A nice slice of instrumental Eastern funk for you here on Sababa 5’s new single Eilat 22. This follows previous single Funk #1 b/w Funk #2 and very much maintains the quality pitting hypnotic bass and crunchy drum-breaks against crazy swirling keyboard solos. Turns out the single is named after the band’s studio on the borders of Tel Aviv and Jaffa and finds them co-opting the
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Tag Archives: Soul
SABABA 5: Eilat 22 (Vinyl 7″)
ORIGINAL GRAVITY RECORDS: Down In The Basement (Vinyl 7″)
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The monkey has long been resigned to not keeping up with the 45 release schedule of label Original Gravity whose multi-band ‘roster’ actually consists of pretty much just one man – label boss Neil Anderson – who’s indefatigable brain conjures up soul, funk, early reggae and latin funk releases at a staggeringly prodigious rate. And Down in the Basement is merely the latest
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CARLTON JUMEL SMITH: It’s Gonna Be Alright
New York soul-man Carlton Jumel Smith delivers the next digital single to be lifted from Golden Rules forthcoming vinyl funk and soul sampler compilation LP, The Originals Vol. 3 entitled It’s Gonna Be Alright. As the title suggests, Smith delivers a heartfelt lyrical reassurance to a lover (in his customary honeyed-but-with-just-smidgin-of-rasp vocal tones) over a mellow drum-break
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THE IRONSIDES: Changing Light LP
Rating: When The Ironsides first hove into view with their Stig & Steen cover Sommer in 2020 it was as a Monophonics side project (of bassist Max Ramey, along with his brother Joe) doing atmospheric but rhythmically funky cinematic soul. Even then the potential was clear: the production was amazing; the combo of orchestral strings and funky rhythms their USP
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THE ALLERGIES: Tear The Place Up
Rating: Aren’t bands supposed to take a mid-career hiatus or something – go off and do vanity solo projects, realise they were greater than the sum of their parts and return to deliver a mediocre pastiche of earlier work or an embarrassing pastiche of whatever the kids are doing? With the release of Tear The Place up the Allergies are now into a career six albums deep (if
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THEE MARLOES: Midnight Hotline b/w Beri Cinta Waktu (Vinyl 7″)
Hailing from Surabaya, the latest signings to Big Crown Records are Indonesian outfit Thee Marloes and they’re going large with debut 45 Midnight Hotline backed with Beri Cinta Waktu. The former is a midtempo dancefloor number turning on a funky rhythm layered with electric piano and plenty of horns while the sweet soul vocals of singer Natassya regale the listener with a
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WHATITDO ARCHIVE GROUP: Palace Of A Thousand Sounds
On previous album The Black Stone Affair LP – Whatitdo Archive Group was all about the sound of giallo and spaghetti western soundtracks but when you’ve pastiched those so effectively, whither next? Well, as anyone who’s been keeping an eye on recent singles will know, the destination arrived at on new album Palace Of A Thousand Sounds is very much Planet Exotica with musical influences
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LOS INVASORES: El Ratón (Vinyl 7″)
Rating: Matasuna Records deliver once again for Latin soul fans as they re-release another classic on vinyl 7″. In this case, that’ll be the smouldering El Ratón from Panamanian outfit Los Invasores, first released in 1967. It’s one of many covers of the Joe Cuba Sextet classic and also one of the best. Also, as they often do, the
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KERBSIDE COLLECTION: Fleet Streak
Rating: The second of two jointly-released singles announcing Volume 3 of the all-original contemporary funk LP series The Originals by German label Golden Rules is Fleet Streak by Australian funk outfit Kerbside Collection. And it’s a beast. You have to wonder if the label pitted the Oz crew against Great Revivers when acquiring these tracks. Did they ring Great Revivers up and
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GREAT REVIVERS: Seek & Destroy
Buoyed by the success of volumes 1 and 2 it seems that German label Golden Rules has no intention of halting its funk showcase series The Originals any time soon for here is the first of two opening salvos from the label for Vol. 3 – Seek & Destroy by Great Revivers. One hesitates to use a semantic field of war in relation to a Russian band given current international affairs but a) they’ve
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