Back catalogue: Funk

Review: Bristolian turntablist and crate digger Andy Smith has long been renowned for the depth of his funk, soul and hip-hop selections, though it's only in recent years that we've discovered the quality and diversity of his disco collection. He continues to flex those credentials on the third instalment in his Reach Up - Disco Wonderland series. While there's plenty of obscurity on show, as you'd expect, Smith has chosen to include contemporary nu-disco cuts and fresh re-edits alongside vintage picks. So, while we cuts from The Sunshine Band, the disco-highlife of Orlando Julius and some late 70s electro-disco courtesy of French outfit Quartz, we're also treated to fresher tracks and edits from BB Soul, Birdee and Nick Reach Up, Yam Who and Full Intention. Throw in a killer DJ mix of the same material by Skratch Bastid and you have a genuinely essential collection.

Review: Andy Smith's Reach Up - Disco Wonderland Vol. 3 continues his exploration of the "Discosphere" with 16 more and one again carefully curated tracks. Featuring artists like Buscrates, Trailer Limon, and Rena Scott, the compilation also includes stellar edits and remixes by Full Intention, Yam Who, and Skratch Bastid. Initially curated during pandemic lockdowns and inspired by virtual DJ sets, Andy continues to share his superb collection via the legendary BBE Music label and once again this triple vinyl LP offers a treat for DJs, collectors and audiophiles alike.

Review: Prepare yourself for a wry chuckle, as we impart the fact that the compilation you see hyperlinked before you was not at all prepackaged, with work cut out for its curators. Rather, it came from the source, having first manifested as a pile of Ghanaian highlife LPs buried at the bottom of DJ Jerry Frempong's wife's garden. Frempong is the son of one of one of the most prominent former Ghanaian-British label owners, Anthony Roberts Frempong of Asona Records, whose founding movements in the South East London district of Peckham proved highly popular helping disseminate highlife music in the English capital. BBE Music owner Pete Adarkwah caught wind of the serendipitous discovery and approached Jerry to discuss the reissue of this historic catalogue, which you hear here. The sweetest of early and untrodden highlife highlights are heard here, including sparklers by Kantata, Jewel Ackah, Sam Yeboah, Mr Cee and even Thomas Frempong himself.