Though a drummer, Marvin Gaye’s achievements are seldom thought to lie in the rhythm bed. He was notably adrift during disco, his technique too liquid, too subtle for four-on-the-floor pummelling (or maybe not…!) Aside from the title track, few tunes on The Funk Collection are recognised floor-fillers, but sweet Jesus, do they groove?! Dig the proto-rap of flop 45 “Ego Tripping Out” (“Oh, it must be said, I’m greatest in the bed”), Frank Blair’s wicked percolating bass on “Funk Me”, and the rippling “World Is Rated X” (not, unfortunately, the fruity synth mix that appeared shortly after he died). Much of the best stuff here is also on The Master, an awesome career-spanning collection with some fascinating rarities, chiefly “Piece Of Clay”?among Marvin’s most marrow-stirring performances, and unavailable elsewhere. Whichever you choose, to hear him is to marvel.