Tuesday, February 04, 2014

NEW RELEASES: MASS PRODUCTION - WELCOME TO OUR WORLD / BELIEVE; CANVAS DO BRASIL; LOOSE JOINTS - POP YOUR FUNK

MASS PRODUCTION - WELCOME TO OUR WORLD / BELIEVE

A pair of gems from this great 70s funk ensemble! The group may be named Mass Production, but on Welcome To Our World, their sound is anything but – a really special fusion of key instrumental talents and vocal elements – all brought together in one of the tightest ensemble funk grooves of the time! Mass Production draw a bit from an Earth Wind & Fire tradition – especially some spiritual undercurrents to hold themselves together – but they've also got some of the fuller funk elements of the best dancefloor combos of the time – like Fatback, Cameo, or Con Funk Shun – all of whom would be a great comparison with this smoking debut. The instrumentation is razor-sharp, and never dips into any disco cliches at all – and at times, the guitars alone leave us breathless – as they chug forcefully over the rhythms, and really propel the tunes into the skies. Two of the best groovers include "I Like To Dance" and "Fun In The Sun" – and other titles include "Magic", "Wine-flow Disco", "Our Thought (To The World)", and "Just A Song". Believe is a massive stormer from Mass Production – a set that has the group's full, funky sound hitting right on the money for most of the cuts – then stepping back to let in a few mellower moments too! These guys were definitely at the top of their game at this point – moving in territory that rivals the tightness of other big funk groups, like Brass Construction or T-Connection – but with some occasional deeper soul sides that show up nicely on the slower cuts. Titles include the sweet moogy number "Cosmic Lust", which we really love – plus "Free & Happy", "I Believe In Music", "We Love You", "Superlative" and "People Get Up". ~ Dusty Groove

CANVAS DO BRASIL (VARIOUS ARTISTS)

An insanely big collection of tracks from Brazil – a 4CD collection that features a wonderful run of tracks from the key bossa years of the 60s to the explosion of MPB, samba soul, and other styles in the 70s! The format's is very wide-ranging – no real structure or order to the tracks – but we can say that the 81-track collection is filled with grooves we've loved for years, including a fair bit of the kinds of Brazilian music that first got us started digging many years ago! If you're new to Brazilian music, the set's a great place to start – especially if you want to get past the hits – and if you already have some bossa or samba at home, there's probably other cuts here you haven't heard at all. Titles include "Glorioso Santo Antonio" by Antonio Carlos E Jocafi, "Vento Bravo" by Edu Lobo, "Comanche" by Jorge Ben, "Vatapa" by Gal Costa, "Melo Da Cuica" by Azymuth, "Garra" by Marcos Valle, "Me Libertei" by Toni Tornado, "Nem Vem Que Nao Tem" by Wilson Simonal, "Escadas Da Penha" by Joao Bosco, "Fibra" by Paulo Moura, "Mas Que Nada" by Elza Soares, "Primitivo" by Milton Banana Trio, "Feminina" by Joyce, "Preta Pretinha" by Novos Baianos, "Black Soul Brothers" by Miguel De Deus, "Reza Brava" by Piri, "Roda" by Elis Regina, "Na Baixa Do Sapateiro" by Band Black Rio, and "Samblues" by Sambalanco Trio. ~ Dusty Groove.


LOOSE JOINTS - POP YOUR FUNK

The complete West End singles of Loose Joints – one of the funkiest projects to ever come from the legendary Arthur Russell – and a set of tracks that also features a fair bit of work from the funky Ingram Family too! The grooves are definitely some of the most offbeat to ever come from the mostly-disco West End label – and do a great job of crossing the space between the NYC downtown art world and club worlds of the early 80s – thanks to Russell's inventive leadership, and his wicked sounds on electric cello and keyboards too! There was never a full album issued under the Loose Joints name, but this set nicely corrects that fact by bringing together a host of different singles and lots of great remixes too – most of which get really weird and play with the original tracks a lot. Titles include "Is It All Over My Face (orig 12" mix)", "Is It All Over My Face (orig 12" Larry Levan female)", "Is It All Over My Face (Masters At Work rmx)", "Is It All Over My Face (unreleased orig full length)", "Pop Your Funk (orig 12")", "Pop Your Funk (orig single voc)", "Tell You (orig 12")", "Tell You (orig 12" new shoes edit)", and "Tell You (orig 12" inst)". ~ Dusty Groove

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