Emotional Rescue Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Emotional Rescue closes out another brilliant year with one final hot drop. This sorting 7" Safari by King Sporty was the artist's first ever single back in 1976. It comes after the label has served up plenty of reissues of the man known as Noel Wiliam's tackle but this one might be the best. It's from his album Deep Reggae Roots and is nice tropical excursion with steamy hits, wooden percussive sounds and funky bass over a low-slung groove and chanting vocals. This one is backed with a special disco mix by Lexx that reworks the tune for more lively moments.

Review: Here comes Emotional Rescue and Konduko's last in their series of Noel Williams/King Sporty reissues, this time looking at later electro productions and the hip-hop/boogie influenced 'Sun Country'. Vocals and co-production come from Williams' long-time partner Betty Wright and as well as a vocal and instrumental mix there's a longform remix by Bay Area disco dub stalwarts, 40 Thieves.
By this point in his career, the godfather of Miami Bass had travelled a long way from his Jamaican roots in reggae and soul, paying homage to the warm climbs of the Sunshine State and laying down a much copied template using the TR-808 drum machine create the electronic emulations of the breakbeat, claps accenting the backbeat and trademark low frequencies shaking the floorboards. The instrumental stretches the arrangement, emphasising the interplay between electronics, bass, vocal samples, scratching and fx, the voice transformed into a percussive element in its own right. The flip sees 40 Thieves flexing their understated understanding of electro funk, making for a rounded, generation-jumping package.

Review: Emotional Rescue returns with the third (and final?) King Sporty & The Ex Tras releases with the first ever-official reissue of the highly sought after cult boogie jam Do You Wanna Dance? Coming as remastered vocal and instrumental, plus again featuring a special Discomix, this time courtesy of acid-disco slayer Felix Dickinson.

Appearing shortly after the success of the band's only album, Extra Funky, Do You Wanna Dance? pointed the way forward, moving further from Disco and closer to the rising electro-boogie sounds that were sweeping the dance floors. The confident up / jump electro drum programming, slap bass and trademark Sporty guitar chops are propelled by a monster swamp inducing synth arpeggio that sings the funk electric, while hip-hop-shout-outs ride the rhythm. If the vocals are too much for some, then the original Instrumental (dub) is also included for those just wanting that infectious groove.

As many will recall, Do You Wanna Dance? featured on Felix's "Originals" compilation for Claremont 56 back in 2011, so when the King Sporty reissue project was coming together there was only one name to be asked for the Discomix. With a long history of DJing and music production, as well the man behind the Recycled Records, Fools Gold, Urban Myth and Bastedos labels, as well many, many releases on the long running and aptly titled Cynic Recordings, his remix arrives on point.

Teasingly drawn out, his mix switches back / forth between versions, the interplay between vocals, guitar, bass and electro-glide synths hypnotically building, with Dickinson's deftly dubbing tripping it out, making the title's question irrelevant, as mind and feet involuntarily move.

Review: Emotional Rescue is at it again with another fully licensed and remastered offering, this time bringing to wax Mataya's Golddigger with a previously digital-only 'tape Mix.' Zimbabwe-born and later London-based Mataya "Clifford" Chewaluza was a core part of the vibrant West London music scene, using his songwriting, production and multi-instrumentalist skills on albums for RCA and Virgin. He also dropped a few 12"s and this one was released in 1988. It's a cult curio with crashing 80s production, disco-tinged grooves and plenty of subtle African rhythm which includes a standout dub mix from Jura Soundsystem.

Review: The Prolifics were a New Orleans-based funk project responsible for two now classic releases in the early '70s. Emotional Rescue has stepped in to keep their legacy alive with the reissue of another one of their dusted down numbers from the vaults entitled 'Boy Child' which receives a re-rub by the one and only Felix Dickinson, taking the track into lo-slung soul-acid territory in his typical style. For your listening pleasure there's another track from the archives in the form of 'You Got To Me', a life-affirming disco epic that should have received the attention it was worthy of the first time around.

Review: REPRESS ALERT: As far as collaborative delights go, this really takes the cake. Miami boogie wildcard Noel Williams, aka King Sporty, throwing it down heavy with legendary Jamaican reggae axe man Ernest Ranglin - as you might expect, the results are incendiary. 'Soft Touch' has a hint of the cosmic about it as it romps through insanely catchy chorus chants, stirring brass stabs and Ranglin's sweet licks. 'Keep On Dancing' has a more uptempo feel, 'In The Rain' slips into a laid back reggae skank and 'Be What You Want To Be' turns the vintage disco heat back up. Throughout this wonderful mini LP, the duo switch between each other's strengths and bring out the best in each other, like all good collaborations should.