GALAXY SOUND CO Vinyl & CDs

Review: Galaxy Sound Co. hits 40 releases deep with yet another buy-on-sight 7". This latest entry into the Sample Series kicks off with an edit of 'Lovely Is Today' by Eddie Harris from his 1968 album Plug Me In. It's steeped in delightfully conversational saxophone with rousing chords dancing beneath in a swinging 60s fashion. A real classy gem. On the flip, 'September 13' by Deodato gets reworked and is from his self-titled jazz-funk album. This one is more funky and it's led by some big, proud horn stabs and silky drum rumbles enriched with great synths. Another vital 45 from this fine label.

Review: The Galaxy Sound Co's latest 7" kicks off with a remastered edit of 'Passion Play' by The Sugarhill Gang. It's a tune that was originally on their self-titled 1980 album and comes with background vocals from the superb funk and soul band Positive Force. Somehow the tune didn't make the charts at the time though it has been heavily referenced and sampled since, including by the likes of Kerri Chandler. The B-side is 'Who Is She (And What Is She to You)', a soul-jazz cover of a Bill Withers classic taken from Madelaine's only album, Who Is She, in 1978. It has a serious Chicago pedigree and great arrangements from Johnny Pate.

Review: If you like hip hop and broken beats and top-class edits you will already be fans of Black Cash & Theo AKA Thelonious Beats. They have got a bottomless discography full of it and mostly on their own Galaxy Sound Co label. Here comes another addition to the cannon in the form of a pair of glorious jazz-funk nuggets, starting with 'Footin' It' by George Benson from his fifth studio LP back in 1968. On the flip is a 1973 cut from pianist Les McCann. 'The Harlem Buck Strut' was from a groundbreaking jazz-synth album and you can tell why here with its forward-looking sounds and designs still sounding ahead of its time.