[RATING: 5] Hearing Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s All Souled Out EP in 2016, you might be tempted to ‘dip, dive, dip’ but if you caught their ‘gateway to the big time’ release the first time around then there’s an even chance that now you really might ‘break a hip to the sound that’s legit’ since this record has just reached its quarter century. Which means of course that you’re twenty-five years older. It also means that here is something ripe for US deluxere-issue label Get On Down to go the full monty and re-release said record on clear vinyl with the original artwork picture sleeve! The only single off the original drop – The Creator (featuring a solo Pete Rock on the mic) is a fat slice of early 90s funky boom-bap with a hook derived from Aretha Franklin’s Save Me that recently soundtracked an – ahem – Android commercial. Of course, there’s plenty more good stuff on there like – er – well all of it – though Go With The Flow is the other obvious dancefloor hit constructed around samples of Burning Spear’s monster S.O.U.L. and Clyde Stubblefield’s Funky Drummer break. Frankly, if you haven’t already, and obviously sooner rather than later – it’s time to catch wreck with the Creator.
(Out now on Get On Down)