funk
CD: Jack White – Boarding House ReachWednesday, 21 March 2018![]() Jack White isn’t one to shy away from a challenge. Whether it’s launching a record player into space to play Carl Sagan’s “A Glorious Dawn”, or embarking on seemingly unlikely collaborations with Beyoncé or hip hop act A Tribe Called Quest, he seems... Read more... |
Tim Maia tribute, The Jazz Café review - the Brazilian wild soul legend revival continuesTuesday, 20 March 2018![]() The packed crowd at the Jazz Café was fired up by a sizzling samba soul band led by Kita Steuer on bass and vocals, singing along to a production line of hits, complete with dynamic brass section and superior percussion. All songs by a singular... Read more... |
CD: N.E.R.D - No_One Ever Really DiesFriday, 15 December 2017![]() In the seven years since N.E.R.D last had an album out, Pharrell Williams’ profile, which was already massive, has achieved some sort of pop supernova. “Happy”, “Get Lucky” and the less loveable “Blurred Lines” have made him a megastar. He now... Read more... |
CD: Neil Young + Promise of the Real - The VisitorSaturday, 25 November 2017![]() Not since the 1960s has there been so much global shit to protest about! The Sixties, of course, gave us the protest song – and how well the best of them have worn. “Masters of War” and “With God On Our Side” are timeless classics. “Give Peace a... Read more... |
The Best Albums of 2017Tuesday, 14 November 2017![]() Disc of the Day reviews new albums, week in, week out, all year. Below are the albums to which our writers awarded five stars. Click on any one of them to find out why.SIMPLY THE BEST: THEARTSDESK'S FIVE-STAR REVIEWS OF 2017Alan Broadbent:... Read more... |
CD: Bootsy Collins - World Wide FunkFriday, 20 October 2017![]() For those who are unsure of Bootsy Collins’ place in the funk pantheon, he is the bassman who put the One into James Brown’s “Sex Machine”, “Soul Power” and “Talkin’ Loud and Sayin’ Nothing”, as well as everything that came out of the first ten... Read more... |
CD: The Blow Monkeys - The Wild RiverThursday, 28 September 2017![]() It was this album's good fortune to arrive on a miserable rainy afternoon. At other times my first impressions might be a bit harsher about its comfortable, retro dad-grooves and easily flowing sax solos, but instead I let it wrap me like a blanket... Read more... |
CD: Deerhoof - Mountain MovesMonday, 04 September 2017![]() With the wind behind them, the San Francisco-founded band Deerhoof are one of the greatest live experiences you can have. Two decades since their first album, they still have a relentlessly experimental hunger for sonic surprise, mixing... Read more... |
CD: Lucky Soul – Hard LinesSunday, 13 August 2017![]() We are living, I think it’s fair to say, in troubled times. That is, if we’re living at all by the time of publication. Putting aside, for a second, the sabre-rattling of two monstrous egos, there is a need, in such dark days, of some light.... Read more... |
CD: Jupiter & Okwess - Kin SonicWednesday, 19 July 2017![]() Staff Benda Bilili and Kasai Allstars redefined the sound of Congolese dance music: the supremacy of the Rumba popularised by Franco and others, with its cascading guitar solos and instantly recognisable beats, was replaced by a host of other... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Pop MakossaSunday, 11 June 2017![]() In Summer 1973, Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa” peaked at 35 on the American charts. Originally the A-side of a France-only single issued in 1972, the song had been discovered by New York DJ David Mancusso. After Mancusso repeatedly played it, “Soul... Read more... |
theartsdesk on Vinyl 28: Manic Street Preachers, Joep Beving, Wreckless Eric, SWANS and moreFriday, 26 May 2017![]() While the 36 records reviewed below run the gamut of Wreckless Eric to Democratic Republic of the Congo Afro-electronica, this month there’s also a special, one-off section for modern classical. This is due to an ear-pleasing haul of releases... Read more... |
