Funk

Review: Detroit musician and producer Dave Hamilton hears two fantastic early emissions of his reissued via BGP. Known originally as a guitarist and an early member of the Motown house band, Hamilton's influence on music, especially the later Northern soul firestorm in the UK, is perhaps understated. His guitar contributions to the likes of Marvin Gaye's 'Stubborn Kind Of Fellow' and John Lee Hooker's 'Boom Boom' are indeed cherished additions to the Michigan funk and r&b canon, but perhaps it's his later outings as Dave Hamilton and the Peppers - and later founding of the labels Demoristic and TCB - that house the real trinkets. 'The Deacons' and 'Pisces Place' both came out via the TCB label, and brought vibraphonic blues and astrologic easy listens respectively to wax.

Review: Defiant, spruce and intractable, Hodges James Smith & Crawford's 'Nobody' marks this brilliant new funk reissue with a caustic grip-quip after at the slippery satins of love: "nobody's gonna tell me that you don't love me, baby. They just don't know that you're an angel..." Walking a universal tightrope of ambivalence - this is a situation that we'd wager everyone of one stripe or another is familiar with - this record could function either as a tell of blind infatuation with a ne'er-do-well, or a real statement of loving intention for a misunderstood penitent. 'It Cracks Me Up' backs up the B with an ensouled, ensemble-armoured musing on "girls with shiny faces" and "superdudes", resolving on a tonic note of equal sexual charge. The West Coast vocal group outdid themselves back in 1971, so much that original copies of this fetch unholily exorbitant prices; high time for a repress!

Review: Freddie Love was a blind singer from Baton Rouge in the United States. He recorded two incredible 45s for Eddie Shuler's ANLA label and his debut release featured the dynamic two-sided track 'Crazy Girl'. It is a heart-swelling soul sound with slow but funk drums and bass riffs under a brilliantly expressive vocal heavily influenced by James Brown. On the B-side is Part 2 which has more guitar action laced in. This has long been a sought-after record and it is now receiving its first-ever vinyl reissue which will bring renewed attention to Love's powerful sound.

Review: First released back in 1973, Flying Dutchman aver their grand standing on the parapet that is the New York jazz scene with a timely new reissue of Leon Thomas' 'Just In Time To See The Sun', which now appears with a different B-side counterpart. Shaker-uppers, these sonic sailers are! Where As 'Just In Time...' itself first surfaced as the B-side to a stirring album cut 'Never Let Me Go' - which also graced the pimpin' Tennessee blues-jazz musician's later record Full Circle - it now comes paired with the pentatonic skiffle 'China Doll'. FD's new curative duopoly on Thomas' bellowing sound flaunts the singer and musician's deep range, contrasting the styptic funk explosions of the titular Santana cover on the A with the shaker-laden Orientalist groove on the B.