Germany's Mocambo label does the right thing and collects up the bulk of their out-of-print deep funk 45s for all the sleepyheads. These guys' library records and limited singles have been driving collectors nuts for years now, so it was about time. The staunch funk of immediate Mocambo fam like Mocambo Allstars and the Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band sound especially great -- check "The Next Message(1)" and Bacao's cover of the Meters' "Look-Ka Py Py(2)" -- but you can't go wrong with some of their outside contributors either, like the tuff funk of England's Sound Stylistics on the pulsing "Back On The Streets(3)" and "Get Ya Some(4)," or Glover, Crockett & Glover's "Listen Up(5)." Also feeling Ian Langley's "Chicano Chaser(6)" and Speedometer's "Do Watcha Like(7)." 16 tracks total.

reviewed by Larri Byrd