Let The Freak

Here's a huge sounding disco house banger from Mjuzieek (re-released on Hed Kandi). The very catchy main disco riff is accompanied with vocal cuts, big fx sounds and fat drumwork. Nothing to dislike here.



Buy on Beatport / Traxsource

A Soulful Moment

Here are a couple of soulful house tunes for those dark and cold autumn evenings. (Or for the spring vibes if you're on the southern hemisphere!)

First one is a remix from Director's Cut who deliver a solid groove with their signature sound. Second comes a very musical tune courtesy of Grant Nelson and Matt Early. And last but not least we have soulful house pioneer Richard Earnshaw with a very classic sounding original (hence the name), maybe being the most soulful and chilled out of the bunch.

Buy on Beatport - Released in August 2012 on Defected


Buy on Beatport - Released in August 2012 on Swing City Records


Buy on Beatport - Released in July 2012 on Duffnote Recordings

You Can't Keep Talking

Bibz' "Level One" EP was released a couple of weeks ago on one of my favourite indie dance labels Stardust Records. The whole EP is rocking, but "You Can't Keep Talking" caught my attention especially. The feel-good original mix is a very fresh production combined with catchy vocals by Tammy and John Record, and Jackie brings some extra-funk with his deeper french house remix. Beautiful.

Get your copy on Beatport

Groovy Music EP

The title of this EP actually says it all. "Groovy Music" was released about a month ago on Erik Bo's Funk Mansion label, which I have been passionately following for it's quality care-free funky house tunes. The following tracks deserve special attention. It's always a party at the Funk Mansion! Check out the entire release on Beatport.





P.S. Sorry for not posting for so long, I'm hoping to get the blog going more regularly again.

On The Run

Buy on Beatport


Buy on Beatport

"One The Run" is a three-track EP released in July 2012 on Pornostar Recordings, and it's sounding big. My favourite version is the one by Mike Newman & Antoine Cortez, but the original is sounding great as well though maybe a bit too minimalistic for my taste. It won't hurt you to check out Muzzaik's remix too. General main-room house, but with a very nice vibe.

Do What We Do

Here's one of the nicest releases on Hed Kandi in a while now. This jazzy EP covers styles from soulful house to jacking house to nu disco. My favourite is the original with it's mellow piano, funky guitars and the stirring feel-good mood. Ridney's remix brings us the above-mentioned jacking house vibes in a lovely oldschool manner with 909 percussion sounds and a bit deeper feel. To wrap it all up, Webqueawry shows how to nu disco: big 80's synths, a rocking bassline and solid drum-work.

This beautiful package was released just today on Traxsource, go get it!

Uncanny Valley 001 : Dirty, Grimey, Funky & Deep

Uncanny Valley 001 is filled with deep funky numbers like this. All the grit and squelching of vinyl crackle filtered just sets the scene for warm funky emotions.

In particular "Cuthead - Unacceptable Moustache Style" really kicks ass. Its got this deep dubby, housey combination like something Étienne de Crécy's Super Discount would have contained.

With so much music floating around its hard to stay on top of it all but respect where respect is due I say. This was released 9 months ago but will be relevant for the next 20 years!

You can buy the EP here: http://www.beatport.com/release/uncanny-valley-001/281826

Check out more from the label here: http://soundcloud.com/uncanny-valley-dresden

Check out more from Cuthead here: http://soundcloud.com/cuthead/tracks

Freebie Fridays #4

Friday already? That calls for some freebies!

A brilliant mash-up from Japan / Oslo producer duo Fukuyama released as a celebration for 200 Facebook fans. They deserve a lot more though so go like them already! "Fukuyama Used To Hold Me" combines the vocal track of Calvin Harris' "You Used To Hold Me" and Fukuyama's own track "Fukuyama" with discoliciously delicious results.



And here's Jackie dropping another bomb, which has become a delightful habit for this Polish funky houser. "Do You Understand?" is (obviously) a tribute to true house music, and it doesn't disappoint in its purpose. This is a bit of oldschool house heaven. Understood?



Finally, British producer duo Funky Truckerz bring us some more classic house vibes with their remix of De Nuit's "All That Really Mattered". The guys give the original a big room twist yet retaining the great nostalgic vibe. Good job!

This Is Actually Boogielicious

Buy on Beatport


Buy on Beatport

To me previously unknown act Cupcake Project just released a funking EP on Royal Soul Records called "Funky Cake". The sample used in "This Ain't No Boogie" (which is a very misleading name by the way) is just too awesome, and they've really made great justice to it too. Trotter brings some extra funk with his remix, and since I couldn't decide which remix was better I bought both and encourage you to do the same! If you're into this kind of slow jam boogie music check out the other tracks on the EP as well.

Oh and please welcome our new writer, Scratchabone Jackson Jr, whose courtesy the previous post is!

Alec Carlsson - Doux Velour EP

I was forwarded this link by a friend into house music and my mind was blown....

Alec Carlsson seems to have been blessed with some kind of genetic inheritance giving him super natural abilities to produce house music. His release titled "Doux Velour" on the Chicago based label Stripped & Chewed has so much chunk, funk & groove it really stimulates the shake in ones ass.

"My aim was to make two tracks representing my two loves, deep house and funk. It wasn't a matter of tempo, only an homage to the genre I was raised in." Alec Carlsson 

 

The title track Doux Velour kicks off with some deep filtered disco sample but at a steady tempo, much like a sedated DJ Sneak. With latherings of electric piano chords and shakers he then exposes the claps and percussion that land in just the right funky position in the groove. It progresses into synth and string meanderings in a very tasteful way.

The next track is "Euphoria" which shows off his delicious bass line skills. Also not breaking any land speed records it chugs along at a nice pace with phased synth stabs & some electric guitar clucks and scratches. A sustained string line and little arpeggiated synths give it some more lift & carry the track further on to the end.

The remixes here are just as tasty, "Stripped & Chewed's newest signatories: Chicago Life and Borrowed Identity" do an outstanding job with the remixes. Chicago Life take on Doux Velour bringing a walking 90's bass line and 4 to the floor kick groove succeeding to stimulate that warm up crowd that would be starting to dance in the bar hopping circles. Really cool.

Borrowed Identity spits out 2 mixes of Doux Velour with 2 styles. The "Raw 303" mix is like it says, raw with a very robotic 909 hi hat pattern chugging away and driving the groove. The deep bubbling TB303 bass line eventually winds out to acidic perfection.

The "Raw Jack City Dub" mix has lots of dreamy sustained pads and a very classic pan flute solo that instantly takes you back to those classic deeper house tracks of the 90's. Vocal chops in the breakdown towards the end really seal the deal as a cool as funk vibe.

If this EP was edible it would be served at a hidden gem of a restaurant off the main strip, ran by the same operators since it was opened 30 years ago. Still serving up the same classic dishes it always did. The only catch is he is 17 years old so where the funk did such amazing skills come from? Well like he said he was raised in this genre (upcoming mothers & fathers please pay attention).

When asked about the concept and background Alec replied :

"It wasn't a concept at all, I really wanted to make quality music first of all. Moreover I really trust in the label S&C, I released 3 tracks with them, and those are 3 totally different ones, and they all embody my love for music, for several kind of music. The remixes came to add a real Chicago house touch to the ep, and they are so good."

There are links to Juno on the Soundcloud player. I will be purchasing this as any true lover of good house music should.

Scratchabone Jackson Jnr

https://www.facebook.com/aleccarlssonmusic

http://soundcloud.com/alec-carlsson

http://soundcloud.com/chicago-life

http://soundcloud.com/borrowed-identity

Disco Superfly

Marcy Playground – Sex & Candy (Kreap's Disco Superfly Mix)
Buy on Amazon (US only) - Download

I've been waiting for ages for this to come out, and now to my absolute delight it finally has been released. Unfortunately only US customers are able to purchase the track so I have included a download link for everyone else. Also, the track in the Amazon store is some sort of shortened radio edit, so if you're for a more DJ friendly version the download is where to go.

If you've been reading this blog for a while you probably already know about Kreap and his funkylicious disco-flavoured productions. This one oozes freshness on a whole new level. It's one of those tracks where everything works and sounds delicious, and it's definitely in my top-5 tracks this year. Kreap is the man.

Freebie Fridays #3

Time for another edition of Freebie Fridays – I got some real gems for you...


Luminaire – Shake
Download via SoundCloud

Let's hit it off with Luminaire's fresh sounding synth and sample heavy "Shake". Pay special attention to the level of production here, everything is so nice and fat. As usually it all just works and gets me on a really good mood. Feel-good stuff.


Bit Funk – It's My Love
Download via tracks.by

You might've heard of this already, but hey I have to hype it too! The start didn't convince me immediately, and for a moment I was afraid if this was to be the first Bit Funk track I wouldn't like. But then I heard some lovely chords rising and the piano finally won me over. It's a classic-flavour house track with that M1 piano and lately bass spiced up with soulful vocals and some guitars. 3:13 is a wonderful moment.


The 3rd Eyebrow – Gentle Mirage (Fukuyamas Filtered Remix)
Download via SoundCloud

This remix was uploaded by Fukuyama literally a couple hours ago. It's got a huge amount of drive, and that bassline action is really well executed.

Joey Negro & The Sunburst Band

Joey Negro and The Sunburst Band – The Secret Life of Us
Buy CD via Z Records Store

Joey Negro and his session band "The Sunburst Band" deserve major respect for staying true to their faultless jazz-influenced disco boogie sound. The collective just released a new album called "The Secred Life of Us" consisting of 15 brand new tracks previewed in the 10-minute album sampler above. It's reassuring to hear people still make music like this nowadays among all the over-compressed super-loud modern dance music. Befitting the style and spirit of the music, this album can only be ordered as a CD. That's completely fine though – this is a product that (I at least) really want to own.

Jackin Box Funks The Mansion

It's been a while since I've featured a Funk Mansion release, but here's one that won't leave your feet cold. Jackin Box might be best known for their funk-laden hip-house track "Big Mama", but their latest EP "The Meat Sweats" doesn't fall short. It's a four-track EP, and I recommend checking out at least "American Houser" and "Titty Shaker". Buy the release on Beatport.



Jackin Box – American Houser
Buy on Beatport



Jackin Box – Titty Shaker
Buy on Beatport

Skibblez All The Way

Stumbled over Skibblez today and oh how happy I am that happened. This Canadian french/disco/funky house act has put almost all their tracks are up for free download, yet their sound is so professional and sophisticated. But above all, they really get a smile on my face. Here are a couple picks, but I essentially could've featured all of their tracks here. Check out Skibblez on SoundCloud for the rest, and don't forget to like 'em on Facebook!



My NamE – Summer Rain (Skibblez Remix)
Download via SoundCloud



Skibblez – Mystery Lady (Original Mix)
Download via SoundCloud



Tightshirt – Trite Night (Skibblez 'Love Tonight' Remix)
To be released

California Soul

Here's a funkin' house EP by 25-year-old Australian house producer Sonny Fodera. This two-track release consists of the solid original in the style Sonny is known for – very funky and groovy – and a more soulful / disco influenced remix by DJ Mes. The whole package was released on Guesthouse Music just a couple days ago. Really enjoying these vibes at the moment.


Sonny Fodera – Golden State Of Mind
Buy on Beatport - Download preview


Sonny Fodera – Golden State of Mind (DJ Mes Town Business Mix)
Buy on Beatport - Download preview

P.S. Sorry for being so silent for the past weeks. Will try to keep the blog updated more regularly now!

Frenssu Does It Again

Frenssu – Shine On Me
Download via SoundCloud / Alternative download

Now this is what it's all about. Reminding me a bit of the sound of Phats & Small, this track doesn't fail to deliver true summer vibes. "Shine On Me" is a spiffy disco house banger featuring juicy filters and a fat bass. It's free to download also, and since Frenssu has a sparing 100 downloads limit on SoundCloud, we already uploaded the file on another server for later downloading desires.

Jacking House For The Beginning Summer

J Paul Getto – 48 Hours EP
Buy on Traxsource

Here's some jacking house delish from American producer duo J Paul Getto. The "48 Hours" EP will be released on Coyote Cuts on the 4th on June. Feet-moving awesome.

Freebie Fridays #2

Welcome to the second installation of Freebie Fridays on Funkster! (it was about time...)

The Louder The Better – Last Days
Download via SoundCloud

L.A. based The Louder The Better did a wonderful job on this catchy funkatron, which they put up on SoundCloud some three weeks ago for free. Their "chop it up and re-arrange" ethos can easily be recognized – and oh yes it works ever so nicely (once again).


Tom Jones – Black Betty (Ziggy Phunk Oldschool Intro Re-Edit)
Download via ZippyShare

What I love about this are the dynamics. No squashing, no over-compression; there's a lot of air and the track breathes nicely. On top of that it's a really groovy and good production as well of course. I have no idea why Ziggy Phunk decided to close the download, a couple days ago it was still enabled, but don't worry we got you covered! I managed to get a copy and ruthlessly uploaded it to ZippyShare (see link above). After all a quality jam like this shouldn't be kept in captivity.

Come With You

Mike Newman, Antoine Cortez – Come With You
Buy on Beatport / Juno Download - Download preview

The "Come With You" EP is a really strong and summery release from mega-label and music brand Hed Kandi. The original, produced by Hungarian duo Newman & Cortez, in special has a nice groove going on; sunny disco strings, a big funky bassline and splendid, although simple, female vocals. "Come With You" premièred on the "Hed Kandi World Series Miami Vol. 2" compilation in the beginning of March, and a bit over two weeks ago the EP with remixes was released.

Mike Newman on SoundCloud / Facebook
Antoine Cortez on SoundCloud / Facebook