Family Groove US Vinyl & CDs

Review: Family Groove continues to unearth serious gems in the archives of obscure American soul and disco labels. This double A-side affair is the result of this privileged research. On the A-side you'll find a previously unreleased disco-funk workout from Goodie that was discovered in the master tapes held in storage by Total Experience Records. It's a fantastically driving but groovy affair rich in rubbery electric bass, warm electric piano and some particularly hazy vocals. On the flip Capricorn Records has shared a previously unheard end-of-night slow jam from Mary Holmes entitled "Living in a World of Make Believe". It's as slick, sugary and loved-up as you'd expect.

Review: Back in 2010, Family Groove Recordings introduced us to the world of HE3 Project, a constantly changing collective of San Francisco musicians helmed by Herman Eberitzch III, via the archival album "Chapter One". The label has subsequently released a number of sequels, but it's this original 2010 set - created by digging through archives of previously unreleased tracks laid down between 1971 and '74 - that remains the essential HE3 release. If you still need persuading to pick up this reissued version, we'd suggest checking the languid and sun-kissed West Coast jazz-funk of "Rapture Of The Deep", the high-octane, Clavinet-heavy soul madness of "Life Is A Tortured Love Affair", the Bob James style sweetness of "We All Have Our Own Lives" and the Sly and the Family Stone style break-diggers' delight that is "Easy Come Easy Go".

Review: A couple of years ago Family Groove Records offered up a tidy seven-inch single featuring previously unheard music from Latrell, an overlooked and obscure artist who briefly recorded solo material during the boogie era. Here they go one better by delivering an album of long-hidden and unreleased cuts recorded by the American electrofunk artist in 1983 and '84. The standard is dizzyingly high throughout, with Latrell and his musical accomplices giddily sprinting through an octet of kaleidoscopic synth-funk jams that sound like a dream studio collaboration between Prince, Parliament, Roger Troutman and Rick James. In a word: essential.

Review: Few soul labels are quite as good at sniffing out previously unreleased material as Family Groove Records. Their tireless digging frequently unearths hidden musical treasure such as these two tracks, which date from the earliest days of Louisiana outfit Superior Elevation. Both tracks were apparently recorded in 1879 at Sea-Saint in New Orleands, the near mythical studio owned by Allen Toussaint. First up is 'Freaky With You', a breathlessly energetic psychedelic disco romp laden with sweaty hand percussion, flash-fried vocals, rubbery slap bass and eyes-closed funk-rock guitar licks. In contrast, 'Welcome to My World' is a slow and seductive, two-step style modern soul number that's as sweet as it is loved-up.

Review: In 2016, Family Groove Records released a 12" of previously unheard 1979 demo recordings by Webster Station, a boogie-funk band from Dayton, Ohio whose studio efforts were initially binned by Warner Brothers for not being commercial enough. Demand for Family Groove's limited 12" of their recordings has remained high, so the label has decided to do a reissue. There's much to admire throughout, from the high-octane thrills of opener "Are You For Real" and the spacey warmth of the super-soulful "Can You Feel My Love", to the sugary sweetness of the Latin tinged ballad "Lady" and righteous closer "If You Feel Like Dancing", a killer combination of spacey synths, crunchy drums, urgent vocals and killer Clavinet lines.