James Brown - In the Jungle Groove [2LP Colored Holland Import]

In the Jungle Groove is the James Brown compilation that hip-hop built a house on, pressed here as a limited colored double LP.

Released in 1986, it gathered funk sides from around the turn of the 1970s, a period when Brown's bands were stripping songs down to pure rhythm. Several tracks were extended, remixed or re-edited for the set, and the timing was perfect: producers and DJs were hunting for breaks, and this record handed them a goldmine. Its influence on sampling culture is hard to overstate.

"Funky Drummer" is the big one, built on Clyde Stubblefield's loose, endlessly loopable drum break, and the bonus-beat reprise isolates that groove for anyone who wants to live inside it. "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" appears in a remix that's all tension and release, while "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing" rides a sharp, scratching guitar figure for as long as Brown allows. "Hot Pants" closes things with a lean, jabbing groove and plenty of grunts and commands from the boss himself.

Across two discs, these long cuts get room to breathe, which is exactly how they should be heard. Sweaty, hypnotic and relentlessly in the pocket, this is funk in its purest and most influential form.