THE GLADIATORS Schallplatten & CDs

Review: 'Funky Soul' - a 1970 single from New Orleans band David Batise & The Gladiators - rose to prominence in the 1990s thanks to its inclusion on several high-profile funk compilations, before finding further success thanks to a Breakestra cover in the early 2000s. Ahead of a new collection of unheard cuts from the southern funk band, Family Groove records has decided to reissue it. In it's A-side 'Part 1' form, the track is a killer instrumental funk workout rich in razor-sharp guitar licks, weighty bass, crunchy drum breaks and hazy horns (the arrangement of which was provided by Isaac Hayes). Arguably even more frantic and energetic is the flipside 'Part 2' take, whose call-and-response vocals were a familiar feature of the band's popular live shows.

Review: Roots Natty offers a treasure trove of rare tracks from one of reggae's favourite trios, The Gladiators. Recorded during the genre's formative golden era, from 1977 to 1979, the period proved fruitful for those in the orbit of reggae giants like Culture and Burning Spear, The Gladiators following among them. This battle-scorn group - Albert Griffiths, Clinton Fearon, Gallimore Sutherland, et al. - would wield piercing arrangements in reggae stadia from soundclashes to Kingston studios, complementing penetratively deep lyrics with sharper productions; long-tanged beats, atomic, needle-point drum transients. The majority of the tracks on Roots Natty are rare Jamaican singles, mixing rawer, heavier, dub-fusions than their Western-readied album counterparts. Originally released in limited quantities in Jamaica, these ones have been carefully remastered, preserving a relatively authentic energy.