Back catalogue: Funk

Review: Mr. Bongo continues in their mission to peddle the feel-good, compiling rare Brazilian, gospel, modern soul and jazz fusion music, all with a bent towards ecstatic dance. Not taking itself too seriously yet still dipping one toe in the mystical and romantic, our favorites from the comp include 'Don't Need No Fortune Teller' and the patient 'Waiting For Love', all compiled by Mr. Bongo director and former Spiritland programmer Miche.

Review: If you know what's good for you, you will have picked up the first volume of this new With Love series from Mr Bongo. It was a red-hot soul selection that was packed with gold and now Miche is back with another. He is the man in charge of the musical programming at London's Spiritland venues and has now been digging deep once more to come up with 15 more soul nuggets. From raw to deep, lush and danceable to more emotive and vulnerable, it's a heart warming selection. Do not sleep on this one, which is a pink vinyl version.

Review: Brighton based record label, publishers, cinematographers and legendary former London record store Mr Bongo present the first installment in their new 'Mr Bongo Record Club' compilation series. It features, in their words "a selection of favourites, recent discoveries and sought after obscurities, which form the basis of our DJ sets and our radio show of the same name." There really is some great music on here that has been sourced from all corners of the globe and as much as they're oldies: they certainly are goodies. Our favourites weren't limited to: Brazilian duo Lemos E Debetio's charming "Morro Do Barraco Sem Agua", the African funk explosion of Lantei's "Fish & Funjee (Komi Ke Kenam)" and some truly hot reggae vibes in the form of Big Youth's 1977 unclassic "Mammy Hot Daddy Cool" among many others on this fine compilation.

Review: Marcos Valle's second album, the 1983 self-titled masterpiece, is one of Brazilian music's many stone cold classics fusing as it does MPB, pop, soul and easy listening with plenty of American influences thanks to the artist's time living in LA. Valle's old brother Paulo Sergio and the legendary Lincoln Olivetti produced the album with a fine cast of guests like Rosana, Serginho Do Trombone, Robson Jorge and Oberdan Magalhaes adding their own vocal and musical flourishes. Standout tunes include Brazilian-boogie cult-classic 'Estrelar' (which was actually co-written by pianist, keyboardist and record producer Leon Ware) while the artwork itself is also well worthy of your attention.

Review: Since launching in 2016, Mr Bongo's Record Club compilation series has provided three essential volumes of personal favourites - many obscure and hard-to-find - selected by the label's in-house team of crate-digging DJs. Volume four is naturally every bit as essential as its' predecessors, offering an enticing mixture of Brazilian, African, soul, funk and disco with not a suspect selection in sight. This time round, they've chosen to include contemporary music as well as dusty old gems, with highlights including Kenny Dope's delicious rework of the soul-jazz positivity of 'Throwing Stones' by James Reese and the Progressions, the fast version of Ze Roberto's 1973 MPB classic 'Lotus 72D' and the samba-folk wonder that is Matthew Tavares' 2019 gem 'Self Portrait'.

Review: The concept behind Luke Una's first solo compilation as a selector may be a little bit fuzzy - fundamentally, it's music for watching sunrises and feeling spaced out after a night on the tiles - but the music he's decided to showcase is uniformly fantastic. In-keeping with his famously eclectic approach to music, the 13 tracks on E-Soul Cultura include forays into spiritual jazz (Chene Noir), luscious Brazilian sunshine music (Robson Jorge & Lincoln Olivetti), acid-jazz-goes-deep house (Brand New Heavies), British neo-soul (Typesun), jazz-funk (King Erisson, Yussef Lateef), chant-sporting proto-house madness (Nar'Chiveol), a prime slices of sub-heavy Sheffield brilliance (On's sought-after cover of 'Southern Freeez') and a blissed-out chunk of minimalist electronica from Roman Flugel's Soylent Green project.

Review: International favourites on the boogie-and-beyond selection circuit, Horse Meat Disco deliver the first edition in a brand new compilation tracking yet more heat disco of a Brazilian flavour. Some 13 years in the making, much love and attention has been poured into this compendium, which unearths tracks from the seemingly endless urban goldmines of Brasilia and Rio, twin obsessive loci, nurtured by founding member Luke Eagle amid an extended exploration of the South American nation's dance music culture. Having learned to dance samba and paraded the Rio Carnival, this is a compilation rooted in worldly experience, made up largely of 7" finds. Chief among the brilliants are Ze Carlos' Italoesque wonder 'Venha' and the well-spiced 'Sol De Verao' by Lafayette, spanning years' worth of digging.

Review: The liberation of Mali from French rule in 1960 led to an explosive musical renaissance, and on this latest 2xLP compilation, Mr Bongo seek to remonstrate the nation's excellence in the face of much strife. After 1970, amid revived drives to document many national and regional music productions from the West African nation, Malian culture underwent a fertile transformation, with state-sponsored bands and orchestras able to record with sound engineers for the first time. Compiled by French writer and journalist Florent Mazzoleni and Mr Bongo's own David Buttle, we hear here the likes of Ousmane Kouyate & Ambassadeurs Internationaux, Rail Band, Les Messagers du Mali, Mystere Jazz de Tombouctou and many more, where bright, fuzz-packed tones whirl about our ears in serene squalls of balafon-driven funk, rumba, wassoulou, jeli and blues.

Review: Mr Bongo Record Club's Volume 7 presents a meticulously crafted mix of classic favourites and exciting new finds spanning a broad array of genres, including Brazilian, Latin, soul, disco, gospel, cosmic, dancehall and downtempo. This series has fans of the label excited about each volume that comes. With standout tracks like Os Panteras' Brazilian funk, the underground disco vibes of Claude Jay, and the soulful melodies of the Danish duo Gitte & Inger. Truth & Devotion's gospel soul and Chain Reaction's infectious grooves further illustrate the diverse range of influences at play. This volume particularly emphasises Brazilian music, diving deeper into folk and Afro-Brazilian sounds with selections from As Sublimes, Romeu Fernandes, and Conjunto de Percussao Dora Pinto. These tracks offer a refreshing shift from earlier volumes and showcase Brazil's rich musical heritage. A highlight is the exclusive 'Spring Has Sprung,' a collaboration between legendary Asha Puthli, the inventive band SOYUZ, and Swedish producer Sven Wunder. This track exemplifies the high-quality productions Mr Bongo Record Club is known for. Volume 7 blends Brazilian depth with dancefloor-ready hits, such as The Shades of Love's 'Come Inside.' This collection celebrates both timeless and contemporary music, reflecting the enduring allure of diverse and dynamic sounds.

Review: Mr Bongo's latest must-check compilation doesn't mine Brazil's musical heritage, but rather shines a light on what's happening in Rio de Janeiro right now. Hidden Waters was compiled and curated by two Brazilian music specialists - Joe Osborne (founder of the Brazilian Wax website) and Russ Slater (Editor at Large of Sounds and Colors) - and offers up a blend of scene stalwarts and exciting starlets. Musically it's varied, but largely rooted in samba, MPB and other classic Brazilian styles. So, while sun-soaked sounds (sorry) are the order of the day, Osborne and Slater also find room for the fuzzy psychedelia of Ava Rocha, the Stereolab-goes-samba flex of Exercito de Bebes, the low-slung, synth-sporting mutant funk of Thiago Nassif, the spiritual, pastoral-sounding afternoon warmth of Mari Romano and the lilting vocal jazz of Troa. An impeccable, eye-opening collection of quality cuts.'