JUNGLE FIRE Vinyl & CDs

Review: Jungle Fire are an LA-based megagroup mainly dealing in a modern take on Afro/Latin funk, working in every instrument from electric guitar to djembe to a full colliery section. Flat-caps, shades and trilbies aplenty, their latest album Jungle Fire established a self-starting genre they dubbed 'TropiFunk', a boxy and lo-fi funk sound informed by the haunted fuzz of lost tape music. Now Colemine deliver a new 7" study on their two best tunes, 'Slipshot' and 'Pico Union'.

Review: You can say that JKriv and Aaron Dae are big fans of L.A-based Afro-Latin funk fusionists Jungle Fire, as the latest release on Razor 'N' Tape Reserve features a quartet of fresh mixes of tracks from the band's bulging back catalogue. The headline attraction is undoubtedly a pair of reworks by Ashley Beedle and Rob Mello, the original founding members of Black Science Orchestra project, which recently reassembled following 15 years apart. This doubles up as a grand affair as the duo presents their first remix and release since their reunion. They first serve up a wonderfully percussive, analogue bass-propelled deep Afro-house "remix" of 2014 cut "Culebro", before reaching for the delays and delivering an arguably even better dancefloor "Dub". You'll also find JKriv's re-imagination of 2013 single "Firewalker" as a bumpin' chunk of horn-heavy dub disco, while Bosq gives "Village Hustle" a rolling Latin disco makeover.

Review: Few bands live up to their name in the way Jungle Fire do; fusing Cumbia, Afrobeat and trad funk, each JF jam blazes the floor with real power. "Firewalker" is the buzz-cut here, swaggering with Afro-disco confidence; it's all about the epic horn Q&A and cutlass-sharp guitar lick. "Chalupa" takes a deeper route into the dancefloor by way of a classic soul riff that sways to-and-fro before breaking down into a more staccato rhythm. Watch out for the pay-off... Those jazz horns are a delight to behold!