Category Archives: ALBUMS

MLP 1003 :: GIZELLE SMITH & THE MIGHTY MOCAMBOS

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mlp1003THIS IS GIZELLE SMITH & THE MIGHTY MOCAMBOS

Release date: 31.8.2009 SOLD OUT!

available on CD (Légère Recordings, Soulbeats Records France, CCRE Japan)

“Strong album – packs a serious punch”
Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show, BBC 6 Music

“A breath of fresh air”
Keb Darge

“Really amazing stuff, full of killers”
Nick / Record Kicks

“Definitely recommended”
Peter Wermelinger, Funky & Groovy Music Records Lexicon

“What a fantastic album – this is proper funk”
Tobias Kirmayer, Tramp Records

Ever since their first collaboration on the “Mocambo Funk Forty Fives” compilation, things have gained momentum for the “Golden Girl of Funk” and the much respected Hamburg-based label and live band. Their first single “Working Woman” became an overnight smash and a prime-time club favourite of funk & soul DJs from all over the world. Initially released on the Finnish private press label Old Capital, producer legend and Grammy nominee Kenny Dope (Masters at Work, Bucketheads) picked up and remixed the song for his own label Kay Dee Records.

Gizelle Smith & Mocambo now step up with a full-length album of bonafide sister funk.
In the days of digital recording and Pro Tools editing, they show true exception to modern techniques and create their highly regarded, unique and raw soul sound, by making use of simple dynamic microphones and reel-to-reel tape machines.
In a genre which is often littered with overused clichés of the past, the charismatic Gizelle Smith adds a lot of her own flavour rather than slavishly copying icons of bygone decades. The result is a refreshing alternative to post-millenium plastic pop without being a mere retro rip-off.

From the heavy and determined “Gonna Get You” to vulnerable, gospel-tinged laments such as “Coffee High”, the album is just as deeply rooted in the music from the golden era of soul as it is a modern masterpiece in its own right.
Blazing horns, soulful guitars, driving drums and basslines combined with Gizelle’s gripping and powerful voice all weave together to create a long player that is varied and coherent at the same time.

MLP 1002 :: MOCAMBO presents CINEMATIC FUNK

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mlp1002CINEMATIC FUNK

Release date: 26.6.2009 SOLD OUT!

Limited Edition – Vinyl Only Album

Mocambo is notorious for their killer Funk 45s that have become a favourite of prestigious DJs, ambitious collectors and music lovers worldwide. While the first label compilation sported the highlights of their first, sold-out vinyl 7“ releases, this sampler is a fine selection of new & previously unreleased material. Most of the tracks were originally composed for use in movie and television film scores and not for commercial release. Mocambo is very proud to offer these gems to connaisseurs and true vinyl lovers.

As the title „Cinematic Funk“ suggests, the music has more to it than just the usual 45 sound. From the grand opening theme, to quirky, heavy street soul, sweet love themes, moody downtempo jazz, psychedelic B-movie sitar grooves, chilled and spaced out tunes to blaxploitation car chase sceneries, the cream of Europe’s funk bands like James Taylor Quartet, Speedometer, Sound Stylistics, Delta Rhythm Section and the Mighty Mocambos deliver a broad variety of film-inspired funk styles.

Sit back, relax, listen to these hip sounds and create your own movie in your head to the score of Mocambo’s CINEMATIC FUNK.

The album’s artwork is free of rubbish like barcodes or web-/email-addresses.

MLP 1001 :: MOCAMBO FUNK FORTY FIVES

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Mocambo-LP-Cover

MOCAMBO FUNK FORTY FIVES

Release date: 24.10.2007 SOLD OUT!

still available on CD (Mocambo Records MCD 1001)

This unique compilation spotlights the best tracks of Mocambo Records’ scarce 7 inch vinyl releases that took the deep funk scene by storm in summer 2006.

Along with the labels own productions (Mocambo Allstars, The Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band and Gizelle Smith), the first releases host new recordings by obscure English groups like The Delta Rhythm Section, The Sound Stylistics and the supreme Vinylizor Productions team (Jay Glover, Gary Crockett & Dominic Glover), together with unreleased tracks by all time greats such as the James Taylor Quartet and Speedometer.

Not only the fact that all of the recordings were previously unreleased gems, but it was also the way in which the 7″ singles were released, that made the records desireable collector’s items in their own right. While it would have been possible to sell a 1000 copies of each, the label decided to stick with the charm of obscure and forgotten Funk 45s by pressing no more than 300 copies of each release. Manufactured at a private pressing plant in Germany, the records not only delivered the sound of rare Funk 45s, but also the look and of course, the quantity. One of the Delta Rhythm Section’s 7 inches did not even reach the amount of copies that had been licenced because the stamp broke before the whole edition could be finished.

Needless to say, the records were sold out in a short time. For people who missed the limited vinyl edition, it is still impossible to get hold of the brilliant tunes. Popular demand caused the label to “re-issue” the best sides of the original 45s on this compilation so that all fans of the material can now enjoy the music without breaking the bank.

The selection of tunes included in this compilation is a broad variety of styles in the genre of funk.
While the Delta Rhythm Section provides a more perfected version of mid-seventies big band funk, the Sound Stylistics stand for the raw garage sound of small labels around in the early 70s, with a wild instrumental style that became known as ‘deep funk’ (hence the library album title of the same name).
The bonafide productions of Jay Glover, Dominic Glover and Gary Crockett focus on classic vintage keyboard instruments as the Minimoog, Hohner Clavinet D6 and the Hammond B-3.
The Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band brings some West Indian flavour to the mix by performing a classic Meters track with Steel Drums and killer breakbeats, showing that New Orleans is just a stone’s throw away from the South Caribbean islands of Trinidad & Tobago.
The UK’s primo funk outfit Speedometer round up the compilation with uptempo Latin-tinged dancefloor funk while the Mocambo Allstars pay hommage to the late James Brown, the J.B.’s instrumental sound and early rap groups with three of their own productions.
Other artists such as the James Taylor Quartet and Ian Langley represent the cinematic side of funk with their takes on blaxploitation scores, providing listeners with the perfect underscore for vintage urban drama, big city hustle and car chase scences.