Every Saturday we take a look at some quality funk, soul and disco here at the Labs. Wether it be old or new, we’re digging it and feel the need to share. This week it’s Minnie Riperton with the brilliant “Adventures in Paradise”.

Known to most for her 1975 single “Lovin You”, she was one of the decades finest vocalists and for me, this is maybe her finest moment – the title track from album “Adventures in Paradise”.

Minnie Riperton – Adventures in Paradise

Her debut single “Les Fleur” is also amazing and was later covered brilliantly by 4 Hero.

Minnie Riperton – Les Fleur

French based house duo Alan Braxe & Fred Falke brought a sense of relaxed euphoria with their 2000 club hit “Intro”.

Sampling “Crush On You” by The Jets, the funk bass line that underpins the whole track has an infectious groove and the vocal is one that always brings a big smile to the face. Feels like summer already!

Although their time as a group lasted just under 4 years, British funk group Cymande as had an big influence on music as their tunes have been sampled by some of the hip hop greats.

Formed in 1970 the multi instrumentalist group released 4 albums and shared the stage with great such as Al Green and appeared on the famous US show Soul Train. With tunes such as “Bra” and “The Message” now being regularly played by DJ’s, I’ve picked my favourite “Brothers On the Slide” for bring the smooth Saturday funk.

Bjork’s 1993 “Debut” album was a lovely piece of left of centre pop music and the tracks fell into the hands of some of the best producers in electronic music for remix work.

While these mostly popped up on the vinyl releases of the singles, One Little Indian kindly put out a CD compilation entitled “The Best Mixes From The Album Debut For All The People Who Don’t Buy White Labels”.

While the pack included reworkings from The Black Dog and The Sabres of Paradise, the pick of the bunch for me was this was lovely moody house refix of “Human Behaviour” by Underworld.

Building and building over 12 minutes, the piano breakdown just over 10 minutes in is well worth the wait.

And just for the craic, here’s the video for the original:

For this Friday’s classic we once again visit the back catalogue of XL Recordings. The Subliminal Cuts track “Le Voie Le Soleil” first got a release in 1994 and was marked out by its tight piano chords and intricate synth runs.

It could even be argued that it sounds like a track from earlier in the decade or even into the previous one.

It captured the imagination of everyone who heard it and was a proper hands in the air number that appear on various mix CDs. It was written and produced by Dutchman Patrick Prins, who was responsible for a myriad of tracks thought the ’90s under the guise of Castle Trancelott, Human Nature and many more.

Undoubtedly one of the most influential electronically led groups of the 80s, Art Of Noise’s 1984 debut album “(Who’s Afraid Of?) The Art Of Noise” is a brilliant piece of work that was groundbreaking at the time and still deserves your attention nearly 30 years on.

Blending mechanical noises and subtle industrial leanings alongside ridiculously catchy hooks and infectious grooves, it’s a must have for anyone with an intererest in electronic music.

Art Of Noise – Closely, Closely (Enough’s Enough)

Featuring the original full five-piece line up of Gary Langan, J. J. Jeczalik, Anne Dudley, Trevor Horn and Paul Morley, the album features two of their most well known tracks in “Moments In Love” and “Close (To The Edit)” but the nine tracks contained within all have their merits.

Art Of Noise – Moments In Love

You can grab a download of this classic album via Bleep.com.

When it comes to funk in Scotland there is one band who stand head and shoulders above the rest. A band that were embraced in the USA in the 70′s with with their heady brew of bass, brass and grooves. I am of course referring to the Average White Band.

Formed in 1972 in and around the Dundee area, their influence in modern music is massive are they are reckoned to be the 15th most sampled act in musical history. Their most famous, and biggest selling track is “Pick Up The Pieces” which is one of the most well known funk tunes ever written.

Rumour has it that they were the first non black act to play the legendary Apollo Theatre in Harlem, NYC. This happened as then promoter loved their music and booked them without realising they were not only white but from Scotland. Needless to say it didn’t take them long to win over the partisan crowd.

Average White Band – Pick Up The Pieces

You can also check them out live at Montreux in 1979.

Originally released in 1992 through Diamond and then given a larger scale release through Junior Boys Own a year later, “Song To The Siren” is the track that established The Dust Brothers as one of the most exciting new production outfits in the UK.

The duo would of course go on to change their name to The Chemical Brothers and become one of the biggest acts in the history of electronic music but for now let’s bask in the glory of their amazing debut with it’s hypnotic vocal hook (sampled from Dead Can Dance’s “Song of Sophia”), huge drums and sirens.

The Dust Brothers – Song To The Siren

Every Saturday we take a look at some quality funk, soul and disco here at the Labs. Wether it be old or new, we’re digging it and feel the need to share. This week it’s Gwen McCrae with the brilliant “Rockin’ Chair”.

Motown style percussion, an awesome horn section in action and that vocal all come together to create a mid tempo funk number that sounds as fresh as anything released today despite first seeing a release in 1975.

Clear some space and get the Saturday morning shuffle on the go.

Gwen McCrae – Rockin’ Chair

Reaching number 7 in the charts in 1991, “Move Your Body” by Xpansions saw several remixes in the 90s and into the 2000s as clubbers of all ages got their groove on to this classic tune.

Originally released as a limited vinyl outing in 1990, the track samples both S’Xpress and Catch 22. It’s the huge synth lines that do all the damage, with the vocals paying perfect compliment to those.

Xpansions – Move Your Body