NEW SOUL |
 APRIL HILL LOVE 360 CD £11.95
A new star is born. Atlanta's April has one of those distinctive classic soul voice's that remind you of greats like Randy Crawford, Candi Staton and Esther Phillips in places, but with the contemporary sassyness of Jill or Erykah. This is a killer album produced by Marlon Saunders with great songs, lyrics and real instruments. 'The Search' is a great soulful dancer with a great B line and the horn backed' No More Tears' could become a weekender anthem. 'Feeling You' , 'I Can't Stop Loving You' and 'Happier With Her' are classic soul ballads. 'I Wanna Be Free' , 'You Got Me' and 'Manipulation' are contemporary hard hitting hypnotic mid tempo grooves that really grow on you. This album will appeal to all generations of soul fans and is a strong contender for album of the year.
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 KENDRA ROSS NEW VOICE CD £13.95
Fantastic album from a fantastic new voice. Kendra has one of those sophisticated 'smokey' jazzy tinged soulful voices and the material here complements her brilliantly. 'New Voice' is a nice mid tempo stepper, 'Real Deal' a bright funky mid tempo dancer, And 'I Got You' a mid tempo foot taper. The killer track is the mid tempo duet with Eric Roberson 'Why Cant I See', but also check the jazzier tracks, the ballad '1st Time' the mid tempo head nodder 'Send somebody To love' and 'Man You Love Blues'.
Outstanding album from an Outstanding new artist.
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 ANGIE STONE – ART OF LOVE AND WAR CD £13.95
Excellent return to soul from one of our favourite female vocalists. This album is consistently good throughout but highlights are the steppers ‘Baby’ ft Betty Wright and ‘Pop Pop’ and the feel good dancer ‘My People’ ft James Ingram which should be massive. The mid tempo dancers ‘Take Everything In’, ‘Here We Go Again’ and ‘Play With It’ and the hypnotic mid tempo ‘Make It last’ and ‘These Are The Reasons’ and the duet beat ballad ‘Half A Chance’ are all excellent on this great album.
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 JOY DENALANE BORN AND RAISED
Outstanding album that will appeal to both new and old school soul fans from great new vocalist who sounds a little bit like Angie Stone, whilst the album reminds me of Leela James album of last year. The album was recorded in Philadelphia with full instrumentation, strings and horns arranged by Larry Gold. The highlights are the great mid tempo dancer 'One In A Million', the lilting ballad duet with Governor 'Something Stirrin Up' and 'Change' a great up-tempo nu soul track that not even Lupe Fiasco's spoken rap can deflect from. Joy really shines on mid tempo ballads like 'Be Real', '7 Year Itch' 'Stranger In This Land' and 'Sometimes Love' and the beat ballads 'For The Love' , 'Caught Up' ,'Born and Raised' and the old skool 'Start Over' but also check the funky (ala Sharon Jones) 'Soweto 76-06'.
Great album that will probably be amongst the top albums of 2007.
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 RUBY BAKER LOVE IS WORTH IT ALL
This is quality soul in the style of Anita Baker, with great vocals and harmonies. 'Come To Me', 'All My Love' are great mid tempo full production tracks that build and build. 'Motion Of Love' ,'Got To Be Me', '7 Days', 'Hearts Of Hearts', 'Sand of Time' are real mid tempo gems, 'Love Is Worth It All' and 'At Last' are big ballads. 'Darlin' , 'Baby I'm Doing' and 'Its Been Hard' are great head nodders. If you liked Anita at her prime, or Misa Malone's album of last year then this for you. Great Songs, Great Voice equals Great Album.
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 JILL SCOTT THE REAL THING CD £13.95 DELUXE CD/DVD £18.95
Jill makes her third studio album and possibly her best to date. 'Hate On Me' is a killer storming brassy funky dancer this track will be a monster ! 'Breathe' is a nice mid tempo dancer, and 'When Are You Around' a good mid tempo plodder. 'My Love' is a lovely floater and 'Come See Me' a melodic down tempo brass backed beat ballad, whilst 'All I' is a typical Jill beat ballad. This album oozes class and will also be a strong contender for album of the year.
(deluxe)
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 CHAKA KHAN FUNK THIS CD £13.95
Chaka makes her best and funkiest album for over 2 decades, and her powerful voice shines throughout. The mid tempo dancer 'Back In The Day' has that Rufus sound to it, and that is also evident in the covers of two Rufus classics 'Packed My Bag's/You Got The love' feat Tony Maiden. The funky mid tempo dancers 'Superlife' , 'Sign Of The Times' and 'Hail To The Wrong' keep up the pace, whilst the melodic mid tempo floater 'One For All Time' is also classy. The beat ballads 'Angel' and 'Ladies Man' the mid tempo 'Castles Made Of Sand' and the Raunchy version of 'Foolish Fool' are also good. Welcome Back !
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 VICTOR BROOKS SAMBA SOUL
Really good quality mid tempo jazz tinged soul . Victor has a great deep soulful voice, the Brazilian band are tight and the production strong. 'Lovin You Baby' is a great brassy brazilian infl soul track, 'Keep Loving Me' a two stepper (ala Little Beaver let the good times roll), 'Believe It Or Not', 'Sunshine' and 'Your Ways' are more steppers, whilst 'Where Did We Go' is slightly slower. 'Be My Friend' and the cover of 'Never Can Say Goodbye' are slightly more jazzy but still soulful. Victor's voice really excels over the acoustic backing of this great album that will bring comparisons with Jon Lucien and will appeal to both Soul and Jazz Heads.
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 VALARIE ADAMS S/T CD £13.95
Valarie sounds like Ledisi in places on this great new soul album. The standout track is 'Back In The Day' a tremendous horn backed mid tempo funky dancer with a memorable hook, a real killer. The cover of Anita B's 'Angel' is also really good the catchy mid tempo dancer 'Why Cant We' , the dancer 'I Thank U' and the ballads 'C'Mon Over' and 'Almost Famous' also highlights on this consistently good album.
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 LEDISI LOST AND FOUND CD £11.95
One of the best female vocalists of her generation makes her Major label debut and its a quality album albeit that Rex Rideout's production makes it a little less edgy and her vocals are more subdued than on her outstanding first album 'Soul Singer'.
The highlights are the mid tempo head nodders 'Alright' and 'Today', the semi funky mid tempo 'Best Friend' and 'Think Of You' and the plodders 'You And Me', 'Got To Know You' , 'In The Morning' and 'Someday'. Ledisi has more space to let go on 'Upside Down' the funky foot taper co- written with Sundra Manning. Quality Soul
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 TONY MOMRELLE - MESSAGE IN THE MUSIC
Incognito’s leading male vocalist makes a great album backed by Austria’s 17 piece horn laden Lungau Big Band. The album is similar in style to Tower Of Power’s soulful sound with Tony’s vocals superb throughout and the band are really tight. ‘My Blues’ is a good upper mid tempo dancer, whilst ‘Change Is Gonna Come’ and ‘Message In The music’ are slightly faster with great horn riffs. The mid tempo ‘Treats Me Good’, ‘With Your Luv’ and ‘Sally Don’t Need’ are also highlights. The covers of ‘Whats Going On’ and ‘You Are The Sunshine Of My Life’ are sufficiently different from the originals to work. Really good fresh sounding album.
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 DONNIE - DAILY NEWS
Atlanta based Donnie has his own sound with his distinctive vocals , live band and excellent production from Steve Harvey. This album is unique , not sounding like any other I can recall in recent years. Highlights are many incl the Stevie infl upbeat ‘Impatient People’ the poignant ‘911’, funky ‘Over The Counter Culture’, hard hitting ‘Atlanta Child Murders’ and ‘Mason Dixon Line’ and the bass led funky ‘Daily News’. This Excellent lyrically strong , social Commentary album takes a few plays to absorb and really get into but it is well worth the effort.
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 WILL DOWNING AFTER TONIGHT CD £14.95
Incredibly Will recorded this album from his wheelchair recovering from his terrible muscular illness. His Vice still sounds great and strong, his rich deep tones shining throughout this consistently good album, which he co-produced with Rex Rideout. 'Fantasy' and 'Lovers Melody ' (ft Roy Ayers) are nice mid tempo semi funky groovers, 'No One Can Love You More' (ft Gerald Albright) is a good version of Skip Scarborough's ballad, and 'Satisfy You' and 'After Tonight' are nice mid tempo ballads. The two ballads ft Kirk Whalum 'All I Need Is You' and 'You Just Cant Smile It Away' are also good. Great to hear that voice again. Nice album.
Also recommended ‘Collection-Love Supreme’ CD £6.95, Will Downing CD £9.95
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 NICK ROLFE - MIND OF AN EVOLUTIONARY
Very fresh sounding, vibrant, lyrically strong funky soul album with a live band and background vocals, featuring many of the players from Black I. Most of the tracks are quite upbeat like the excellent full on ‘Movin On’ ft nice trumpet playing from Russell Gunn and the Sly/GCS infl ‘Its Got To Get Better’ the driving ‘So Amazing’, the riff laden ‘Gold Digger’ and the fast and funky ‘See What’s Going Down’. The mid tempo tracks are equally good ‘Life’, the Gil Scott Heron infl ‘Daily Prayer’ and the excellent cover of ‘Just The Two Of Us’ all score heavily. Really good album that gets better with each play
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 MELISSA YOUNG JUST UP THE ROAD CD £11.95
Great album from new Atlanta songstress which combines contemporary Atlanta sound with Old school Miami . The highlights are the catchy mid tempo dancer 'Rock With me' , The funky soul (ala TK/Stax) 'Mr ShowNuff', the mellow mid tempo 'Chinesse Torture' the beat ballad 'You'll Never Know' and the mid tempo ballads 'Its All About You' and 'Funny' and the title track. Consistently good throughout.
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 IMPROMP2 IT IS WHAT IT IS CD £12.95
Forth album from the duo whose distinctive sophisticated jazz tinged soul sound has brought them many fans. 'Dance With U', 'You're A Queen' and 'I Wanna Know' are dancers that will appeal to the modern soul crowd. 'Good Thang' ia bright and breezy mid tempo dancer, their cover of Marvin's 'Luv 2 Ball' is more uptempo than the original and the jazzier mid tempo 'Mo Jazz' also works. 'It Is What It Is' is a nice mid tempo with a god hooks and the ballads 'It Was Love' and 'Keep Doin' are also good on this consistently good album.
Also recommended 'Definition Of Love' CD £13.95
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 HOWARD HEWETT IF ONLY CD £13.95
Ex Shalamar vocalist will please his legion of fans with this Soul set that fuses Howard's relaxed vocal style with Smooth Soul. Several cuts grab the headlines including the stunningly beautiful 'Can U Feel Me' and the title song. Ballads like 'Is This True Love' ooze emotion where Howard is joined by Gerald Albright on sax. And if you love ballads check out the searing slowie 'Don't U Wonder 2'. Old school style numbers like 'I Wanna Know' maintain a mid-tempo groove. Hewett has never sounded better.
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 ANTHONY HAMILTON SOUTHERN COMFORT CD £13.95
Anthony can do no wrong, this is another great soul album recorded in 2002 prior to his first album being released, but only coming to light now. 'They Don't Know' is a great funky soul number, the haunting 'Why' has a good groove, as does the head nodder 'Smiling Away'. Anthony's deep soulful voice really shines through out this album but especially on the mid tempo 'Don't Say Wont Do', 'Gladu caled', 'Fallin In love Again, 'Trouble' and 'Magnolias Room' , southern soul beat ballad 'Never Give Up' and the brilliant 2 step ballad 'Better Love'. This great selection will further his reputation as soul's leading male singer in the 00's. Also highly recommended 'Aint Nobody Worryin' CD £13.95
'Comin From Where I'm From' CD £13.95
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 ANN NESBY THIS IS LOVE CD £13.95
Ann's gospel drenched vocals soar all over this great album, which will rank highly against her previous work.. 'I Can't Explain' is a great modern soul dancer that will be very popular in clubs, and 'Tables Turn' is anther dancer but more mid tempo, whilst 'Its Easy Lovin U' is a good soulful house dancer. This Could Be love' and 'Step' are mid tempo steppers with catchy hooks, and the mid tempo 'Never Forget You Remembered' , the beat ballad 'I Apologise' and the ballads 'See U Cry' and 'Special Occasion' also score. Ann shows her gospel roots on 'Thank God'. An excellent varied album.
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 RAD EAST BABE CD £12.95
Raunchy West Coast funky Soul sister returns with her first set in some while and it is most definitely worth the wait. 'East Babe' kicks things off in gritty Funk style. Standout is the 11 minute Jazz Funk opus 'In Time Win Love' that harks back to the 70's heyday of the Headhunters. 'That Ain't No Way' and the driving 'As Of Today' are fine tunes on this ultra funky set her band is tight check the bass lines and drum patterns. Also check the Mid tempo soul grooves 'Before We Say Goodbye' and 'Next To You'. Great Album
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 TUOMO MY THING CD £13.95 LP £12.95
Finnish singers debut is very impressive, backed by live instrumentation , in places a full orchestra , in others just bongo's ., with good lyrics and songs and great vocals. Highlights are the atmospheric 'Since Or Before', the mid tempo 'True Friend' the modern dancer 'Don't Take It Too Hard, and the McComb-ish piano led ballad 'Puddle Of Love'. Also check the semi funky 'Sorry When I'm Gone' and thr full on latin funk groove of 'My Thing'.
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 ELAINE STEPTER - THE WOMAN I AM
This is quality smooth mid tempo soul. Elaine has a sweet soulful voice that really works on the material on this album. The title track is a really nice full production mid tempo swinger with good keyboards, 'Come See About Me' is good shuffler, 'Dim The Lights' a sultry ballad with sax backing. The mid tempo 'Our Love' and the catchy 'Quality Time' are also highlights. 'Selfish One' is a 70's style mid tempo dancer (think 'This will be') and 'Promises' a two stepper. If you liked C Pepsi Riley last album you'll dig this.
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 XANTONE BLACQ TO THE HEAVENS AND BEYOND
Much anticipated debut album from UK's own Xantone. 'With You' a nice light groover with vocals from Emmanuella Panizzo and a catchy bridge. The single 'Yes I Do' is a great catchy uplifting Steve-ish sing-along dancer (think Do I Do) and the albums highlight. 'Samba De Lagos' is a nice jazzy/samba instrumental with incidental vocals (like George Duke), 'Search For The Sun' has Roy Ayers feel, and 'Make Me Wanna' another breezy up-tempo gem. 'You're Fly' is a light foot taper, and the piano (xan) and Sax (Gilly Roth) led 'Without You' has a Grover Washington feel. A strong album that is fresh but familiar with heavy 70's soul and jazz funk references.
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 TAMMY HARRIS NATURAL VIBE CD £11.95
Another great new female singer, Tammi makes a really strong album using real instruments. 'Natural Vibe', 'Come Over' 'I Would Be Your Love', 'Take Me Away' , 'Only To You', and 'If' are really good mid tempo tracks. The Jazzier 'Sweetest Sound' and the ballad 'You Are' along with good covers of 'You Know How To Love Me', 'Never Knew Love Like This Before', and the especially good 'Never Stop' (BNH) complete this excellent album that will appeal to fans of quality traditional soul
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 SUNNY HAWKINS MORE OF YOU CD £12.95
Nice positive message semi-gospel/soul album co-produced by brother Jamie and Steve McKeever.
Sunny's great voice soars over the sympathetic real instrument backing (courtesy of Jamie). 'Where Would I Be' is a nice mid tempo head nodder, 'More Of You' and 'Love Me Too' are great dancers, which along with the breezy 'Send me I'll Go' are the highlights. Also check the ballad 'Its Like Air', the floater 'Jesus The Same' and the mid tempo 'What If'. Nice album
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 MELANIE RUTHERFORD RELATIONSHIP IN MY OWN WORDS CD £9.95
Lyrically strong, Great Organic Soul album from the unknown but prolific Michigan artist, whose voice reminds me of Erykah in places. Many highlights but check the Organic dancers 'He Said She Said' , and 'Had No Idea', the funkier 'Thick Girl Anthem' and the mid tempo 'Life', 'Love Child' , 'I Love The Way' and 'Make Up To Break Up' and the slower 'Prison Love Letter'., but this a good album throughout.
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 ADRIANA EVANS EL CAMINO
Welcome return to form fro Adriana, this set being more soulful and in the style of her great debut.
'Hey now' is a bright shuffling dancer, 'Calling Me' and 'Never Knew' are mid tempo floaters. 'Before You' is a slinky beat driven mid tempo foot taper which shows her vocals at their best, whilst 'Underneath The Stars' and 'Bluebird' are big beat mid tempo head nodders. The funky dancer 'Undercover Lover' and shuffling mid tempo 'All For love' are also highlights on this strong album
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 ONYX 1 FT TERENCE FORSYTH RIGHT NOW CD £11.95
Excellent male harmony group soul (ala Whispers), featuring former member of Natural Four. The album consists of mainly mid tempo tracks and ballads which really show off their harmonies best. The Mid tempo big ballads 'Its Time For Love' and 'One Day At A Time' are excellent, and the mid tempo 'Spellbound', 'Mine All Mine' , 'But I Do' , 'right Now' and 'You Never Fail To Amaze Me' are all highlights on the consistent set which is quality soul throughout.
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 MASTERS OF FUNK SOUL AND BLUES SOULFUL TALE OF TWO CITIES
Beautifully packaged 30 track Double CD with classic Philly Acts singing Motown songs, and Classic Detroit Acts singing Philly songs. Features Lamont Dozier, Jean Carne, Freda Payne, Barabara Mason, Bunny Sigler, Phil Hurtt, Major Harris, Oli Woodson, Bobby Taylor and more backed by the Funk Brothers and MFSB, with full production from Phil Hurtt, Bobbi Eli and Bunny Sigler. Highlights are 'Betcha By Golly Wow' (Freda), 'Me And Mrs Jones' and 'Close The Door' (Lamont), 'Sunshine' (Bobby T), ''Fire And Desire (Bunny and Jean), Girls Alright (Phil), 'My Baby Loves Me' (Barbara), and 'Just Ask The Lonely' (William Poogie Hart). An Amazing project.
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 TRACE ELLINGTON LET LOVE IN CD £11.95
Really good contemporary soul album from Trace of the Ellington dynasty (Duke), which is a bit like Dwele in places. 'No Money' is an uptempo head nodder, 'Let Love In' is an uptempo dancer with a 'Hi records' feel to it (diff version to that on This Is Soul 2005'). 'Never Givin Up' has a modern soul beat, and 'Soul Real' is also upbeat. 'If I Were Your King' is a mid tempo ballad with an Isley's feel and 'My Families No Strong' ia a mid tempo plodder. Trace is vocally strong and plays all the instruments throughout. Recommended.
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 ALBRIGHT SUNNY ONE DAY CD £11.95
New York duo Vivian Sessions and Chris Parks fall loosely into the organic soul sound. 'Dunno What' and 'Tainted' are good head nodding dancers. The standout 'Who Knows' has a mid tempo vybe similar to Jill Scott and the bass propelled dancer 'Ghettoland' has nice keyboard touches. 'Love Can Turn You Around' is an ice ballad and the mid tempo grooves ''Its Alright' 'In Between Worlds' and Fadin Out' . Nice album.
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 PHILLIP MANUEL - PM CD £11.95
Nice old school album which includes the killer mid tempo 80's style dancer 'Had To Have You' (of the kind that Robbie Vincent would have championed back in the day). Also highlights on this consistent album are the catchy hypnotic mid tempo dancer 'If You Let Me I Will' and the mid tempo ballad 'Lite A Candle'. Also check the floater 'Never Again' and shuffling 'You Showed Me What Love Is' and the ballads 'You Take My Breathe Away', 'I Don't Know How to Say Goodbye' and 'Sleep On It'.
Nothing revolutionary here, just a solid good soul album.
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 BLACK I- FOR YOU
NY band make a very interesting album that includes Teddy Crockett (Alison's brother), and Russell Gunn with Omar and Kenny Whitehead on vocals. 'Please U' , 'For You' are big beat mid tempo funky grooves with heavy bass. 'Peace Of Mind' is a slow acoustic track that builds, 'Pleasure' a hard hitting driving track, 'Sweet As The Sun' a mellow stepper and 'The Door' has a Prince like riff and vocal. The highlights are the great cover of Sly's 'Family Affair' ft Omar which retains the spirit of the original but gives a different twist and 'No More' which starts off slow and then builds into a nice orchestrated dancer with horns. This album takes a couple of plays to get into , but will repay the effort.
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 SOCCORRO LOVES EXPERIENCE CD £11.95
Good album of mid tempo soul and soulful R&B. The bass led steppers 'Real' and 'Get To Know You' (duet with Oliver Green) and the slightly heavier 'Tell Me' are very good, but the highlights are the excellent mid tempo dancer 'The Way You Make Me Feel' and the outstanding uplifting 'Beautiful Man'
Also check the soulful R&B dancer 'Friends' on this strong independent soul album.
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 AFI-SOUL - LOVELY CD £13.95
Now here's something that's just arrived so full review next month, but this new Washington DC female singer is going to please the Organic Soulsters and many more as well. 'Free Yourself' is a really good atmospheric down tempo track with layered vocals and 'Baby It's Cold Outside' an excellent mid tempo head nodder with an intricate beat that could become a big tune. There's also a soulful house remix of 'bay Its' courtesy of Dj Applejack. 'Call Me' is a nice mid tempo plodder. This could be one of those album that really grows on you.
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 VARIOUS - SOUL DESIRABLES
Strong compilation of unreleased, rare and remixes from major label tracks over the past 10 years.
Luther's 'Bad Company' is a nice mid tempo foot taper, Ronee Martin 'Its Good To Be loved', Tiffany 'Tell me' and Donald McCollum 'No Matter What' are modern soul dancers. Lathun ft India Arie 'Love Come In', Donnie 'Cloud 9 (DJ Spinna mix) are Organic dancers, Brigette McWilliams 'Cant Get Over You' a funky mid tempo and Mica Paris 'Sixth Street' a bass led mid tempo head nodder. The Outstanding tracks are K Fox atmospheric social commentary 'For Goodness Sakes', Jack Herrera haunting 'For You' and Trina Brussard 'Dreamin Of' which are excellent mid tempo. Quality.
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 ALISON CROCKETT BARE CD £11.95
Singer/Songwriter/Pianist Alison produces a more melodic acoustic album with her great voice harmonising accompanied by her piano backed by NY finest. The highlights are the feel good piano backed 'So Sweet', 'baby Smile' and 'Everything Is Beautiful' with its catchy rhythm. The dramatic ballad 'Anything', and the gentle 'We Are' and 'How deep Is Your Love' and the covers of Sade's 'Love Is Stronger Than Pride' and Stevie's 'Isn't She Lovely' are also really good. Great listening album.
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 RENE JONES CHILL FACTOR CD £11.95
Nice, mainly mid tempo and down tempo album in a more traditional Soul style. Rene sounds little like Mica Paris on the standout track 'Everything I Need' a mid tempo beat ballad. Also check the breezy 'Soul To Keep' the shuffling '|You Know' and the slightly faster head-nodding 'Summer Day'and 'Stay'. The ballads 'If I Let You In' and 'Totally' are also good.
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 DAVID SEA - LOVE MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND
Long time since last album, but David is in great shape vocally, sounding not dissimilar to David Ruffin. ‘One Love' is a nice mid tempo plodder, the title tracks and 'Love Aint Love' will please the modern soul dancers, 'Stay In My Arms' is a good floater and 'Just Because ' a good beat ballad. This album will appeal to his fans and those who like the more traditional soul sound, with the backing tracks seeming familiar.
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 EBONY ALLEYNE NEVER LOOK BACK CD £12.95
This album has a very strong late 60's sound with lots of strings and in places a Bacharach/David type of production courtesy of Ian Levine. 'You Caught Me Off Guard' is a bright and breezy dancer, 'My Man' An uptempo Motown style, 'Walk Away And Never Look back' is classic B&D, and there's a good version of 'Hello Stranger'. The other highlights are the mid tempo dancers 'In Love With A Stranger', 'Merry Go Round' , and 'Every Lonely Street' and the slightly slower 'Tell Me The Secret'.
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 TY CAUSEY EXPRESSIONS CD £11.95
Ty is Mr consistency and this his 3rd album is in a similar vien to N-Tysing and Love Notes, comprising mainly of mid tempo grooves with minimal backing (ala Gary Taylor) featuring his so soulful tones. 'I Got Love' is a really nice mid tempo dancer, 'Heartbreak Paradise' a mid tempo floater, and the slightly slower 'So Addicted' being the highlights. Also check the mid tempo dancers 'Pick Up The Pieces' and 'Dark Cloud' (ft U-Nam), and the mid tempo ballads 'Back To Loving you', 'The Way You Were' and 'Wishing You Were Mine'. The real highlight throughout is Ty's voice.you.
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 NEALIETTE FT TERRI SIMPSON CHILDREN OF THE SKY EP £9.95
7 Piece band from Richmond Virginia fronted by the female vocals of Terri Simpson. This jazzy soul EP has a really nice vibe and a good 'live' sound The harmonic mid tempo 'Take Me Over' and jazzy soul floater 'On My Mind' are contrasted by the horn led funky mid tempo dancer 'Keep On' which you could have imagined the BNH doing in their heyday. Terri's wistful vocals are well suited to the beautiful floater 'Children Of The Sky' and the beat ballad 'When The Morning Comes' and the excellent band are allowed to let go more on the appropriately named
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 ERIC ROBERSON LEFT CD £12.95
Eric is Mr Consistent , a great songwriter and singer whose music borders on Soul and soulful R&B. The highlights are 'Music' a great shuffling upper mid tempo brassy vybe, 'Iluvu2much' a mid tempo floater ft Algebra, Pretty Girl' a melodic beat ballad prod by James Poyser and 'If I Had A Chance' an uplifting Head nodding dancer. Also good are the remake of his classic 'I Couldn't Hear Her' which is slower and more melodic than the original , the driving foot taper 'Evening', the mid tempo plodder 'Too Soon' and the ballad 'Pen Just Cries Away'. Really Good album , one of his best.
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 ALL STARS COLLECTIVE ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC CD £9.95
Collective of some of the finest UK musicians and singers make an uplifting album in the style of Incognito produced by Hamish Stuart. 'Sometimes' ft Mary Pearce,' My Remedy' ft Hamish and Jim Mullen , 'Satisfied' ft Julie Payne are bright and breezy. 'Star' ft Cuttie Williams is a beautiful mid tempo track, 'Hey Listen Up' ft Roy Hamilton is very catchy and 'All About The Music ft Jocelyn Brown is a stormer.
Quality throughout.
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 BLAZE FOUND LOVE DBL CD £15.95
2 Cd's of classsic soulful/jazzy house cuts, one unmixed Blaze Originals and Remixes, the other mixed by Kevin Hodge (Blaze). Inc Peven Everett 'Cant Believe I Love Her', Ritmo Rua 'Jazzy Universal Love', Jihad Muhammad 'Movement Blues', Ambrosia 'That's How Much I z Love Youj' and Alexander Hope 'Big Mistake'. Quality all the way an essential purchase for soulful house fans.
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 VARIOUS - SOUL A ND THE CITY
Good comp featuring 17 New York City independent artists. The best tracks are Nick Rolfe full-on funky dancer ‘Movin On’ ft real instruments, Black I ft Omar’s cover of ‘Family Affair’, and the Roberson-esq head nodding dancers TL Cross ‘Best Kept Secret’ and Morrison Slick ‘Look At Me Now’. Other highlights are Mike Hammond’s finger poppin mid tempo gem ‘Morning After’, Russell Taylor’s funky ‘Lady’ Ra Re Valverde mid tempo dancer ‘Outside The Box’, and the mid tempo tracks Jeremy James ‘You Cant Be Late’ and Gil Small ‘Heaven’. Good insight to some new artists.
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 JESSE JAMES IT'S NOT SO BAD AFTER ALL CD £13.95
Great album sees the veteran southern soul singer at his best. 'It's Not So Bad After All' is classic Jesse a mid tempo dancer with catchy hooks. There's a good cover of Garland Green's 'Let Me Be Your Pacifier', the ballads ''You're All In My Dreams' and 'I'd Rather Eat Soup With You Than Steak With Somebody Else' stand out, and the southern mid tempo tracks like 'Im Not Going Nowhere', 'Operator Please Put Me Through' and 'You Want Everything but Me' also score. The uptempo dancer 'When Are You Going Home' and the modern soul dancer 'First Day Of The Rest Of My life' are also highlights.
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 ROSIE GAINES - WELCOME TO MY WORLD
Powerful vocalist Rosie returns with a gem of an album for SuSu Records. Her searing voice glides across a broad selection of tunes from the subtle soulful House of the title song to 70s style funky Soul of 'Mamma Soul'. Try the gentle EWF tinged mid-tempo groove of 'Sun Moon' and the emotion drenched ballad of 'Sudden Moves'. Includes the MK vocal re-spray of her classic 'Closer Than Close'.
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 PETER HADAR MEMORIES OF THE HEART CD £11.95
Eric Roberson disciple who sounds incredibly like his mentor both vocally and in musical style. 'Never Again' is a nice mid tempo shuffler, 'Need Love' a breezy dancer produced by H2O , 'U Don't Love Me' a harmonic semi-funky plodder, 'Xplosive' a good foot taper and 'First Sight' a modern dancer. The atmospheric mid tempo head nodder 'Marvin', the dancer 'Deep in love' and the ballad 'Please' are also highlights on this consistent album. If you like Eric r then this is for you.
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 SHARON JONES/DAPTONES -100 DAYS 100 NIGHTS CD £13.95 LP £13.95
Sharon Jones and the Daptones possess probably the most authentic late 60'soul and funk sound of any band in USA (or anywhere else for that matter). This is their third album and continues the path of gfunk and soul of the first two excellent albums. The title track, 'Somethings Changed' and 'Keep On Looking' are uptempo 60's style funky soul belters. 'Tell Me' , 'Let Them Knock' and 'Nobodys Baby' are Marva Whitney style funk, 'Be Easy' is more laid back and the beat ballads 'Humble Me' and 'Answer Me' are also great. Refreshingly different album. Also recommended 'Dap Dippin' and 'Naturally' CD £14.95 each
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 KARL FRIERSON SOULPRINT
Nice soul album produced in Germany by the deeply soulful US singer which includes the monster string laden mid tempo head nodding stepper 'Ten Minutes', one of the first killer tracks of the year, which will appeal tov the modern soul crowd. 'Walking In New York' is another good mid tempo groover, 'Under Investigation' and 'Only You' are good ballads, whilst 'Freaklife' (inspired by Street life), is another mid tempo dancer, with an 80's feel. There are also some nice southern soul tracks notably the upbeat 'Down Home Southern Groove' and the mid tempo 'Tall Green Grass'. Quality old skool soul album.
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 VICK ALLEN BABY COME BACK HOME CD £9.95
Quality albeit short Southern soul album. The mid tempo 'Baby Come Back Home' has a 70's Willie Mitchell feel to it. 'Since You Been Gone' and 'New Way To Cheat', are typical southern tracks (ala Willie Clayton), 'Breakin Me Down' is a nice mid tempo plodder and 'Good Love' written and produced by Omar Cunningham. The standout track is the mid tempo stepper 'The Something'.
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 RICK JAMES DEEPER STILL CD £12.95
Recorded shortly before his death, this is the best album Rick had made for many years. The mid tempo floater 'Deeper Still' , the plodder 'Stop It' the ballad 'Do You Wanna Play' are all good, but the highlights are the modern soul dance 'Taste', the classic Rick bass led funker's 'Stroke' and 'Not Alone' and the mid tempo 'Sapphire' which has a nice sax backing.
Highly recommended 'Street Songs CD £9.95
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 LENNY WILLIAMS IT MUST BE LOVE CD £11.95
Very good album from one of soul's most under-rated singers who started with Tower Of power and made at least 14 consistent solo albums before this. The highlights are 'Tuesday' a bright catchy mid tempo dancer, 'Amen' a foot tapping handclapping uplifting dancer with great lyrics, 'Cant Nobody Do Me Like You Do' a southern style mid tempo ft former TOP trumpeter Mike Gillette, the 2 step ballad 'Torn Between Two Lovers' and the head nodder 'You're My Everything' . Also check the mid tempo ballads 'Loveland', 'It Must Be Love' and 'Somebody Else',. Consistently good album his best in a while. Also recommended 'Choosing You and 'Spark Of Life' CD £23.95 each , My Way CD £14.95
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 RONNIE McNEIR RONNIE MAC AND COMPANY CD £11.95
Ronnie returns with a nice slightly jazzy tinged soul album. The highlights are 'Summertime Medley' based on his own 2-step classic 'I'm Your Lover' , the piano led jazzy soul (ala Billy Paul) 'Look At The People' the superior version of his own 'Down In The Neighbourhood' and the more upbeat 'Traitors'. Also check the poignant semi-spoken 'I Really Need Your Help Father', the ballad 'Shame People Have To Live That Way' and the jazzier 'I Love you', 'Don't Need Nobody' and 'Song For My Brothers'.
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COVERS ALBUMS |
 MONDAY MICHIRU MY EVER CHANGING MOODS CD £23.95
I'm not a great fan of cover's albums but when they are this good you have to make an exception. Monday covers with her own jazzy soul style Barry's 'I'm Gonna Love You Just A little Bit More', Patrice's 'Remind Me' and Sos band 'Just Be Good To Me' which are good but when she tackles Brainstorm's 'Journey To The Light' it really takes off. Also good covers of jazzier songs 'Aldeia De Ogum- Joyce), Vera Cruz , Mi Vida (Lucien)and even 'Walking In Your Footsteps are great.. Brilliant album.
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 MAYSA FEEL THE FIRE CD £13.95
The power and beauty of Maysa's voice shine on this selection of classics especially on the Maze's 'Happy Feeling' and a breathtaking take of 'Ain't No Sunshine'. On ballads like Peabo's 'Feel The Fire' and Norman Connors' 'You Are My Starship', Maysa combines the delicate yet passionate vocal with SOUL. A worthy successor to the first album of covers in the series.
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 TEMPTATIONS BACK TO FRONT CD £13.95
The Temps are back on point with this superior 70's covers album produced by Steve Harvey. New lead vocalist Bruce Williamson's baritone voice is ideally suited to the other BW's 'Never Gonna Give You Up' ,'Wake Up |Everybody' and LTD's 'Back In Love Again' . Ron Tyson excels on 'Don't Ask My Neighbours' whilst Terry Weeks handles 'Love Ballad' with distinction. The killer cut is a version of the Staples 'Respect Yourself' which is awesome. A welcome return.
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 THELMA HOUSTON WOMAN'S TOUCH CD £14.95
Thelma Houston returns with an album of covers featuring cuts like 'Wake Up Everybody', 'Never Too Much', 'Love And Happiness' and 'That's The Way Of The World'. Her powerful and distinctive voice infuses these classics with her own musical personality.
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 INTERPRETATIONS- EARTH WIND AND FIRE CD £13.95
10 Covers of EWF classics, relaunches the legendary Stax label. Highlights are Chaka Khan 'Shining Star' , Angie Stone 'Be Ever Wonderful' , Ledisi 'Devotion' , Randy Watson/Bilal 'Cant hide Love' , Lalah Hathaway 'Loves Holiday' , Dwele 'That's The Way Of The World' and Musiq Soulchild 'Reasons' The originals are so great it would be hard to beat them , but most of these covers work and add different elements to them. Good Project.
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 JIMMY LEVINE SHARE MY LOVE
Saxman/producer selects a bevy of Soul classics plus some originals and invites Soul superstars to add vocals resulting in this fine set. Mid-tempo covers like 'There'll Never Be' with Howard Hewett and 'Where Is The Love' featuring Phil Perry, Lori Pery and Maysa hit the spot. It is however the new tunes such as the hypnotic 'Share My Love', the ballad 'Miss You' and the superbly soulful 'Wonderful' that is the real joy. An album that will appeal to both Soul and Smooth Jazz fans.
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 DENICE WILLIAMS - LOVE NIECY STYLE
Deniece calls on the assistance of a few old friends for this album of covers of classic Soul songs including George Duke, Everette Harp, Stevie Wonder and Philip Bailey. Aided by Bobby Eli’s production and ‘live’ instrumentation, ‘Love Niecy Style’ is most definitely one of the best ‘cover’ albums around. Williams’ unique and beautiful voice soars on ‘Someday We’ll All Be Free’, ‘This Time I’ll Be Sweeter’ and EWF’s ‘Love’s Holiday’. Her own ‘Cause You Love Me Baby’ and ‘The Only Thing Missing’ complete a fine CD that spotlights one of our music’s greatest vocal exponents.
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 VESTA WILLIAMS DISTANT LOVER
Continuation in Shanachie's series of contemporary Soul stars covering Soul and pop classics, Vesta Williams' voice soars over Bill Withers' 'Use Me' and try the 2 step paced take on Marvin's 'Distant Lover'. The beautiful duet 'With You I'm Born Again' sounds refreshed, whilst Sade's 'No Ordinary Love' is sultry and Deniece's 'Free' is given a smooth makeover. One of the strongest in the series.
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 PHIL PERRY – A MIGHTY LOVE CD £13.95
The second album of Soul and Pop covers from Phil is a delight and is delivered in his distinctive and inimitable style. Perry’s vocals ooze Soul and class particularly on the ballads like ‘If You Don’t Know Me By Now’, the beautiful ‘Unbreak My Heart’, ‘Just To See Her’ and the mid tempo Déjà Vu’. Highlight is the understated power of War’s ‘World Is A Ghetto’, a great version of this classic track.
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BLUE NOTE...
As featured on BBC Financial news website ‘the best soul album you’ve never heard’
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