I’ve recently acquired this funk album straight from one of my favourite labels, Freestyle Records. I haven’t had the pleasure of listening to any of their previous funk compilations but if this is any indicator of the quality then I’m pretty damn sure they’ll be worthy of a purchase.
Artists range from Sharon and Dap Kings and Charles Bradley through to the more anglophile sounds of (now Cali based) Quantic and Lack of Afro.
One of the stand out tracks in my opinion would have to be the fat drumbeat laden track “Strugglin” by The Snugs, which you can hear by clicking on the previous link to their website. They are a collective of musicians and DJ’s hailing from the south west country and this track, with the vocal powers of Leah Symons, seriously warrants turning the stereo up to max, even if it does piss off the neighbours.
Fans of Rage Against the Machine will be humoured to hear the cover of Killing by Israeli funk group The Apples, I luckily managed to snaffle the 45 from the first press of the single. Another album I’ve copped recently was from the “deep funk super group” that is the Sound Stylistics, a group of seasoned musicians consisting of members from Jamiroquai, Brand New Heavies, Galliano, The New Mastersounds, The Herbaliser and the James Taylor Quartet. Their ‘Shake And Hip Drop’ track on this comp is surely not too be missed.
Artist video links:
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
