Funk

Chic - Nile Rodgers

Funk master

23 Jul 2009

Nile Rodgers defined an era with the classic disco soul of Chic and again as one of the most sampled act in hip hop history. David Pollock meets him.

Soul Power

9 Jul 2009

Just when you thought there were no more films to be made about the Muhammad Ali/George Foreman bout in Zaire in 1974 there comes a remarkable film about the 12-hour, three-night-long concert which took place around the event. In 1974 musician Hugh…

Alyn Cosker: Lyn’s Une

9 Jul 2009

The Ayrshire drum maestro’s current high-power trio with guitarist David Dunsmuir and bass guitarist Ross Hamilton provides the foundation for his debut album. The energised music foregrounds the funk and groove elements of Cosker’s playing to great…

Headspin

9 Jul 2009

The resident Headspin DJ squad refuse to conform to genre specifications with their no-holds barred four deck mix of house, hip hop, funk, disco, soul, breakbeat and all points in-between. All backed up by live percussion from Bongo Dave and visual…

Vjazz

25 Jun 2009

With the Glasgow Jazz Festival taking over pretty much all the live music spaces in town their Vjazz club nights are the perfect way to keep the funk flowing into the night. Featuring Perry Louis (pictured) and his Weak at the Knees night (27 Jun) plus…

Also Released - Records

28 May 2009

Franz Ferdinand Blood (Domino) A hit-and-miss retooling of the band’s recent Tonight album. The real dubby moments are a sonorous joy among the modest reshuffles of others. Loop A Gilded Eternity (Reactor) A very welcome reissue of the immense final…

Tortoise: Beacons of Ancestorship

28 May 2009

Tortoise have always followed their own path, moving slowly, steadily and deliberately – much like their reptillian namesake. Their six albums in little under 20 years suggest a group at ease in their own skin, building records out of fragments of jazz…

Ojos De Brujo

16 Apr 2009

If flamenco isn’t really your thing, then you should probably turn away now. But come on, everyone needs a bit of flamenco in their life. Hip hop is also here in abundance too, consummating with each other to produce an exotically interesting mix.

Motherfunk

16 Apr 2009

Since way back in 1996 Motherfunk has been Edinburgh’s only serious Tuesday night clubbing option. Gino and Fryer supply a formidably knowledgable repertoire of all that’s great and good about funk. This fortnight, on 28 April, they host a fashion event…

New Bands

19 Feb 2009

Young Fathers Although those in the neighbourhood know that Scottish hip hop has been active for many years now, it’s still the kind of unlikely concept which can make the national media gasp, sit up and scratch their head. Take the good tidings that…

Mongrel - Better than Heavy

19 Feb 2009

(Wall of Sound) INDIE FUNK On paper this collaboration has huge potential, with a former Arctic Monkey, a Babyshambler and the Reverend and one of his Makers teaming up with esteemed rapper Lowkey. The results are, as Jon ‘Reverend’ Mclure…

Friday Night Takeaway

5 Feb 2009

Miranda Ralston and Angie Koorbanally believe that Friday nights are where it’s at clubbing wise. The duo, both Arches employees and Octopussy and Death Disco workers, are the brains behind Friday Night Takeaway, a one-off night in conjunction with…

Profile - The Unabombers

5 Feb 2009

Name: The Unabombers Also known as: Mancunian duo Luke Cowdrey and Justin Crawford. Occupation: Premiership electro-funk producers, remixers and DJs of longstanding vintage. You might know them in their other guise, Elektrons, who are heavier on…

Lafayette Afro Rock Band - Darkest Light: The Best Of . . . Remastered Edition

22 Jan 2009

JAZZ FUNK There’s nothing overtly African or rocky about Lafayette Afro Rock Band, an American funk outfit who relocated to Paris in the 1970s and acted as session band for Pierre ‘Berjot’ Jaubert, a one-time Motown artistic director. Their cult…

Modern Lovers

27 Nov 2008

For a club night which has been one big, glorious celebration of the retro soul, funk, psych and freakbeat sounds for eight years now, Modern Lovers has an eye on the future this fortnight. The regular monthly event in Edinburgh is both the eighth…

Platinum Pied Pipers to play rescheduled Edinburgh date

5 Sep 2008

Detroit-based hip hop and R&B group the Palatinum Pied Pipers play at Edinburgh's Voodoo Rooms on Monday 15th September. Promoting their new album Abundance, PPP take a soul-based foundation and mash it up with their array of vintage & modern…

Headspin

7 Aug 2008

Over the years the guys behind Headspin have built up an enviable reputation on the Edinburgh club scene. Seamlessly mixing the retro with the futuristic on their no-holds-barred four-deck set-up, which splices hip hop, funk, disco, house and other…

Smoove

3 Jul 2008

FUNK/HIP HOP Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Fri 4 Jul. Smoove is a man in the thrall of the funk, and while he’s happy to pilfer from any genre or decade, it all needs to have that groove. ‘Everything is rooted in the funk; soul, even music going way, way…

The Hot 8 Brass Band

28 Feb 2008

It shouldn’t work, but it does. Live and direct from New Orleans, The Hot 8 Brass Band add funk and hip hop grooves to the familiar brass band sound. With funked up covers of the likes of ‘Sexual Healing’ overlaid with lyrical rapping they take the…

DJ Format

14 Feb 2008

Three years since the last album and having apparently denounced hip hop while throwing himself headlong into DJing and re-editing duties you might be surprised to find that DJ Format, aka Southampton-born Brightonian Matt Ford, has been quietly…

Andy Smith

14 Feb 2008

One of the kings of quality music where genre is no barrier, Andy Smith is perhaps most famous for his The Document mix series (now on its third instalment) where tracks by Black Sabbath rub shoulders with Ugly Duckling and PP Arnold. But he’s equally…

Headspin's 10th Birthday

17 Jan 2008

It was the winter of 98, and, inspired by fellow leftfield institution Messenger Sound System, Allan Dunbar and Steve Austen landed themselves a brand new club night at the old Bongo, determined they were going to put on something a little different…

Hint

1 Nov 2007

Expect everything from full on drum & bass to soul, funk and post rock from Ninja Tune signee Hint, who’s guesting at the Ivy Weekender. He’s joined by local hero Boom Monk Ben for the Friday session (2 Nov) while the Saturday weighs in with Bugz in the…

Tom Findlay at SoCo Social

20 Sep 2007

HOUSE/FUNK/SOUL The Buff, Glasgow, Fri 28 Sep There is a now an alternative to the customary quick drink after work and it comes in the form of the SoCo Social, a series of free gigs in Glasgow that run from 6pm until 10pm. The first event took…

Greenskeepers

7 May 2007

FUNK HOUSE