something pretty damn funky to work with. For that reason alone, it's well worth having a listen and broadening your horizons.

Review: BBE unearth another batch of rare and underexposed disco cuts on Off Track Vol 3. Compiled by the crate digging New York/Boston based duo Kon & Amir, the release gives an authentic representation of Brooklyn’s ghetto, funk and afro music scenes. Sophisticated tracks for real music heads

Review: One of many essential K&A compendiums, Off Track Volume 2: Queens was originally released in 2008. The second in their companion series to their career-making On Track series, it's yet another digging exercise that is so deep you wouldn't be surprised at the sight of a huge oil gush. Ranging from psychedelic jazz (Bob Brault Org) and fuzzy lo-fi hammond-bashing samba (Super Boire Band) to straight up hip-shifting disco (Sweet Touch) to soul-warming African folk (De Porto Novo Dahomey) and complete with a peppering of their own edits, no one does collections like Kon & Amir. If this isn't already in your collection you know what to do.

Review: BBE unearth another batch of rare and underexposed disco cuts on Off Track Vol 3. Compiled by the crate digging New York/Boston based duo Kon & Amir, the release gives an authentic representation of Brooklyn’s ghetto, funk and afro music scenes. Sophisticated tracks for real music heads

Review: Since the early 2000s, the NY duo Kon & Amir have been among the best disco editors around, and should now surely be seen as being amongst the very best of the East Coast disco scene. This is their 2007 compilation, Off The Track Volume One: The Bronx, a near twenty magnificent disco blazers that have been stripped down and anted-up by the duo for the purpose of today's dance floor. What's impressive, though, is how Kon & Amir manage to allow the original tunes to speak for themselves and, if anything, their editing allows the originals to sound even louder and prouder than ever before. There's plenty of heavy gear in here from the likes of Masterforce, STUD Band, The London Experimental Jazz Quartet, and if this doesn't satisfy your boogie needs, then we don't know what will.

Review: The 5th instalment of the definitive vinyl junkie compilation series is the world's first official breaks mix CD.'The Kings Of Diggin' series brings you a selection of rare and classic tracks hand-picked by the top names from the genre in question. Next up, Kon & Amir and DJ Muro blow the dust off some of their favourite hard-to-find vinyl breaks for the two-disc 'Kings Of Diggin' album. Kon Taylor and Amir Abdullah started as fans of hip-hop and then as the music slipped and slid into the mainstream, they worked backwards just to find a new and fresh sound through dusty vinyl. Amir is the Vice President of Sales and A&R at Fat Beats Distribution, and Kon is a fixture as a DJ in Boston and in NYC. Kon & Amir rose to recognition with their unofficial bootleg 'Ontrack' mixtape series, which took them to 'platinum' status on the streets. DJ Muro has been constantly reinventing the shape of Japanese hip hop for over ten years. As a DJ he has played venues over the world and is also well-known as a label owner, A&R producer and owner of the hip hop store Savage. His Blue Note & Stones Throw compilations for the Japanese market have both sold over 10,000 copies. The 5th instalment of 'The Kings Of Diggin' series features artwork from Rolling Stones photographer Michael Joseph. The CD also comes in a reversible English/Japanese package. The tracks on the album have never appeared on a compilation album before. Therefore the sounds are fresh, will make you smile, dance and start diggin' in the crates yourself.

Review: The 5th instalment of the definitive vinyl junkie compilation series is the world's first official breaks mix CD.'The Kings Of Diggin' series brings you a selection of rare and classic tracks hand-picked by the top names from the genre in question. Next up, Kon & Amir and DJ Muro blow the dust off some of their favourite hard-to-find vinyl breaks for the two-disc 'Kings Of Diggin' album. Kon Taylor and Amir Abdullah started as fans of hip-hop and then as the music slipped and slid into the mainstream, they worked backwards just to find a new and fresh sound through dusty vinyl. Amir is the Vice President of Sales and A&R at Fat Beats Distribution, and Kon is a fixture as a DJ in Boston and in NYC. Kon & Amir rose to recognition with their unofficial bootleg 'Ontrack' mixtape series, which took them to 'platinum' status on the streets. DJ Muro has been constantly reinventing the shape of Japanese hip hop for over ten years. As a DJ he has played venues over the world and is also well-known as a label owner, A&R producer and owner of the hip hop store Savage. His Blue Note & Stones Throw compilations for the Japanese market have both sold over 10,000 copies. The 5th instalment of 'The Kings Of Diggin' series features artwork from Rolling Stones photographer Michael Joseph. The CD also comes in a reversible English/Japanese package. The tracks on the album have never appeared on a compilation album before. Therefore the sounds are fresh, will make you smile, dance and start diggin' in the crates yourself.

Review: Perennial crate-diggers BBE have long been capable of unearthing hidden gems and shining a light on long-forgotten scenes. Here, with the help of fellow vinyl-sniffer Mr Peabody, they highlight Chicago's little-known 1970s/early 1980s underground disco and boogie scene. For those reared on the familiar sounds of New York disco and boogie, it's something of a revelation. Certainly, there's plenty for disco enthusiasts to get excited about here, from the piano & horn laden grooves of Sheila Hutchinson and Nedra to the tribal, African-influenced dancefloor rhythms of Lady Gwendolyn and Africa International. Along the way, expect to hear everything from hustlin' party jams and essential 80s groove to crackly disco-funk and distinctly cosmic soul. Absolutely essential!

Review: Perennial crate-diggers BBE have long been capable of unearthing hidden gems and shining a light on long-forgotten scenes. Here, with the help of fellow vinyl-sniffer Mr Peabody, they highlight Chicago's little-known 1970s/early 1980s underground disco and boogie scene. For those reared on the familiar sounds of New York disco and boogie, it's something of a revelation. For this double vinyl edition of the release, Mr Peabody lifts his favourites from the 23 track double CD edition with eight specially edited versions. Certainly, there's plenty for disco enthusiasts to get excited about here, with everything from hustlin' party jams and essential 80s groove to crackly disco-funk and distinctly cosmic soul represented.

Review: It doesn't seem like five years since BBE last invited London crate digger and turntablist Mr Thing to get his fingers dusty by picking out gems from his record collection for the Strange Breaks & Mr Thing series. Predictably, this belated third installment is full of killer selections that lives up to it's subtitled billing as More Rock Funk Soul Jazz & Soundtrack Breaks For Modern Living. Favourites come thick and fast though the low down funk of Dynamic Concept's "La Da Da" and the jazz-funk goodness of Harry Beckett's "Ring Within Rings" stand out upon first listen. The cats at BBE spare no expense either with this vinyl edition that features fifteen cuts spread across the two slabs, and there's also Mr Thing's peerless mix available on a CD that's slipped in too.

Review: Magic happens when Mr Thing hits the crates. His ability to unearth recordings you're guaranteed to never have heard before, and join the dots in ways you'd never have thought before, his "Strange Breaks" series is legendary. Long since off-press, to celebrate their 20th anniversary BBE have repressed this seminal 2009 sophomore. From the turbo blues fusion of Roy Head and the speeding Mancini feels of Val Marrall's Orchestra to the more sedate, slinky funk of Johnny Griffith and sunny-side roots of Tinga Stewart, Mr Thing's odyssey remains as inciteful, intriguing and as full of treasure as it did seven years ago.

Review: BBE Records have teamed up with DJ/Producer Mr Thing, to dig deep into his extensive collection to compile a series of albums of rare and sought after breaks. This series reflects brilliantly on his dedication to digging for those untouched and unrivalled samples and breaks as you hear him use in his DJ sets. As a DJ, Mr Thing never fails to engage the crowd with his winning combination of hip-hop and funk breaks spiced up with his legendary mixing and scratching skills. "Strange Breaks & Mr Thing" is a crazy good release.

Review: In recent times, crate-digging hero Andy Smith has turned his attention to the world of disco and boogie, showcasing the depth of his collection as part of the Reach Up collective. It seems fitting, then, that his latest compilation - a triple-vinyl epic - should explore the disco and electrofunk gems lurking in his vast vault of records. There are a few well-known gems (Disco Dub Band, World Premiere, Freedom and Sure Thing's modern electrofunk anthem "Holding Me Tight", for starters), but far more overlooked or slept-on gems (Advance's boogie killer "Take Me To The Top" and Jimmy Bo Horne's "Is It In" being great examples). The collection also boasts a couple of tasty re-edits, including an unheard one by Smith and pal Nick Halkes of Jimmy Ross's Paradise Garage anthem "First True Love Affair".