New releases last four weeks: Funk Soul & Jazz

Review: Over the course of two fine, full-length excursions, Don Glori (real name Gordon Li) has perfected a warm, breezy and frequently life-affirming trademark sound that cannily joins the dots between jazz, samba, MPB, jazz-funk and soul. He leans into the latter elements more on summery third set Paper Can't Wrap Fire, drawing on the talents of a wealth of Melbourne music friends across nine sublime tracks. There's much to admire throughout, from the sun-soaked jazz-funk/soul fusion of 'Brown Eyes' and summery head-nodder 'Janet', to the spiritual jazz joy of 'Song For Ants', the Brazilian brilliance of 'Precious' and the oceans-deep nu-jazz shuffle of 'Saturn's Return'.

Review: It may be almost a decade since the last - and previously only - album by Mark Ernestus' Ndagga Rhythm Force outfit, but in the time the expansive, percussion-led collective has toured extensively and subtly developed their African rhythms-meets-dub trademark style. Khadim, which features extensive contributions from vocalist Mbene Diatta Seck, is not only a welcome return to the studio, but also a genuinely impressive affair. For proof, check the percussion-rich Afro-dub science of 'Lamp Fall', where Seck's effects-laden vocals spar with dub techno synth motifs and deep sub-bass over a hand percussion-heavy rhythm track, or the more dub techno-focused early morning hypnotism of the inspired title track.

Review: Will Holland's first official mix release under his most familiar alias is a snapshot of a global career spent building communities across Bogota, Brooklyn and Brighton. Opening with the warm introspection of JJ Whitefield's 'The Mind Is A Palace' and the hazy psych-funk of The Heliocentrics, the selection soon tilts into submerged electronics via Dialect and Alfa Mist's brushed jazz motifs on 'In My Defence'. JKriv's 'Pifeiro Malandro' and Quantic's own 'Twang' bring syncopated bounce, setting up cumbia futurists Frente Cumbiero and a percussive remix of 'Theme From Selva'. Later, 'Eko Eko' and a live version of 'Motivic Retrograde' thread together low-slung breaks and synth-rich ambience, before Meridian Brothers' 'Un Grande Nubarron Se Alza En El Cielo' and The Maghreban's 'Covent Garden' ramp up the oddball charm. Anna Morgan and Ehua lock in high-BPM club energy on 'Throw Dat Azz' and 'Scintille', while Turbo Sonidero's 'Kumbia ESSJ' and Sobredosis's 'No Llores Por Mi' land like final toasts to dusk before the sun vanishes entirely. The journey ends, naturally, with a continuous mix of it all.