- It's not many compilation series that become so successful they have to do a 'best of' but that's exactly what's happened with the excellent Pulp Fusion series, a mixture of soul, rare groovy, funky jazz and breaks. To celebrate this round-up of the previous seven releases, DJ Pogo contributes a scratched-up mix of the classics.
Often the scratching enhances the originals, say for instance Boris Gardiner's 'Melting Pot' and the Johnny Otis Show's 'The Watts Breakaway'. Among the other excellent groovers are Dizzy Gillespie's 'Matrix', a piano led bass section complemented by subtle horns, and the Harlem Underground Band's groundbreaking 'Smokin Cheeba Cheeba' - we all know what that's about! My personal favourite here is Ahmad Jamal's 'Misdemeanour', previously 'un-Pulped' and very lounge - the sort of thing those Thievery Corporation chaps would lap up with its spacey strings. The copious booklet notes are worth a read - just how many tracks are influenced by Graham Central Station's 'The Jam'?!
The second, unmixed CD is essentially the first minus the mixing, but also features the likes of Mandrill, Funkadelic and the Brazilian quartet Azymuth. If you're a soul or hip hop aficionado this is about as good as it gets, and a fitting testament to a series that just seems to be getting stronger and stronger.