LANCE FERGUSON: Lance Ferguson’s Rare Groove Spectrum

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VARIOUS ARTISTS: The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Cub Vol. 6

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VARIOUS ARTISTS: The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Cub Vol. 5 (2017)

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VARIOUS ARTISTS: The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Cub Vol. 4 (2016)

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DEEP STREET SOUL: Come Alive! (2016)

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DEEP STREET SOUL: Souls Come Alive (2016)

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BRIAN AUGER: Back To The Beginning: The Brian Auger Anthology (2015)

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VARIOUS ARTISTS: The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club Vol. 3 (2014)

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LACK OF AFRO feat. JACK TYSON-CHARLES: Freedom (2014)

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KALBATA & MIXMONSTER: Congo Beat The Drum (2014)

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COOKIN’ ON 3 BURNERS: Blind Bet (2014)

In just under a month another veteran contemporary funk and soul act places its ‘difficult third LP’ cards on the table and this time it’s the turn of Cookin’ On 3 Burners – a.k.a. the ‘other’ band of Oz funk and soul kingpin, Lance Ferguson. Two previous LPs have dealt out out hard-hitting, tightly-played instro funk, soul and jazz-funk that has become increasingly supplemented by vocal contributions in a not dissimilar manner to the output of The Bamboos. In …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

COOKIN’ ON 3 BURNERS: Mind Made Up/ Losin Streak (2014)

Now then – how about some soul? Thought so – and it’s provided by none other than Cookin’ On 3 Burners for whom I believe I’m right in saying this is the first new material since 2009′s Soul Messin’ LP. Part of the Melbourne funk mafia, Cookin’ On 3 Burners share guitarist Lance Ferguson with The Bamboos and have hooked up many times in the past with Bamboos singer Kylie Auldist. The strings-…READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

LACK OF AFRO: Music For Adverts (2014)

Adam Gibbons, a.k.a. Lack Of Afro is back, lean and mean for ’14 with a fourth studio LP. And while his DNA may have cruelly denied him the chance to ever sport a halo of kinked black hair, the twelve track Music For Adverts nevertheless reveals again that here is a man who possesses a sizeable amount of funk and soul. Not to mention a little disco, some hip-hop, a touch of sixties rnb and a dash of lounge. So what’s new? More vocal tracks than ever before, that’s what – including no fewer than five tracks featuring Jack Tyson-Charles. Interestingly, not …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

RAY LUGO & THE BOOGALOO DESTROYERS: El Ritmo De Nueva York (2014)

I like to think of Ray Lugo & The Boogaloo Destroyers as the latin boogaloo equivalent of Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings. Both are the sun at the centre of their respective musical solar systems but while Sharon Jones and co. are orbited by myriad rivals, Ray Lugo & The Boogaloo Destroyers to all intents and purposes are the global retro latin boogaloo scene. Not that our Ray allows this to …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

LACK OF AFRO (feat. JACK TYSON-CHARLES): Recipe For Love (2013)

Functioning as an outrider for the next Lack Of Afro studio LP Music For Adverts due early-March is this easy-on-the-ear single. The jangly, northern soul-inflected Recipe For Love also comes complete with a winningly catchy vocal and lyrics from one Jack Tyson-Charles, son of one Craig Charles, host of the world’s biggest funk and soul radio show on BBC Radio 6. If only, between them, LOA, JTC and Freestyle Records can just think of some way …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

LACK OF AFRO feat. WAX & HERBAL T: P.A.R.T.Y. (2013) + video

If your record is a slam dunk of an uptempo, b-boy breakin’ banger on which former Def Jam rapper Wax and his twin brother Herbal T bring their game and it’s going to get an ad synch with any company – it might as well be Adidas. Either that or Puma anyway. Here it’s the former, as slab of funk-based insanity PARTY (the hip-hop highlight of Lack Of Afro‘s 2011 LP This Time) is…READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

VARIOUS ARTISTS: The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club 2 (2013) Album release

Has it been a year already since Freestyle Records dropped the first Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club comp? Actually, it’s been slightly more than a year though the arrival of number 2 suggests a CC’s Funk & Soul Club release is all set to become an annual recorded music event as well as a good night out for all the family. Did I say all the family? I just meant those who dig the funk, are over eighteen and not likely ask, “Daddy why is the Coronation Street taxi driver man lighting up a really fat cigarette on stage?” In any …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

OMAR: The Man (2013) + video

Contemporary soul legend Omar is back with the title track off forthcoming album The Man and, if I hear him right, he’s become a man now that he’s not trying to be the man. Apparently he did,” some things that..[he]…should not have done, just trying to be the man.” Glad we’ve got that cleared up. Musically, the tension between who he was before and who he is now is captured by the juxtaposition of an off-kilter bass clarinet motif on the verse and …READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM

VARIOUS ARTISTS: The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club (2012)

Among the many irons in his fire, Craig Charles has been rocking his Funk & Soul Show on BBC Radio 6 now for a decade – in recent years taking it on tour around the UK and beyond as ‘The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club’ with dj sets and guest support from live bands. And those nights are flames – I should know, I’ve been to enough of them. What this release does, in a nutshell, is see Freestyle Records decide they want some of thataction and invite our Craig along to put together a set of his favourites from the

MARTHA HIGH & SPEEDOMETER: Soul Overdue (2012)

Original soul sister Martha High sang with The Jewels back in the early sixties and then spent thirty subsequent years touring as a singer with with the late, great godfather of soul, JB, before jumping ship to do the same thing with JB’s former saxophonist Maceo Parker. And aside from a disco LP back in the seventies she hasn’t dropped a full length solo album until now – hence the title Soul ...READ FULL POST @ MONKEYBOXING.COM