Boca 45 / Mohawkestra - Bear Pit

Boca 45/Mohawkestra - Bear Pit
Bomb Strikes

Bristolian beat King Boca 45 is a man who knows a thing or two about dusty breaks and 7" records. The 45 Live lynchpin has been integral to the recent revival of 45 culture, and here teams up with fellow Bristolians Mohawkestra to deliver another killer record. The A-Side, Bear Pit, references one of Bristol's infamous institutions, the Bear Pit - a place where artists, anarchists, tramps, pissheads, punks, crusties, rastas and drug dealers intersect with shoppers and office workers in the centre of Broadmead. 

Fittingly, Bear Pit oozes punch-drunk swagger, gritty funk and psychedelic swirls. Utilising the exceptional musicianship of enormously popular local live act Mohawkestra, Bear Pit delivers on many levels.

Featuring Kelvin Swaby, B-Side Round & Round feels like a blend of The Meters, The Rolling Stones and The White Stripes. Rousing, idiosyncratic and just brilliant.

Straight in at No.1 on the Funk chart, get it below

Dream Division - Mosura

Dream Division - Mosura

Polytechnic Youth

All analog John Carpenter-esque Synthwave from Dream Division, who get their first vinyl press thanks to the good folks at Polytechnic Youth. It's revivalist and thus not the most original music, but among the soft-synth copyists going for this sound, Mosura has a convincing air of authenticity. Sonically, the 4 tracks feel more like a soundtrack than an EP, which is not a criticism. Don't expect catchy, Kavinsky-style hooks. Do expect grainy, biting synths oscillating eerily over pulsing, simple rhythms that will have you playing out laser fights and flying car chases in your mind's eye.

Available on cassette from the band's Bandcamp, or 7" through Polytechnic Youth. Which brings me to Polytechnic Youth's rather curious (and effective) model of delivery. A combination of email, Twitter and Facebook updates lead up to a chronologically precise launch time - usually 9pm GMT - at which point said record goes becomes available in a quantity of precisely 111, usually with some sort of hand-stamping, limited edition signature, lathe-cut or other collectible feature. These puppies then sell out within hours to a clearly devoted and satisfied customer base. It's the sort of brand loyalty any company would kill for and must have been exquisitely cultivated in today's ultra-competitive landscape. 

The label also stock through regular outlets on longer run presses, but these collectible launches are particularly eye-catching.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand... with Blade Runner 2049 and Halloween in the same month, Dream Division have a record that neatly joins the dots between the two. I'd muster more enthusiasm if I weren't so jet-lagged. Just buy it.

MNP - Ratto Nero / Beard

Delights (APDLT666)

Brightonian psych-funk trio MNP release their sophomore 7" on Delights, and it's a barrage of sludgy grooves and melon-twisting melodies. Grungy as hell, menacing and lo-fi, it's music right out of a Tarantino fight scene. So intensely evocative is A-side Ratto Nero, it provokes vivid scenes in the listener's imagination, wherein bearded outlaws lay waste to a sleepy desert town until the alcoholic-but-righteous Sheriff enters the fray, spilling the blood of the hoodlums one slo-mo frame at a time  - or have I just had too much coffee this morning? Alternate A-side Beard is no less evocative, this time with a creeping, almost Pink Panther-esque jaunt to it's wistfully abrasive broodiness. Suggestions for genre descriptions as follows: Grunge-funk. Instrumental Death-Hop. Slasher-Soul. Spur-gaze.

OK, definitely too much coffee.

Pre-order here!

Kingdom of Kaffa - Dawa Ya Moto Ni Moto (reissue)

Kingdom of Kaffa - Dawa Ya Moto Ni Moto
That's Why Records (reissue)

Groovy, psychedelice African funk on a limited 100-copy colour vinyl repress from That's Why records. It's sleazy, it's got a low-slung funk vibe on both A-side and B, and it can be yours for a range of prices - £15 on ebay, £26 on Discogs, and most palatably £9.75 on Juno... better be quick! 

Ikebe Shakedown - Supermoon

Ikebe Shakedown - Supermoon

Colemine Records

Bold, brassy, full of classic library flavour and on a fetching 'moon-coloured' vinyl, the new 45 from Ikebe Shakedown is here, and it's tasty. Limited to 300 copies, fans of the golden era of library grooves should move fast before it's gobbled up by hungry beat-freaks.

Buy it here

Nik WESTON presents KIKI GYAN/TUNJI OYELANA (Mukatsuku Records)

Mukatsuku Records are one of my personal favourites - I've bought so many releases over the years and almost all of them are still regular selections. A heady blend of really, really good remastering and a great ear for a funky gem make Nik Weston's releases essential purchases for many Funk, Soul, Jazz, Afrobeat and Disco DJs. If, like me, you play a lot of all those genres, you'll be hard pushed to find a more consistently excellent label for your needs. Some tracks are hitherto unknown, but what i like is that the first criteria seems to be 'is it really fucking good?' rather than 'is it really fucking rare?' - so we also get Fela Kuti, Grant Green and other well known artists featuring in the catalogue.
Every purchase comes with some stickers and a genuine-sounding note from Nik that displays a heartfelt gratitude to his customers. It's the little things, and marks Nik out as the sort of chap one would enjoy a good pint with. I've never met him though, He could be a psychopath. Or a Tory voter.

The latest offering is a welcome installment in my Afrobeat/Afro-Funk education, featuring, as it does, a couple of artists whose work is new to me. Kiki Gyan delivers an extremely happy slice of Ghanian Disco with Love To Love You, which is followed on the flip by Tunji Oyelana's wonderfully jaunty It's Not Your Fault. Both are Nik Weston edits and his sure touch make for killer afro-funk cuts. Get in my basket.

Chicago - I'm a Man (7" version 1969)

The eagle-eyed may notice that Week 3 and 4 have been announced on the same day. Your CMFCP correspondents were sunning themselves in Turkey last week so you'll excuse our poor time-keeping...

Continuing with the Chicago theme, middle of the road Dad-rockers Chicago step up for Week 4's instalment of Charity Shop Gem of the Week. Except on this record, found in a charity shop bin for 99p, they're about as far from middle of the road as can be!
1969 single I'm a Man, a cover of the Spencer Davis Group hit, is a brutal, almost tribal freakout that has been a mainstay of my DJ sets for 10 years. I just had to share it with you as it has possibly the greatest drum solo of all time. Where the later studio recording is clean, polished and by comparison unremarkable, this is an assault on the ears from a band going full throttle!
The first drum solo lasts about 90 seconds and starts about a minute into the song... it's a fucking bold move but the intensity and raw energy is astonishing. I haven't found this version anywhere on the web so I may upload it to youtube myself, but in the meantime, here's a similar live recording from about the same era. You get the gist, but trust me the 7" version is bonkers!