LEELA JAMES – MY SOUL CD £14.95
Leela James has a great powerhouse soulful voice. Her debut for Stax continues the path of her first album from a few years back. ‘Party All Night’ and ‘Let It Roll’ are dancers that really swing, whilst the mid tempo grooves of ‘I Ain’t New To This’ and ‘I Want It All’ are hard hitting.  Leela’s voice shines best on the mid tempo ballads ‘The Fact Is’, ‘Tell me You Love Me’ and ‘If It’s Wrong’. Strong album throughout.

also highly recommended ‘Lets Do It Again’ CD £12.95

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KINGS GO FORTH – THE OUTSIDERS ARE BACK CD £13.95 LP £13.95
Strong new independent retro and raw soul and funk album from Milwaukee, featuring a 10 piece band who recreate the incredible energy of the early 70’s. The heavy percussive dancer ‘One Day’ reminds me of the funky part of Curtis’ ‘Move On Up’. ‘I Don’t Love You No More’ keep the tempo up and ‘You’re The One’ is a strong soul dancer, almost northern soul. ‘Don’t Take My Shadow (remixed by Tom Moulton) and ‘Get A Feeling’ are great soulful dancers. The slower ‘High On Your Love’ has a strong backbeat and good vocal harmonies. If you like the Daptone sound, then this is for you.

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BETTYE LAVETTE – INTERPRETATIONS –BRITISH ROCK SONGBOOK CD £12.95 LP £15.95
Bettye Lavette has a distinctive, incredibly rich soulful voice and although you may be sceptical about the rock songs she has covered, her vocal performance is magnificent, the band really tight and it actually works. ‘The Word’ is a brilliant mid tempo stomper with a 70’s soul feel to it. ‘Don’t Let me Be Misunderstood’ is a good version of Nina’s classic. The brassy ‘Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad’ is the most upbeat number,  ‘No Time To Live’ the most dramatic string laden slow ballad. An unusual soul album, but what a voice.

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LOS CHARLY’S ORCHESTRA – CHICANO DISCO FUNK CD £11.95
Great contemporary disco jazz-funk album with pulsating rhythms, funky grooves, strings and great brass, which has a definite late 70’s feel to it. ‘Black Boy Lane’ is a trumpet led instrumental sounding a lit like Eddie Henderson’s ‘Prance On’. ‘Swinging To The Bass’ is a string laden bass led groove, with female backing vocals. ‘Make A Move’ is a vocal track with good percussion, ‘Funkanova’ a dancefloor favourite and ‘Funk Inspector’ has a deeper groove. This strong album will keep your feet moving throughout

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JEFF MAJORS – SACRED DUETS CD £16.95
Gospel soul album with some very nice tracks like the ballad ‘Heaven’s Just A Break Away’, ’Gods Gift’ , the mid tempo dancer ‘My Body’ and the more uptempo ‘Hit The Floor’. Features duets with Altrina Grayson and other soul vocalists.

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BIG BAND SPLASH – ANOTHER APPLE CD £14.95
Really nice big band soul album from Sweden featuring plenty of Horns and Percussion, and some good vocalists that features some nice covers and original songs. The cover of Ann Sexton's 'I Had A Fight With Love' ft Greta Bondesson is a nice modern soul style mid tempo, the brassy 'That's What Happens'
and the Jackie Wilson infl 'Valerie' are uptempo soul dancers ft Marino Valle's soulful vocals.
Sven Zetterberg has a great soul voice and he make the bluesy soul 'Drowning On Dry Land' and Willie Hightower's brassy ballad 'You Used me Baby' his own. The funky instrumental 'East Of Funk' has a Tower Of Power infl. Really refreshing album.

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UPTOWN FUNK EMPIRE - EMPIRE STRIKES BACK CD £13.95
Superior retro 70's/80's sounding album from France. The appropriately titled 'Boogie' is a string laden dancer with a compulsive beat. The bass propelled 'Keep on Giving it Up' has a mid 70's feel, 'Now' a semi funky groove has a strong Curtis influence. 'We Stand At The Back of The Bus' has a JB's style funky groove. Noel McKoy adds his soulful vocals to 'No One Gonna Stop Us Now' an 80's inspired Brit jazz funk dancer. The outstanding track though is a jazz funk version of 'You've Got To Have Freedom' with a good vibes solo

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DANNY BOY – IT’S ABOUT TIME CD £16.95
Danny Boy has a soulful voice and he uses to excellent effect and whilst this set has an R&B slant, there is plenty for us soul fans too.  Take the mellow ‘So In Love’ or the mid-temp ‘Blow Your Mind Away’ and ‘How Many Times’.    ‘Steppin’ will appeal to those in to the ‘steppin’ phenomena of a few years back.

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