This reissue of In the Jungle Groove is a further obfuscation of the original masters, though a welcome one. The album is not so much an album but a 1986 collection of James Brown singles and apocrypha from recordings of the period 1969-1971; it sounds as defining and current today as it did when it was first issued on LP. While the tracks here featured some new sidemen, a good portion of what’s here is played by the original J.B.’s. For starters, there’s “It’s a New Day,” a two-part single issued as King 45-6292 and then placed on the album It’s a New Day — So Let a Man Come In. Next is the classic “Funky Drummer,” appearing on album for the first time although it was a Top 20 single in 1969. Also included here are remixed versions of tracks that appeared on the original In the Jungle Groove, such as “Give It Up or Turnit a Loose,” and from the Sex Machine LP, as well as “Talkin’ Loud & Sayin’ Nothing.” In addition, this expanded version contains mono mixes of “Get Up, Get into It and Get Involved” and “Soul Power,” which was re-edited for inclusion here. In addition, the single “Hot Pants” is here and an extended reading of “Blind Man Can See It” is included as a bonus cut. While this funky, greasy mess is enough, there’s also the inclusion of the previously unreleased “I Got to Move” and a ghost of bonus beats and added sounds. This does nothing but make something awesome truly stratospheric. Here the focus is on rhythm and hypnosis, that state where the hips and backbone move imperceptibly at first before coming out of their collective shell and making nasty on the dancefloor. At the height of the great hip-hop madness, 1986 was a perfect time to reintroduce these tracks from a decade and a half earlier, and now, with the unimaginative aspect of hip-hop controlling the charts, the reintroduction of real beat-conscious songcraft couldn’t be more welcome. – Thom Jurek