Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

DEMREC1211

Colour

Orange

Colour details

Solar Speckle Marbled Translucent

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2024-04-20

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Demon

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

5014797911253

Total Cap

Orange LP

Artist

Travis Biggs

Genre GB

Disco / Balearic

Label GB

Demon is a UK 80s New Wave label that was founded by Elvis Costello, Andrew Lauder, and the company behind the label in 1980. In 1998, the label was acquired by Music Collection International and merged with its Westside Records operation. Today, Demon forms part of the Demon Music Group Ltd.

Travis Biggs was a talented keyboardist who collaborated with Isaac Hayes in the late '70s, a time when Hayes explored disco music. Alongside his work with Hayes, Biggs released two captivating albums of his own during this period: 1976's Challenge on TB&C and 1979's Solar Funk on MCA subsidiary Source. His most notable contribution is the widely-sampled track "Tibetan Serenity."

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Travis Bigg’s first album, released in 1976, was called Challenge. Initially pressed on independent Detroit imprint TB&amp;C enterprises, the record had little impact on the wider landscape of contemporary black music – save for local radio play. Three years after the release of Challenge, Source Records picked up on Biggs’ underrated talents, a multi instrumentalist and synth merchant whose list of instrumental credits on this release numbers 14, from harp to clavinet. Biggs would also rack up writing, production and instrumental credits among an assortment of funk, soul and disco names from Linda Clifford, Betty Lou Landreth, Isaac Hayes, Hamilton Bohannon and Michael Henderson. Solar Funk would eventually be released on Source, a mixture of new compositions and revamped versions of earlier material from Challenge, such as After The Storm (previously recorded as a cover of the Steve Miller Loft classic ‘Fly Like An Eagle’) and ‘Ven A Bailar Conmigo’, a Latin lilted stepper that too existed in a more stripped back guise on Challenge. Solar Funk also features ‘Tibetian Serenity’ – a track that was revived in the hip-hop scene as sampled by J Dilla in ‘Jay Dee 39’. Expressive, ethereal shades of spiritual jazz linger, with mandolin and harp imbibing an Alice Coltrane / Dorothy Ashby aesthetic. The intro to Tibetian Serenity would also be sampled by Italo-house impresarios Black Box in their rendition of the Earth, Wind and Fire anthem Fantasy.

This, the first ever full reissue of Solar Funk, packages the ‘79 release in its full glory for the modern crate digger as a limited RSD ’24 run on translucent solar speckle vinyl. The original has climbed up in price on Discogs in recent years, averaging at 60 dollars per copy. So grab our reissue this RSD, with newly mastered audio from Phil Kinrade at AIR Studios, and an exclusive liner essay with fresh insights from Will Fox. Solar Funk: Reissued with Soul!

Solar Funk - RSD 2024

Music GB

Discover Solar Funk - RSD 2024 by Travis Biggs. Limited edition vinyl reissue on translucent solar speckle vinyl. Released by Demon Records.