Looks like today has become ‘disco day’ this week on MB so what better time for London-based outfit Santa Semeli And The Monks to ask (with tongue firmly in cheek) Where Is The Disco In This Town?. Like they don’t already know. Coupling a pumping but funky late seventies groove with the Bowery-flavoured campness of the video (performance artistes and arch looks abound), the outfit fully
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SANTA SEMELI AND THE MONKS: Where Is The Disco In This Town?
MOMO SAID: Sunny Side Of The Street
Momo Said finds the Sunny Side Of The Street for the lead single off his forthcoming second album Break The Rules which follows in early autumn. And it’s very much the side of a street that is not merely sunny but forever NYC disco-central circa 1977 judging by the chugging four-to-the-floor Earth Wind & Fire meets Indeep-style funky disco on offer here. I reckon if he topped that off with a
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DJ YODA feat. BABY BAM & JOEL CULPEPPER: Hither Green
The new single from DJ Yoda is one of two cuts off his recent Home Cooking album to feature legendary Jungle Brothers MC, Baby Bam – in this case the contemplative Hither Green. It’s also one of two cuts off said LP to feature rising UK R&B star Joel Culpepper. On the track, the latter gets to bare his soul against a stuttery beat and string-laden backdrop while Bam is given a sparser
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BOUKLAS: The Groove Chronicles
Rating: 
He might be called Bouklas but this Greek producer is a long way from beatless on the evidence of his twelve-track second solo LP The Groove Chronicles. Actually that much was already clear even in April when the monkey announced said album’s forthcoming release date. Back then, MB previewed the only two tracks available at the time – LP opener Deep, an heavyweight head-nod
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LOUISA ROX & ANDY TAYLOR: Society
If you’ve caught Pray or Stand Up, the previous collabs between singer Louisa Rox and DJ/Producer Andy Taylor, you know you’re going to be in for a treat with the news that the pair have a new single, Society, out. Does that means it once again combines Andy’s keen ear for b-boy-friendly beats (not to mention funky bass and guitar chops) and Rox’s ethereal vocals? It certainly
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TANIKA CHARLES: Tell Me Something (video)
Tanika Charles follows up the brace of dancefloor stormers delivered on last single Love Overdue with her latest drop, soul slowie Tell Me Something. Apparently it’s about that, “moment in every new relationship when you need to establish what exactly the status is. Hopefully you arrive at that point at the same time, but sometimes one of you needs a little extra encouragement. Maybe
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IKEBE SHAKEDOWN: Unqualified
So it seems that funky Afro-psych-soul outfit Ikebe Shakedown returns with a new full-length album, Kings Left Behind this August on Colemine Records. If that’s too long a wait though, you can preview the sort of delights on offer now with new track Unqualified – which, in spite of the title, displays a veritable surfeit of skill at playing uptempo cinematic soul. Expect a driving beat
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ALEXIS EVANS: I Made A Deal With Myself (Vinyl 7″)
The contemporary northern soul scene has apparently been crying out for a 45 release of Alexis Evans’ I Made A Deal With Myself off recent album I’ve Come A Long Way. And since no self-respecting northern soul DJ would dare to play album vinyl at a gig and because Record Kicks aim to please their target market – there was only one possible solution – press up a 300-run limited 45
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FORT KNOX FIVE: The Brazilian Hipster (Vinyl 7″)
Back in 2004 when Fort Knox Five’s fifth release and signature cut The Brazilian Hipster first came out, the vinyl 12″ was still king of DJ formats, digital was a dirty word and the 45 was little more than the province of die-hard spinners of old wax. Fast forward to now and the 12″ is a rarity, digital’s huge (but still a dirty word in some parts) while there’s nothing hipper than a vinyl 7″. What
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THE NEW MASTERSOUNDS feat. LAMAR WILLIAMS: Kings & Queens
Following hot on the trail of first single Let’s Go Back, comes Kings & Queens – the second drop from The New Mastersounds’ forthcoming LP-length collab. with vocalist Lamar Williams, Shake It. The PR has this one billed as an ‘Average White Band meets Marvin Gaye’ type number and there is indeed plenty of funk bounce from the band (with guest horns) and vocal smoothness from
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