MATALO! Vinyl & CDs

Review: Legofunk Records is back with a more summer-ready and vibrant funk sounds this time with Matalo in charge of some super hot beats. 'Si Senor' is a fiery opener that is dense with whistles, percussion, vocals and Latin rhythms. 'Escucha Mi Melodia' is an undulating groove with twanging guitars and steam male top lines while 'Esclavo' dials it back a little to a more ass-wiggling bit of tropical funk. Last of all is the slinky sound of 'Everything Is Drum' with its steel drum sounds and loose-limed percussion.

Review: Seven months on from delivering the rather good El Ron Cuts edits EP on GAMM, sometime Daje Cuts contributor Matalo! brings his brand of party-starting goodness to Take Away for the very first time. He hits the ground running with 'bad Self', a James Brown-sampling slice of Afro-fired carnival jauntiness, before adding echoing flute snippets to an extra-percussive, boogie-era disco groove on 'Flute Bounce'. 'Ritual' is even more percussion-laden - we think it's a version of a disco-era South American dance workout -while 'Nice Day' is a soaring, energy-packed version of a much-loved underground disco staple.

Review: GAMM's latest release is more mysterious than some. There's little info online about the producer behind it, Matalo, though we do know that he contributed a couple of killer reworks to one of Daje Funk Records' 2020 releases. This time round, he begins with a dash of percussion-heavy, Moog-sporting Latin jazz-funk/disco fusion ('Curacao'), before taking his rusty scalpel to a warming, Hammond-heavy groover that also sports some rousing horn motifs later on ('Wrong Time'). Those who dig dense Latin percussion and salsa-fired peak-time action should definitely check B-side opener 'Beundia', while closing cut 'La Jungla Te Mira' does a fine job in joining the dots between eccentric Latin funk and stomping house music.