Archive for category Record of the Month
While you were sleeping…
Posted by Rex in Fresh stock, Recent releases, Record of the Month on June 18th, 2010
Records of the Month
Lee Fields: My World
Kings Go Forth:
The Outsiders Are Back
I love these records, my 4 year old daughter loves these records, my 62 year old mother loves these records, and even my friends in Sydney like these records! Pretty much says it all if you ask me.
Neither are actually new releases – BUT, both have dropped recently and are available at Northside. This is some heavy heavy shit. They’ll tear out your heart and soul - and then they’ll do it again. This is the kind of music that is dangerous to listen to while driving – it will have you zoning out; missing turn-offs, running red lights and exceeding the speed limit. They are so f*cking good I just can’t find words to describe… but let me try…
My World is amazing! Lee Fields and the Expressions take soul above and beyond all previous attempts of the new millenium. This is serious soul music with a healthy does of funk nastiness to boot. Tunes like ‘My World’ and ‘Honey Dove’ are beautiful; rich and lush like classic Philly and Chicago Soul, raw and lean like the best James Brown, and heart wrenching like Otis Redding or the deepest funk 45’s. Then - you have tunes like ‘Money is King’ – still soul, but with a funk edge that just makes you wanna smash some fool. The Expressions are an all-star line up that features Leon Michels (El Michels Affair), Homer Steinweiss + Tommy TNT Brenneck (The Dap Kings), Toby Pazner (The Olympians), Michael Leonhart (The Avrimina 7). Damn, Enough talk – buy this record today.
KIngs Go Forth follow up their succession of amazing 7-inch releases with what is perhaps the greatest funk record of the decade. The Outsiders Are Back is definitely an apt title for this incredible album. This Milwaukee-based group serves up heady mix of funk, soul and RnB with a spoon full of disco and pinch of reggae. Every cut is a stone-cold monster. Just ask the heads around town like Miss Goldie, Callum Flack or DJ Manchild – this shit is the shit. It’s hard to pick a favourite from this record (CD), but the instant-classic ‘One Day’ and latest single ‘I Don’t Love You No More’ are definite stand outs. Other tunes like ‘Now We’re Gone’ have become standards at nights like Soul A Go Go and every other credible soul night in the world. Get up, get in to it, get involved! This is an album that anyone with any inclination towards soul or funk music should own.
The vinyl release of the KGF album is not out yet, but we should have it really soon. In the meantime we have the CD and some of the singles (on Mr. C’s). Don’t sleep any longer – and take care when driving.
Lagos Disco Inferno
Posted by Rex in Afro Funk, Fresh stock, Recent releases, Record of the Month on April 13th, 2010
Believe the Hype
WOW! This record and the dedication that has gone into making it happen is amazing. In doing a little research for this release, I’ve found one of the best things on the web! Check out the VOODOO FUNK blog. The info, pics and love here is hard to beat.
From the press release:
Compiled by Frank Gossner of Voodoofunk.com, this record contains 12 tracks that represent the sound of Lagos in the late 1970s.
Dean Disi (Music Journalist and formerly Director of Lagos based label TYC Records) wrote the liner notes for this album: ”It was the era of sheer ecstasy. The music not only represents the vibrancy of youthful expressionism of the time but is also deeply rooted in African rhythm though not traditional in phraseology… This collection of songs marks the development of Nigerian urban pop culture… There was diametric difference in the music of the discos and the music play by the groups. Disco music as played by the DJs was essentially western. The fans could connect with this easily. It was hip, urban and stimulating. The young Nigerian groups were hooked on it and tried to play it but with a distinctive African stamp of their own.”
Some of the artists on this record were stars of their times while others remained in obscurity.
And here is what makes Nigerian Disco so special:
Lagos by the 1970s was a huge metropolitan city. Due to the oil boom, there was money to be made with music and nightlife and big international record labels like EMI, Decca and Philips had set up their recording studios that for a big part got equipped with vintage hardware handed down from their European franchises. So as the sound of the late 70s and early 80s in Europe and in the US got more and more modern and from todays point of view just plain shitty, overloaded with ugly sounding Roland keyboards, the sound of Lagos was dominated by powerful horn sections, heavy drums and percussion instruments. There’s plenty of early Moog synthesizers but no synth-generated strings or fake horns.
EMI’s house producer Emmanuel Odenusi had worked with Fela for many years, defining the sound of Afrobeat. Kayode Salami who produced another couple of tracks on this album also was responsible for the incredible sound of the famous debut LP by Psych-Rock group Ofege.
Lagos, a uniquely vibrant, gritty, energetic and sometimes quite dangerous tropical metropolis has always been much more than just a city. A state of mind where third world poverty met the oil boom, where African traditions clashed with Western decadence.
Make no mistake, this stuff will have you dance in a feverish rush in no time.
Side 1: DORIS EBONG - Boogie Trip 5:28 GEALDO PINO - African Hustle 5:25 GROTTO - Bad City Girl 5:34
Side 2: POGO LTD. - Don’t Put Me Down 4:37 ASIKO ROCK GROUP - Everybody Get Down 8:17 PARADISE STARS - Boogie Train 5:31
Side 3: DORGU - Rover Man 4:37 MFB - Boredom Pain 5:06 ESSIEN - Take Life Easy 4:14 TIROGO - Dancing Machine 4:03
Side 4: BLO – Root 3:24 NANA LOVE - Hang On 14:45
POAO!
Posted by Rex in Fresh stock, Recent releases, Record of the Month on March 11th, 2010
THE PUBLIC OPINION AFRO ORCHESTRA
“Do Anything Go Anywhere”
I’m a little slow getting to the new releases lately. Here’s one that dropped a couple of weeks ago. It’s the hip new thing after they amazed everyone at WOMADELAIDE.
CHRIS HAD THIS TO SAY:
An incredible debut album from this perfect Melbourne afrobeat collective. Hot on the heels of their impeccable vinyl-only release Two Sides of the Truth/Do Anything Go Anywhere, (picttured right) The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra have made an album to command the attention of world music fans, hip hop aficionados, jazz cats, funk and soul freaks and indie hipsters alike. There are strong echoes of the Afrobeat movement from the 1960s-70s, as well as the influences of the African diaspora in Australia over the past decade, yet this is boundary free, totally modern music that sounds as fresh in the clubs as on the streets of Melbourne where it was born.
Do Anything Go Anywhere delivers seven irresistibly loose-limbed, exotic jams which resonate with ferocious grooves, positive messages, conscious hip hop and gutsy soul. Lyrical odes to the power of resistance and the spirit of the African and Australian people hit home with smoking hot sing song vocals, heavy duty horns, gritty guitar grooves, jazzy solos, all snaking out on top of the infectious polyrhythms of the percussion section. EXTREME LOCAL PRIDE
REX HAD THIS TO SAY:
12″ Cover artwork is crazy. Props to Suzie Bates. I haven’t seen the CD cover yet, but I’ll insert it into the blog once I get my hands on it.
Limited Edition 12″ still available in strictly limited quantities. Includes instrumental versions… nice.
Daptone Gold!
Posted by Rex in DJ Mix (Downloads), Fresh stock, News, Record of the Month on November 11th, 2009
On November 24th Daptone Records will release DAPTONE GOLD a collection of some of the label’s rarest and most favorite singles and deep cuts on CD and a lovingly packaged double LP, which includes a poster, a sticker and some amount of gold foil. The always fiery Lee Fields appears three times: once on a duet with Sharon Jones, again on his own “Could Have Been”, and on “Stand Up,” previously only available as a 45 RPM single.
Thanks to Daptone & Reverberation we’re proud to you you offer a little taste right here. Available as downloadable MP3, it’s the full unadulterated version of Lee Fields “Stand Up”. Surely one of the dopest 45’s to come out Daptone HQ over recent years, this Lee Fields tune is a future soul monster. Press PLAY, don’t delay, DO IT TODAY!
STAND UP: Lee Fields
Hopefully we’ll have this instore real soon CD & vinyl of course. Watch the newsletter and website for more updates. This LP set is sure to be an invaluable DJ tool for years to come. Don’t let it pass you by – every tune here is a winner – just like we’ve been trying to tell you all along. S.O.U.L.
You listened to the tune yet?
Features: Introduction by Binky Griptite ● Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings “I’m Not Gonna Cry” ● The Budos Band “Up From The South” ● Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens “What Have You Done” ● Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - “How Long Do I Have To Wait For You?” ● Lee Fields “Could Have Been” ● Antibalas featuring Mayra Vega “Che Che Cole Makossa” ● The Budos Band “Budos Rising” ● Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings “Got A Thing On My Mind” ● Charles Bradley & the Menahan Street Band “The World” ● Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings “Make It Good To Me” ● Lee Fields and Sugarman & Co. “Stand Up” ● Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens “What Is This” ● Binky Griptite with the Sugarman Three “A Lover Like Me” ● Menahan Street Band “Make the Road by Walking” ● Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings “Tell Me” ● Sugarman & Co. “Down To It” ● The Dap-Kings “Nervous Like Me” ● Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings “Giving Up” ● The Budos Band “Ghostwalk” ● The Gospel Queens feat. Cynthia Langston “I Need You To Hold My Hand” ● Binky Griptite & the Mellomatics “The Stroll Pt. 2” ● Sharon Jones & Lee Fields “Stranded In Your Love”.
Holy Cow!
Like it says in the tags for this post ——> RECORD OF THE MONTH. Certified goodness.
Record of the Month
Posted by Rex in Recent releases, Record of the Month on July 8th, 2009
JUNE 2009:
EL MICHELS AFFAIR
“Enter The 37th Chamber”
Music Inspired By The Wu Tang (t&s)
There’s not a lot we can say about this release that hasn’t already been said. We have more stock at Northside after selling more than 40 copies in 2 days!!! If that’s not an indication of a good record I don’t know what is. Don’t sleep on this amazing piece of cinematic soul/hip hop. Anyone who doesn’t rate this record is probably into shit like Buena Vista Social Club or Earth Wind and Fire - and I should probably stop there. Real music for REAL people.
The CD release includes a bonus track (PJs) not featured on the LP - but if you’re on the case when it comes to Truth & Soul, you probably already have the 12″ release of the PJ’s… from afar, featuring Raekwon from 2007. (TS-015)
Check out more on the El Michels Affair at the Truth & Soul website — cop a listen + check the word on Quincy Bright, The Olympians and The Phenomenal Handclap Band.
truthandsoulrecords.com
Record of the Month
Posted by Rex in Fresh stock, Record of the Month on May 17th, 2009
MAY 2009
EL MICHELS AFFAIR
“Walk On By” A Tribute To Black Moses (t&s)
Rarely does a record come along that leaves you begging for more — but here is one of those; El Michels Affair “Tribute To Black Moses” is essential listening for anyone who appreciates good music.
CHRIS SAID: “This is like silk…..I have listened to this on repeat since I got it a few hours ago. The El Michels affair are an amazing Brooklyn band who are at the top of the tree when it comes to new soul bands. They had done a cover of Walk on By a long time ago for Ubiquity Records, but since Isaac died this year, this tribute is fitting respect paid. This is right up there with the Menahan Street Band record…“
We’re having trouble keeping up with the demand on this record — so if you ain’t got yours, you better get it. CD also available
COMING SOON:
EL MICHELS AFFAIR
“Enter The 37th Chamber” Music Inspired By The Wu Tang (t&s)
We’ve ordered a whole crate of the upcoming El Michels Affair “Enter The 37th Chamber” Music inspired by the Wu Tang. If you’ve heard the 7 inch releases of CREAM, GLACIERS OF ICE, DUEL OF THE IRON MIC etc you know what this is all about. We expect this to be every bit as good (dope) as the Black Moses Tribute. Embrace the irony of listening to the recording of the live studio band replaying the digitally produced hip hop instrumentals, which of course came from samples of musicians and orchestras playing and recording music for records! You’ve gotta ask — who will be the first to sample this and make a hip hop beat. Shipment arriving any day now.
Check out more on the El Michels Affair at the Truth & Soul website — cop a listen + check the word on Quincy Bright, The Olympians and The Phenomenal Handclap Band.
truthandsoulrecords.com
-
-
You are currently browsing the archives for the Record of the Month category.
