CYMANDE Vinyl & CDs

Review: Cymande are a British funk group that released several albums throughout the early 1970s and reunited in 2014 with a European tour and a new album released in 2015. Originally released in 1972, this self titled debut album has long been regarded as a classic of the genre. Formed 1971 in London, it featured musicians from Guyana, Jamaica and Saint Vincent. The name Cymande is based on a calypso word for 'dove' and symbolised peace and love. Their style was described as 'Nyah-Rock': a mixture of funk, soul, reggae and African rhythms. The band achieved their greatest initial success in America and were actively recording and performing until 1975. Then Cymande reformed and have been playing live since around 2010.

Review: In the early '70s, Cymande made a trio of killer albums that remain stone cold classics to this day. For this reissue 7", Mr Bongo has dipped into two of those albums - 1973's Second Time Around and 74's Promised Heights - and dug out two of the best-loved, most-sampled cuts. On the A you'll find "Fug", a low-slung, bassline-driven party full of killer drum breaks, righteous horn solos and, and conscious lyrics that call for global action against inequality (little, it seems, has changed politically since). It's one of those you should really own, as is the ever more familiar flipside "Brothers On The Slide", which boasts one of the most recognizable grooves in the history of dance music.