Soul Bank Music Vinilo y CD

Review: Who knew an entertainment career spanning the likes of comic sci-fi series like Red Dwarf and kitsch game shows vis-a-vis Robot Wars could result in a side stint curating soul compilations? Well, it's exactly what happened to Craig Charles, who also happens to have been manning BBC6 Music's soul and funk corner for almost 20 years now, not to mention regularly touring the world as a DJ. This isn't his first 'Trunk of Funk'. The first was overwhelmingly well-received by a "funk hungry public", and now, our national treasure Craigy-boy has ensured said public doesn't starve a second time round. Backboned by Charles' introductory yells to imaginary screaming crowds - "are you ready!?" - we cycle through funk bits both old and new, exclusive and widely-available, from Cha Wa to Luther Ingram to Joel Culpepper. Craig says: "Give your ears and feet enough mellifluous musical fodder to last you until Volume 3 - Awooga!"

Review: Mark de Clive-Lowe, Shigeto and Melanie Charles build plenty of bridges between various different sound worlds on this new collaborative long player. de Clive-Lowe is a top-level composer and pianist, DJ and someone who himself joins the dots between jazz, hip-hop and dance. Charles is a jazz vocalist and flautist while Shigeto hails from Detroit and brings mad drumming and production skills. They came together in 2018 and have played all over the world and this album finds them reinterpreting works by the late great Pharoah Sanders including 'The Creator Has a Master Plan' (Part's 1 & 2) while laying down their versions of soulful house and hip hop in-between. Great stuff.