Keith Mansfield: Contempo (KPM Music Library, 180g) Vinyl LP Keith Mansfield

“Contempo is one of the best full album listens in the KPM 1000 library. Succinct smoking soul, super tight breaks and string-drenched sleaze composed by the library master, Keith Mansfield. Many library records are a game of two halves and Contempo is certainly one of those. The first side cooks on a high funk breaks flame whilst the flip is something altogether more tranquil, yet no less groovy. It lays back with dreamier, post-coital grooves. Rugged funk opener ‘The Fix’ confidently displays its low-slung languid grooves with heavy drums, horns, and bass. The punchy ‘What’s Cooking’ follows and has a lighter, more whimsical touch. But the drums still roll and the clavs wiggle in fascinating opposition to those horns. Closing out the A side, fresh guitar licks drip all over the slick drums of ‘Funky Footage’, with a New Orleans piano vibe coming on to really light a fire. The B side is more smoothed out, with beautifully arranged, sweeping strings, sax solos aplenty, and a real ’70s soundtrack feel. The super sleek and sexy jazz funk of ‘Breezin’ is as light and magical as you’d hope. An open-air masterpiece, its indulgent sound is just a taster of the sophisticated funk to follow. The luxurious ‘Love De Luxe’ and its horizontal grooves have been much sampled, but here it proves that it doesn’t need any help to get you in an intimate mood. Closer ‘Snake Hips’ is a cool mid-pace slouch. Originally released in 1976 but, like the very best KPM records, wonderfully timeless, Contempo is a rare example of a library record that is a genuinely great listen from start to finish. Reissued from the original analog tapes and remastered for vinyl by Simon Francis.” – Be With Records

• coveted instrumental funk & soul grooves from iconic library music publisher KPM on vinyl for the first time since 1976
• 180g black vinyl pressing
• remastered from original analog tapes
• limited edition
• music label: Be With Records 2021