Review: Neo-soul chanteuse Bette Smith is an upcoming talent who lends her tones to the blistering blues guitar work of Kirk Flecther here. The pair take on a cover of The Rolling Stones' classic tune 'Brown Sugar' and do it with real gusto. The drums smash hard, the guitar riffs are big and angular and the vocals re delivered in sleazy fashion. The Tone's quirky pop dance hit 'Dance Monkey' then gets covered don the flip and turned into a psyched out bluesy guitar number with big vocals. It's a unique rework that makes this a collectible 7".
Review: Dynamite Cuts have got another red hot bit of funk on their hands here with Brian Auger's Oblivion Express the subject of this reissue of two of his most blissed out sounds. The first is a magic cover of Marvin Gaye's timeless 'Inner City Blues' from his most iconic album, What's Going On. In this outfit's hands the groove becomes a little more deep and languid, with funky guitars and steamy vocals sinking you into a real romantic vibe. The second is an original tune, 'Voices Of Other Times,' that explores more uplifting soul vibes.
Review: This project stems from the mutual admiration between Daru Jones and Devonne "DJ" Harrison who, upon discovering their collaborations with Jack White, had the idea of blending rock with jazz. DJ Harrison's vintage keyboard skills and Daru's versatility made them perfect for such a rock-influenced project. Legendary guitarist Doyle Bramhall II, a longtime friend of Mr. Mandel, was ideal for the guitar role and after several years they finally got together to record this album in 2022. The result is a first 12" single, mastered at 45 rpm for exceptional sound. Here's hoping there will be more to come.
Review: The 7" from Third Man Records features two previously-unreleased takes of the song 'Blind Willie McTell' with the a-side being totally exclusive to this Record Store Day Special. The b-side will also, in time, be included on Springtime In New York: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 16 (1980-1985). Session musicians Mark Knopfler, Mick Taylor, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare all play on the tune which was the first one worked on during the Infidels album sessions. Bob Dylan's voice is at its whiny and idiosyncratic best here as his harmonica rings out, rolling drums set a slightly country-sousing groove and electric guitars flesh out the track.
Review: Miami's Far Produce are fresh faces, but their sound is full of respect for times past, building on classic soul jazz by bringing it a modern instrumental twist. Led by two Studio City, CA natives - Addison Rifkind on guitar and Michael Duffy on drums - Fat Produce deliver a veritable cornucopia of fruits and groceries to chew on here. 7" A-sider 'Sticky Beets' turns our inners red, as we're led to imagine chowing down on the perfect beetroot yield and the funky euphoria that inevitably follows ingestion of such a delicacy. B-sider 'Son!', meanwhile, draws on an amalgamation of several Bay Area-inspired grooves - Duffy is a walking rhythmic encyclopaedia - set against an improvised, on-the-fly groove first laid down by Rifkind, whose hook-worthiness is unmistakable here.
Review: Long-faced Boston blues trio GA-20 deliver a swampy, bluesy take on Dolly Parton's classic, 'Jolene'. While the original Parton number's lyrics dealt in the instantly-memorable theme of a queen bee stealing the singer's beloved - "just because you can" - the original song could nonetheless be accused of obscuring the melancholic feel of the lyrics, by lending them an uptempo dance backing. GA-20 might be credited with fixing that problem here, stripping things back to a lilting blues plod, convincingly reworked into a vintage, boxy, sepia-toned context.
Review: A new raw, bluesy punk-garage EP from Mick Hampshire - a zoomed-out existential musing on life, dealing in geological process, speck-of-dust sublimes and personal breaking points. Drawing on Hampshire's well-gained experience as the leading member of garage rock four-piece Mickey & The Milkshakes, Mick now goes rogue, dashing the cream shake to the floor, and turning his hand to a mendicant, roughshod, rock-relief style of blues. In 2022, armed only with his Grimshaw semi-acoustic guitar - unamplified - Mick sang and strummed through these four home-recorded, perhaps phone-recorded jams in an unnamed back room. The result is an honest and grievous sound, reaching its exasperated but shoulder-shaking climax on 'When You're In This Mood'.
Los Chicos Tristes (feat Jensine Benitez - El Michels Affair remix) (2:41)
Review: Ahead of their new album Sonido Cosmico, Hermanos Gutierrez return with a smouldering single which shows off their affinity for wistful guitar soliloquies on a short n' sweet 7". The brothers' sound is rooted in 1950s Latin American rock n roll, all quivering tremolo and languid reverb as a casing for their mesmerising melodies. 'Low Sun' captures that melancholic moment as the day shortens in evocative fashion, making this a record primed for sentimental moments aplenty whether you're playing the record for yourself or an audience of kindred chillers who appreciate Balearic vibes hailing from the Southern Hemisphere.
Review: It's hard to comprehend how significant it was when John Lee Hooker first recorded 'Boogie Chillen' in Detroit way, way back in 1948. Once the track was licensed to Modern Records, it went on to sell close to a million copies in the space of a year, at a time when recorded music was still finding its feet, and from that moment on Hooker's legendary status was confirmed until his death in 2001. Now Ace are commemorating 75 years since that landmark song was recorded, capturing two different takes of a track recorded by one man singing his honest truth and creating seismic shifts in popular culture, before such a thing even existed.
Review: Greg Jolly's 1981 jam 'It's Getting Sweeter' is the subject of this new tidy reissue on US label Enjoy. It's a real deep funk classic that has a lo-fi feel and vocals full of love and passion from both the male lead and the sweet female backers. The chords and drums are gently persuasive and it's a great way to ease yourself into an evening. This 45rpm is backed with 'Love Is' which picks up the pace and has a more funky and propulsive beat with acrobatic falsettos up top finishing it in style.
Review: London's BDQ Records has got more gold here from the superb vocal talent that is Lydia Jane. Her smoky tones come across these two stylish mod-jazz gems starting with the titular 'Sweetheart' which has lazy and slow motion grooves with some lovely reverb-heavy guitar lines reign out next to Jane's sensuous jazz delivery. On the flip is 'Loser' which has a more upbeat feel with 60s tones to the vocals as the swinging drums and feathery snares all add extra depth. A lovely 7" here for fans of all styles of soul.
Review: The Mdou Moctar mixtape series started in 2021. It is music made from sounds captured in the back of a van while on tour including field recordings, cell phone voice memos, interview clips, conversations and more. The Niger EPs now continue on that theme and look closely at the roots of the band, which lay in long bus rides across West Africa sitting next to people and talking about music. As such the music here is solely from recordings in Mdou Moctar's home country of Niger between 2017 and 2020 when the band was at weddings, picnics, rehearsals, and impromptu house concerts.
Review: Mdou Moctar is a Tuareg, Niger musician best known for his personal sound; he calls it Tuareg guitar music, drawing on styles like takamba and assouf. His music was originally circulated not via the internet, but rather an informal trade network of memory sticks and mobile phones in the Sahel region of North Africa. This musical scarcity captured the imagination of the net-based musical audience at large, following Moctar's formation of a four-piece band and emergent touring schedule aided by motorcycle, not to mention his demo music being leaked on a compilation documenting the cellphone based music of the Sahel in the early 2010s. 'Niger EP. Vol. 2' tops up the artist's latest EP series, laying down a further four entrancingly electric songs recorded at various weddings, picnics and house concerts.
Review: The Browns is the family behind the Luaka Bop label's latest soul offering from the Staples Jr. Singers. It's a collective that has been going now for some four generations and they still play regularly totters, but not often these songs. Here, on three originals from the band, Annie, Edward, and R.C., are joined by their children, R.C.'s grandson Jaylin on drums, Edward's son Troy providing vocals, Annie's husband Willie on guitar, and their son Willie on bass. These tunes first appeared in 1975 on the band's only album and are now revisited for the first time. It makes for a truly gorgeous collection of soul sounds.
Ain't That Loving You (For More Reasons Than One) (3:11)
Blues In The Night (3:13)
Review: A powerful Stax flashback of two tracks from Arkansas soul don Taylor's 1967 debut album Wanted One Soul Singer. As covered by the likes of Lou Rawls, "Ain't That Loving You" is heartfelt bluesy ballad with a sultry swagger and serious yearning on the choruses while the even rarer "Blues In The Night" closes the B on a super-tight floor-bound riff and gutsy delivery from Taylor. Both bonafide northern soul classics and confirmed rarities with both cuts regularly fetching triple figures, this reissue changes everything. For more reasons than one.
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