Review: QASB's Kono Machi De single, released on Soul Garden Japan, is a vibrant blend of Japanese soul with jazz funk and city pop influences. Side-1 features the Shuya Okino edit of 'Kono Machi De Aka In This Town,' which emphasises a groovy rhythm, enhancing the track's infectious energy. Side-2, has the original version which delivers a feel-good mix of disco strings and a lively horn section, reminiscent of Taste of Honey. Written by Moritaka as a tribute to her hometown Kumamoto, the song includes a nod to Tomari River, a location tied to collaborator Yuichi Takahashi. Having the option of both versions make this 7" a great little 45 to have.
Review: Q.A.S.B. is a Japanese funk and soul ensemble with a.yu.mi. handling lead vocals, a singer celebrated for her funky style reminiscent of James Brown but captured here in a more romantic and subdued mood here. 'Will' is a new single on Soul Garden that offers up soulful and pop-leading sounds with elegant vocals and graceful grooves backed by big band horns. Interestingly, the same tune gets served up again on the flipside, only sung in English. It neither improves nor detracts from the original but proves to be an interesting experiment for that reason.
Review: Soul and r&b are rich scenes that often cross-pollinate. Right now, few are doing it better than the organic creative partnership between LA's Jamma-Dee and London's Qendresa. Their new work 'Undercover Lover' finds its roots in Jamma-Dee's robust beat which anchors a tapestry of intricate rhythms and textures that define the West Coast soul-funk scene. Qendresa's adept songwriting adds seamless hooks and flowing vocal melodies that have true bold energy. Gary Gritness's live bassline, born from a spontaneous studio session, injects deep groove into the track while engineer K15 enhances the record with resonant richness.
Review: Joey Quinones and his band Thee Sinisters deliver a retro new one, testifying their ability to operate masterfully in an old style of soul while releasing new music all the while. This split 7" 45 finds the LA falsetto lending his services to lo-fi reggae on the A side (There Myst Be Something'), before giving in to the bittersweet past on the B-side ('Love Me Like You Used To'). Expect a pleasing foray through hurt, tripletty slow-jam soul.
Review: First released way back in 1999, Raphael Saadiq's Q-Tip-sporting "Get Involved" is a warm and woozy, retro-futurist chunk of soul/hip-hop fusion that harked back to an earlier musical age. It remains an arguably underappreciated dancefloor bomb and here gets the reissue treatment courtesy of the freshly lauched 45 Jams imprint. It comes backed by another stone cold classic from Q-Tip, "Vivrant Thing" - a cut first featured on the flipside of the Tribe Called Quest member's much more celebrated "Breathe Don't Stop" single. It's a little more stripped back than the A-side, with Q-Tip delivering his distinctive flows over a crunchy and fuzzy, Jay Dee produced backing track crafted from samples from an old funk record.
Review: Adrian Quesada is a multi-instrumentalist and producer who featured in the Grammy-winning Grupo Fantasma as well a plethora of other ventures like Black Puma and The Echocentrics. Now he's back with a new solo album which celebrates the funky, psych-licked sound that washed through Latin America in the 60s and 70s. It almost comes on like a library record, so silky is the sound, but there's enough nuance and expression edged into the playing to take it into a more personal sphere. If you dig groove-minded crafters like Quantic, you're going to love the sound of Adrian Quesada.
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