ADRIANA EVANS – WALKING WITH THE NIGHT CD £12.95
Adriana is one of the best female singers to emerge in the past 15 years, and she returns with her strongest album since her great debut from 1997 featuring real instruments with horns topped by her fantastic voice.
‘Weatherman’ is a great retro 2 step dancer with a similar groove to ‘Mr. Big Stuff’, the similar tempo ‘Waiting’ has a nice feel and heavier backbeat. The slightly slower ‘Suddenly’ has a haunting effect.
‘Midnight’, ‘Love Me On The One’ and ‘Never Thought’ are classic Adriana, the shuffling ‘Walking With The Night’ and ‘Let You Get Away (like a classic rare groover)’ are also highlights. Quality throughout, already a contender for soul album of the year.
highly recommended Adriana Evans CD £15.95 EL Camino CD  £12.95

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MAYSA – A WOMAN IN LOVE CD £15.95
This mix of originals, cover and standards gives Maysa room to show her vocal prowess and smoking soulfulness of that extraordinary voice.  Her version of ‘Round Midnight’ is amazing almost mind blowing.  ‘Send Some Time’ is a sparse backdrop for Maysa too and ‘Am I Wrong (For Lovin You)’ is a gorgeously warm groove.  The slow duet with Will Downing ‘Love Theory’ is another delight as is the title song.  Rod Temperton’s ‘The Lady In My Life’ is given an understated rendition that respects the song beauty.  Her takes of ‘Willow Weep For Me’, ‘I Put A Spell On You’ and ‘What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life’ just underline how great a voice Maysa has and show she can sing just about anything including Billie Holiday, Ella and Nina Simone songs and make them her own.

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DREEMTIME – NEW YORK LOUNGE FUNK CD £13.95
Quality jazzy tinged soul from NY using real instruments and featuring the vocals of Anise White. ‘NY Lounge Funk’ and ‘Natural High’ are upper tempo groovers, ‘Fly’ is a mid tempo swayer, ‘Night and Day’ is slightly more jazzy and ‘Time’ is bass driven groover. ‘Grip’ is a nice stepper with a good hook and ‘Feel’ is more up-tempo dancer (ala Incognito) . Good album

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VARIOUS ARTISTS - CONTEMPORARY SOUL SONGBOOK VOL 2 CD £11.95
Extremely strong comp ft 16 recent tracks. Marilyn Ashford Brown ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’ is a good uptempo dancer, Inobe ‘Front Porch’ is great funky soul, Ms Monique ‘Mr Do Right’ nice southern soul stepper, Gemma Genazzano ‘Take Me Away’ sophisticated mid tempo and Venue Connection ‘Walking Your Dream’ a nice mid tempo groover. There some great ballads Thomas Hunter ‘Strong Love’, Cornelious MD (BW sound-alike) ‘Step Baby’, Leon Beal ‘Good Love’, Governor ‘Decisions’, Asanda Barn ‘Brand New Day’ and Da Wonder Twinz ‘Wishin’. Also check the jazzy groover ‘If You Believe In Me’.

Great comp possibly the best of Soul Unsigned so far.
also recommended Contemporary Soul Songbook Vol 1 CD £11.95

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DARNELL KENDRICKS – SMOOTH SOUL CAFÉ CD £13.95
Quality smooth soul album with really nice vocals from Darnell. ‘Let’s Run Away’ and ‘Joy’ is a beautiful floating mid tempo , ‘Brand New’ is a good 2 stepper and ‘Good Love’(remix) a nice ‘stepper’ dancer.
The shuffling ballad ‘You Took My Loneliness’ and the slower ‘Please Believe Me’ ‘Baby Jane’ ‘After Dinner’ and ‘Still I Think Of You’ are very laid back. Nice relaxing soul for a romantic evening. 
Valentines' day Pick

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TRIZONNA MCCLENDON – NEW FAMILIAR CD £13.95
Strong second album from Chicago singer ,a mixture of catchy 'organic soul' foot tappers like 'New Familiar' 'Alright' ,the funky soul of the horn backed 'Didn't See it Coming' and more mid tempo mood tracks like 'Find my Way', 'Love Devine' and 'Excuses'. The killer track though is the more up tempo 'my Special' which has a really nice feel and groove to it. Nice varied soul album

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ATHENE WILSON – IT’S ABOUT TIME CD £13.95
Quality smooth soul album. Athene vocally and musically could be compared to Anita Baker,
‘We Were Meant To Be’, ‘’If Only You Knew’ ‘Rainy Days’ and ‘Yes We Can’ are good mid tempo tracks, the slower ‘Fire Flies’ and ‘I Want To be Where You Are’ are also excellent. The slightly faster ‘Keep On Stepping’ and ‘’Someone Like You’ provides some contrast but this is essentially a great listening to album that you can really get into.

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SILHOUETTE BROWN – TWO CD £12.95
Kaidi Tatham and Dego have established themselves as the premier acts of the West London sound (Agent K, 2000 Black etc). Lady Alma provides the soulful vocals on the second Silhouette Brown album which is slightly more laid back than the first. ‘Strawberries In Vinegar’ has that distinctive heavy bass and off key broken beat groove, ‘We Used To Run Steady’ is slightly slower but still groove driven. ‘Bitter Pills And Butterflies’, ‘Casualties Of Honey’ ’Constant Questions’ and ‘Hear Them Often Say’ are hypnotic mid tempo tracks.

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TOUR DE 4FORCE – QUIET MOON  CD £14.95
Really nice well produced gospel inspired soul album reminiscent of the Perri Sisters material featuring Scherrie Payne (Supremes), Theresa Davis (Emotions), Jim Gilstrap, and Joyce and Pam Vincent (Dawn). on vocals. ‘Godsend’ is a nice catchy upper mid tempo, the slinky ‘Early Morning’ and ‘We Got Love’ are highlights but the killer track is the mid tempo stepper ‘Heaven Bound’.

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PREMA – IN FUSION CD £12.95
Malaysian singer Prema has a sweet soulful voice not dissimilar to Corrine Bailey Rae in places. This well produced album was recorded in NY with legendary musicians like Wah Wah Watson Peter Erskine etc providing the musical backdrop. ‘Underwater’ is a good groover and the more up tempo ‘Miracle’ is outstanding with a semi funky groove. The mid tempo ‘Mandalay’ and ‘So Right’ slower ‘Destiny’ and ‘Angel’ have a really nice feel. ‘Mystical Rhythm )Oye Como Va’ is an interesting take on the Tito Puente classic. Nice album, a bit different from much of today’s music.

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BREAKESTRA – DUSK TILL DAWN CD £13.95/ LP £19.95
If heavy seventies (c 70-73) style Funk is your thing, then this set is your thing.  From the dirge like ‘Needs A Little Love’ to the JB inspired ‘No Matter Where You Go’ the band deliver full-on groove after groove.  ‘Come On Over’ bubbles beneath a female lead vocal.  Check also the gritty ‘Show You The Way’. For variety check the California/ psychedelic the Soul of ‘Set The Sun’. The stripped down sound is reminiscent at times of the Meters but with horns thrown in – one of the strongest contemporary Funk artist’s album.

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WHISPERS ORCHESTRA – T.W.O. CD £12.95 
Really good smooth Soul album featuring Phil Perry, Alyson Williams, Russell Thompkins and The Whispers on vocals ,with the magnificent Whispers Orchestra behind them. Check ‘Inside Lovers Outside Friends’, ‘Family’, ‘Ready Or Not’ , ‘Miss Aprodisiac’ and the inst ‘Jafunk’, 

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