Good music has a way of finding you. Sometimes it has to bump into you a few times in order to register, but eventually it’ll get through. So it comes as a great surprise that I didn’t notice Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators sooner…
Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators – Feeling Free
Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators – Holdin’ On
Nicole Willis hails from
However, it still seems to be poorly distributed in the
What an awesome sleeve! The artwork of Studio Graffiti graced all of the Lime album covers with the exception of their debut "Your Love". Lime II is another old LP that I picked up in Reading the other week, along with the Mandre albums I posted about previously. Quite different in style though, this is very upbeat, almost synth-pop style disco from 1982. It's pretty cheesey but I think it's great. Lime were Denis & Denyse Lepage, a middle-aged husband and wife duo from Montreal. Although the pair wrote and sung all of the tracks on the album, there was some confusion surrounding the groups identity at the time as they decided to hire two younger and more attractive singers, Joy Dorris & Chris Marsh, to perform their live shows. The group enjoyed great success in the club charts throughout the Eighties, spanning seven albums and numerous 12" singles and remixes. Head over to the Disco Museum for some more information. They suggest that the albums can be ordered on cd via Unidisc. Personally, I'll look forward to finding some more of their beautiful LP's in future digging sessions. Enjoy the music!
Lime - Come And Get Your Love.mp3
Lime - Babe, We're Gonna Love Tonight.mp3
Gavin @ MySpace
I've been meaning to buy this 2006 Soul Jazz compilation for a while and only just got round to doing so, collating some of disco producer Tom Moulton's - originator of the 12" single, amongst other things - best mixes.
Developing longer mixes mainly as a way to keep people dancing to a song longer than the standard 3 minute singles would allow (although to me it improves them for pure listening - virtually all my favourite Disco tracks are 5 minutes plus), many of the mixes on the compilation are promo-only or unreleased versions from his remix ouvre of around 4000 (!!) tracks (according to this interview with the man). With so much material to choose from, hopefully Part 2 will be on the way soon.
Choosing a sample track was a challenge due to the quality of the compilation, but I love the extended instrumental section (a Moulton trademark) in Dreamworld:
Don Downing - Dreamworld (Tom Moulton Mix)(MP3) : Alt Link
You can buy A Tom Moulton Mix and hear more audio samples at Soul Jazz and Amazon.
I picked up a nice selection of old vinyl last week on a shopping trip to Reading, including two rather good funk albums by Mandre. Not a lot of info on the sleeves but I've gathered what I can online. Mandre was a group, and fictitious persona, of Andre Lewis, an instrumentalist who played and recorded with artists such as Grant Green, The Who, LaBelle, Earth Wind and Fire, Frank Zappa. Huey Lewis, Edwin Starr, Charles Wilson and the Gap Band, Sly Stone, Bobby Womack and Johnny Guitar Watson. He was also a tester of Roland products and was one of the first musicians to record with the infamous Roland TR-808 drum machine (featured in the second track linked below).
Last week has been a hectic one having just got back from Amsterdam. It was an enjoyable few days that saw me take in the sights and sounds and I afforded myself some time to do some record shopping. I thought it'd be nice to pick up something from the local music scene and "Lefties Soul Connection - Hutspot" came recommended.
Lefties Soul Connection - Sling Shot
Lefties Soul Connection - It's Your Thing / Hey Pocky A-Way
Not unknown to me (I mentioned their cover of Organ Donor in a previous post) the Lefties are an Amsterdam based funk band. The album is full of spark and there is a certain "liveliness" that I often don't get from groups of a similar ilk. Also in a somewhat unique move, the band tends to eschew covers preferring instead to create original jams. Old tricks do seem present throughout and workouts like "Sling Shot" sound like they could have come from almost any one of the groups from the 60's/70's. "It's Your Thing" obviously, is.
On my final day in Amsterdam I checked the sleeve notes to see that the record shop photographed on the cover is actually in Amsterdam. A short walk and I end up outside Wax Well Records and quickly take the picture shown above. If you look in the shop window you can see the Lefties album along with other classic albums.
Buy "Hutspot" from Juno(LP) or Melting Pot(CD/LP)
I love an album that just comes straight out with an amazing track from the off. The fact that this particular album has ten more excellent tracks following it is a treat indeed. I'm talking about "Just Another Story" from Jamiroquai's second album: The Return of the Space Cowboy [1994]. The opening chords on the rhodes are oh so smooth, little Moogs bubble away in the background, the drums start a light but urgent shuffle and of course the bassline is pure funk. Sweet melody lines come in from the synth lead and JK begins his story. After the opening section, a new groove emerges and the rest of the band get their chance to play. The DJ slips in some well timed cuts and the percussion is tight and perfectly placed. Later, the lead guitar starts to jam amd the brass section get to do their thing. Things eventually break down to a flute solo and the tune mellows out for a while before building up to the climax.
Jamiroquai - Just Another Story.mp3
A bold opener from a band who were obviously very confident in their sound. There are so many things going on throughout the duration of the track, but never is the music overbearing or cluttered; this was a band who were totally in tune with each other. Much as I like their new brand of poppy disco, I find it slightly dissapointing that they have pretty much left this jazz-funk sound behind. The first two albums will always be classics to me, the later albums merely being 'good' with a couple of classic tracks scattered throughout them.
Buy it at Amazon if you don't already own a copy.
Gavin @ MySpace
The Blow's "Paper Television" was picked up a couple of weeks ago after it hit a few Best Of 2006 polls and I'm definitely seeing why. Most of the reviews I've read have focused on lead singer's Khaela Maricich's lyrics and her off-kilter tales of love, but as I'm a music>words kinda guy the album's production (by Jona Bechtolt who also makes music under the moniker Yacht) is the main draw for me. It feels like a definite 21st Century pop album influenced as much by hiphop and electronica as traditional electro-pop, very much of the now. Refreshingly short too at about 30 minutes or so, keeping the standard high and the pop buzz fresh.
As a sample try Pile of Gold which comes over like the Knack remixed by Squarepusher; Maricich’s voice flanked by mini acid squiggles and frenetic handclaps.
The Blow – Pile of Gold (MP3) : Direct Download
You can also stream the wonderfully summery Parantheses over at Myspace.
Buy Paper Television at Itunes and Amazon
