Back catalogue: Funk Soul & Jazz

Review: Smoove props up his rep as a highly consistent big beat, funk and disco crossover producer with a freight-class shipment of 'Heavy Goods'. Somersaulting out from his Geordie soul group Smoove & Turrell - on top of his sought-after multi-track vinyl re-edits, as well as his remixing prowess across hip-hop, soul, and funk - this Jalapeno Records follow-up continues Smoove's recent favourite postal theme. Indeed, the postal system is what keeps us afloat (and cue the boundless irony of Royal Mail's latest sale to a Czech billionaire, the name of whose LLC is, apropos of online music retail, "EP Group"). Betty Black & The Family Fortune, Emma Noble, Kraak & Smaak, Izo FitzRoy, The High & Mighty, and Bahama Soul Club, all are all loaned Smoove's Pygmalion hand, honing a musing work of art from many a die-cut classic. Whirlwind D's 'Labels', Izo Fitzroy's 'Blind Faith' and TGH Collective's 'Higher Collective' are special versions too. Assuming you didn't already know the songs in question, you really wouldn't be able to tell the edit jobs from the originals. Mint condition!

Review: Kalita returns with the third instalment of its Borga Revolution! series, continuing its deep dive into the sound of Burger Highlife, a genre born of traditional Ghanaian melodies, synths, drum machines, and disco groove-matics. Emerging in the 1980s during a time of great political turmoil, public strife and mass emigration, the style evolved as Ghanaian musicians abroad began blending their roots with the digital tools of their new homes. Volume 3 showcases rare and elusive cuts by the likes of Obibini Takyi, Osei Banahene, and Okyerema Asante, as well as keystone figures George Darko and Lee Dodou. The collection paints a fuller picture of a moment where innovation thrived in exile, and highlife was reshaped through transcontinental influence and technological experimentation.

Review: Analog Africa doesn't do anything other than special releases really, but this one tracing the label's origins back to Zimbabwe over 20 years ago is a real standout. A carefully curated collection of 25 tracks with a fine booklet proving plenty of extra context, it captures the birth of the country's modern music scene and brims with the creative sound explosion of the 70s and 80s. Before genres were fully defined, artists blended rock, rumba, soul and traditional rhythms in bold, experimental ways that still stand up and get diggers and dancers excited in 2025. Included are never-before-released tracks from Thomas Mapfumo, Oliver Mtukudzi and more and they all add up to rich and dynamic snapshot of Zimbabwe's peerless musical evolution during what was a transformative era.

Review: A linchpin of the MEG-AIMP collection, this rare album of sanza music from the Gbaya people of the Central African Republic was recorded by ethnomusicologist Vincent Dehoux and first released on CD in 1993. Now reissued on vinyl and CD to coincide with the Afrosonica: Soundscapes exhibition, it offers a carefully curated selection of "songs for thought." The intimate, introspective tracks are beautifully supported by the repetitive, meditative tones of the lamellaphone - a family of musical instruments that makes its sound by the excitation of a vibrating plate called a lamella - inviting listeners into a pensive soundscape rooted in Central African tradition.

Review: Analog Africa's latest gem is a wonderful celebration of Zimbabwe's musical roots that traces back to the label's beginnings over 20 years ago. This carefully curated collection showcases the explosion of creativity from the 1970s and 80s before genre boundaries were clearly defined. Artists boldly fused rock, rumba, soul and traditional rhythms into an experimental sound that remains fresh today. Accompanied by an in-depth booklet, the compilation features rare and unreleased tracks from legends like Thomas Mapfumo and Oliver Mtukudzi and all of them make for a dynamic and essential snapshot of a transformative era in Zimbabwean music history.

Review: This remarkable compilation revives the raw, defiant sound of Bourini Records, which was a short-lived but vital Libyan label active from 1968 to 1975. Far from Cairo's polished pop mainstream, these recordings capture a gritty shaabi hybrid sound that emerged from Egypt's more marginalised regions. Featuring 15 mostly Egyptian artists, including standouts like Sheikh Amin Abdel Qader and Abu Abab, this essential collection showcases striking contrasts such as growling vocal theatrics, haunting laments and minimalist instrumentation that come with an outsider energy that found Bourini's artists voicing the struggles and spirit of the everyday. Over 50 years later, this music is still brilliantly urgent and honest.

Review: The intriguing Road Fever delivers a hurricane of high-octane, body-shaking rhythms from St. Lucia, Dominica and Guadeloupe, all of which capture the zeitgeist of Caribbean music in 2025. This compilation showcases raw, instrumental Dennery Segment and Bouyon riddims that were originally crafted for vocalists and are now presented as standalone tracks. With turbo-charged 150+ bpm beats, minimal percussion, DJ and vocal samples all woven in with synth riffs, these tunes mash up carnival sounds with elements of trap, drill, Haitian konpa and Angolan kuduro for a truly global listen. They have all been compiled by Rozaly and highlight the electrifying energy of the Caribbean's current scene.

Review: The Nighttime Lovers series, which deftly showcases the forgotten and overlooked corners of 1980s disco, electrofunk and synth-powered dancefloor soul, reaches its 36th instalment. As you'd expect given the high number of previous volumes, the selections tend towards the defiantly deep, with more familiar artists being represented by lesser-known treats. So, instead of the much-loved 'Love Me Like That', Reel To Reel offers up the glossier, slap-bass propelled 80s soul of 'Don't Keep Me Hanging On', Cashmere contributes the sweet and tactile 'We Need Love' and GQ drops the eyes-closed lead vocals and horn-heavy peak-time hustle of 'Is It Cool'. Other highlights include Phil Upchruch's Marlena Shaw-sporting 'It's Got To Be You', Linda Clifford's superb 'I Want To Get Away With You' and the squelchy synth-disco of 'Decisions' by Anthony Lockett.

Review: On a new compilation tracking the performances of various mouth organ groups in the region, Sub Rosa head Guy Marc Hinant levels a timely critique at the commodification of southern Chinese traditional styles native to Guizhou Province. Though he uses the term Miao here, he also reflects on the label's unfortunate popularisation as a product of global market economisation, a trend which between 2006 and 2013 he witnessed first hand, having lived in the area of Dali, Yunnan. This arresting eight-track compilation follows Hinant's very real effort to champion authentic, non-commercial musicians over and above ethno-touristic copycats and recuperators, resulting in this reverent, on-the-ground collection of wedding dances and travelling songs.

Review: Dating back to the 1920s, rai music emerged in Algeria as a synthetic hodgepodge of Islamic regional and religious musical styles with Western harmony and electronic instrumentation. Located in the major coastal city of Oran, rai music bisected a nighttime economy that emphasised bawdy nightclubs and cabaret, resulting in a distinctive Andalusian-Arabian style. This new compilation from Wewantsounds, joined with curating musician and rare vinyl record exponent Cheb Gero, documents the very cream of the rai scene from the time of the late 80s and early 90s. Cheb Zahouani, Chaba Zohra and Abderrahmane Djalti all epitomise the dashing verve of this mostly tape-bound scene.

Review: Catawba Records celebrates 40 years of influential music with The Lowdown: A Catawba Records Story. Founded by industry legend Richard Mack who helped launch icons like Earth, Wind & Fire and The Jacksons, this curated compilation from the label highlights Catawba's rich legacy in disco and soul with standout tracks from Maurice Starr, Dutch Robinson and The Fantastic Aleems. It takes in all manner of infectious grooves with throwback analogue drums sounds, brilliant keys and smooth vocals with plenty of rare edits, unreleased gems and more well-known but still timeless cuts. Favourites for us include the lithe and leggy Silk jam 'Somethin' 'Bout The Way' and the soul-drenched funk-disco of Jackie Moore & Wilson Pickett's 'Seconds Of Your Love'.