Modern-Funk

After a long hiatus the Fasaan Recordings crew finally emerges from their basement to break out a second volume of their Chalice imprint.Functioning as a looser side vehicle to Fasaan, Chalice is a home for rawer and more uncompromising side projects of the Fasaan crew and their extended family. Honing in on a murky zone of cheap-sounding machine rhythms and punchy boogie-influenced proto-house sounds, the Chalice style is in your face and then out the door "just like that": take it or leave it.As the title "Import/Export" suggests, the contributions for this installment have been gathered from such foreign places as Copenhagen, Bandung, Tallinn, Manchester and Dublin.But starting off the EP is Malmo-based Fullstondiga Rottigheter and the deranged digital guitar strumming of "1988".Representing Manchester is self-confessed cyber-punk and genre defyer Ruf Dug with the dreamy cut "Cassette Boogie 1" which as the title suggests is steeped in lo-fi tape hiss and bounces along to a b-boy beat and some tightly squeezed Prelude-style synth lines.Representing Tallinn is minimal funk composer Ruutu Poiss of skate crew Haigla who lets his limping drum machine lead us on a wonky trip full of tempo shifts and ambient interludes.Copenhagen-based PRAAH pitches in with a brooding bass heavy 808 jam made under mysterious astral circumstances.Fachrur Riaz Hasbullah slides in from Bandung, Indonesia to deliver the ridiculously smooth stepper "Muram"

San Francisco native and modern funk wiz Diamond Ortiz makes his first appearance on Austin Boogie Crew Records with "Goodies", a sweet and enticing 12" EP of quality jams! Coming off the buzz of his acclaimed "Loveline" LP, Diamond takes a slightly more chill but equally party-centric approach on Goodies. This is the first 12" release on ABC and it's fire from front to back!

Indonesian concern Midnight Runners know a thing about quirky, utterly funky boogie and disco variations played out with real world heart and soul. This third album Rare Essence is the most complete look into the world of bandleader Munir Septiandry to date, not least when reveling in the heavyweight groove of "Pyramids Of The Moon". There's a lighter disco touch to "Paraswara Harmoni", but equally a cosmic force guides the track skywards in a manner that calls to mind the sweetest 70s library music. "Cyber Crimes" is a sassier affair that makes its club intentions clearer, but at every turn Midnight Runners display a keen proficiency for party music that you can equally chill to.

Montreal's KenLo Craqnuques has been bubbling away in the underground for some time, but lucky for us Hot Shot Sounds took notice and now present his first outing on vinyl with the Wheeels EP. There is an irresistible funk to the sounds that Craqnuques conjures up, pushing fat, Moog-esque basslines and low slung machine beats rolling at an easy tempo that hark back to the golden days of boogie and electro funk. "Mollusque" indicates how his is far from a throwback sound though - this is up to the minute instrumental RnB that recognises the true roots of the genre while looking to the future, and it sounds utterly fresh.

Modern Boogie Bangers! Computa Games drops its second vinyl release on New Orleans own Superjock Records. “Computer Rock (OG Mix)” is that feel good Funk with heavy bass, smooth synths and Vocoder vocals to top it off. The flipside, “Computer Rock (West Coast Mix)” gets a G-Funk treatment giving it that boom bap that you can rock to! Definitely a staple for the crates.

Limited edition 45 for Record Store Day, 2017.Cover by Jean Andre.Mayer Hawthorne and Jake One are Tuxedo. “Thank You” is a bonus track to their second album, Tuxedo II, which fnds them at the forefront of a new wave of gangster boogie - one that owes as much to G-funk as P-funk. This is the territory of pre- and post hydraulic low riders: a mélange of Cali boom-bap, analog synth bass and elegant disco that resonates truth and authenticity in an era where so many are faking the funk.