EARTH WIND & FIRE Vinyl & CDs

Review: Danny Krivit's officially sanctioned re-edits of Earth Wind & Fire's "Brazilian Rhyme" and "Runnin" have been sought-after since they first appeared on a Japan-only 12" back in 2004. In fact, such is demand that even later bootleg pressings now go for silly money online. As this reissue proves, though, they're arguably amongst Krivit's strongest scalpel works. Certainly, his three-minute revision of the always too short "Brazilian Rhyme" teases it out to just the right length, in the process delivering a sweltering, sing-along summer anthem. The flipside revision of the equally as summery "Runnin" is every bit as good, with Krivit making merry with the original's life-affirming scat vocals and killer piano solos.

Review: American greats Earth, Wind & Fire were very much one of their era's finest and most commercially successful bands. They define the funk, soul and disco sound of the 70s onwards and by 1998 had a huge arsenal of tunes to draw on for this, their Greatest Hits album. It came just a year after their In The Name of Love record and is packed with gold such as 'September' from 1978, 'Got to Get You Into My Life' from the same year and 'Let's Groove' from 1981 amongst many more. This version comes on limited and numbered gatefold 180-gram audiophile yellow vinyl.

Review: Dynamite Cuts' latest extra-special double "45" mines ones of the earliest albums from soul and funk legends Earth, Wind & Fire, a 1971 set that was notably more psychedelic in sound than many of their more celebrated later releases. Opener "C'mon Children" is fiery, weighty and driving in the style of San Francisco funk-rock heavyweights "Tower of Power", while "Bad Tune" more than lives up to its title in a "bad meaning good" way (it also includes some crazy solos, which is no bad thing). Over on disc two, "Help Somebody" is an insanely up-tempo, horn-heavy Boogaloo style romp, while "Momet of Truth" is a low-down funk number straight out of the top drawer.