DIRA – SOMETHING ABOUT THAT GIRL CD £12.95
Excellent uplifting album from Malaysian soulstress produced by Bluey and featuring members of Incognito. The brilliant ‘Get Through To You’ featuring Jim Mullen on guitar is a typical Incognito horn backed uptempo groover as are the more uptempo ‘Bring It On’ and ‘No More Tears’ The mid tempo ‘Let’s Go Back’ features the distinctive vocals of Omar. Inside Love’, ‘Time out For Love’ and ‘Daydream’ are excellent ballads showing real depth. ‘Loving A Stranger’ has a strong sing-a-long hook and features some great drumming from Matt Cooper. An album to really raise your spirits.

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JIMETTA ROSE – BARBERS DAUGHTER CD £14.95
Lyrically strong organic soul album with an edge from LA based singer songwriter.  ‘Sweet Necessity is a feel good upper mid tempo groover .that  will have wide appeal.  ‘Glory Us’ is a mid tempo with layered vocals and synth riffs. ‘Revolution Out There’ is an organic dancer with a compulsive groove, whilst ‘America (remix) has a heavier backbeat with a social commentary
‘On My Own’ and ‘Easy’ are mid tempo floaters. An album to get into.

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ADINA NYREE –CERTIFIED ORGANIC CD £15.95
Fresh sounding Organic soul album from poet/songwriter with some spoken word and songs over great live instrumentation ala Jill Scott/Ursula Rucker.  The title track is a great dancer, ‘Changes’ a nice mid tempo groove, and ‘Love For Sale’ a good funky backed groover. Refreshingly different.

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RAHEEM DEVAUGHN LOVE AND MASTERPIECE STANDARD CD £13.95/ DELUXE CD EDITION £16.95
There is two editions of this CD; the Deluxe edition includes an extra CD with some tracks not on the standard issue.  Cuts le ‘Fragile’ and ‘Wife’ show a deft touch combining Soul sensilibities with a good contemporary RnB vibe.  Kenny Dope produced eight tracks.    ‘Nobody Wins A War’ adds a more socio-politico feel.  The second has seven extra tracks that have more of a Hip Hop Soul/ RnB slant.

STANDARD
DELUXE

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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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MDR SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA – DRESDEN SOUL SYMPHONY CD £12.95 DVD £15.95
Really interesting and ambitious album recorded at a live concert in Dresden Germany featuring contemporary soul singers Joy Denalane, Dwele, Bilal and Tweet., backed by the 130 piece MDR Symphony Orchestra. and scored by Larry Gold. It features 22 soul classics the best of which are ‘It’s A Mans Mans World’, ‘Me And Mrs Jones’, ‘Midnight train To Georgia’, ‘Take Me To The River’ ‘Natural Woman’,, ‘Lovin You’’ ‘Lets Stay Together’ and ‘Ain’t No Stoppin Us Now’ .There’s also instrumental covers of ‘Love’s Theme’ and ‘TSOP’. A must for lovers of Orchestrated Soul.

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CORINNE BAILEY RAE – THE SEA CD £13.95
Corinne’s second CD re-affirms her status as a major singer/ songwriting talent.  Her languid vocal suits the understated production and music especially strong are ‘Paris Night New York Morning’ & ‘Feels Like The First Time’.

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SADE – SOLDIER OF LOVE CD £13.95
Sade’s latest album will appeal to her many fans try the mid tempo ‘Moon and the sky’ and ‘Bring me home’ and the beautiful ‘Skin’.

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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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JESSE JAMES – GET IN TOUCH WITH ME CD £15.95
Veteran southern soul singer returns with his best in a while. 'Get In Touch With Me' is a classic southern soul mid tempo ballad, in fact it could be one of his best ever. 'I Can't Help But Smile' is a slow beat ballad. On the message song 'It's Time For A Change' Jesse sounds like a little like Frankie Beverly, 'Share Your Love' and the mid tempo 'Smoke and Fire' are also good and 'Visiting Rights' will appeal to the slow jam crew. 'If He Cant Hold His Pants Up' provides some humour and a message. Solid album.

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MARC EVANS – THE WAY YOU LOVE ME DELUXE REISSUE DOUBLE CD £13.95
This album has attained cult status and it is nice to see it back out again with a second CD of remixes and a couple of unreleased songs – the nice soulful House of ‘She Is’ and the mellow ‘Come Bother Me’. The remixes include the MuthFunkin Soul and Dim’s T.S.O.P.version part 1 mixes of ‘The Way U Love Me’. The original album, which forms CD one on this set is Soulful house at its very best featuring soulful vocals from Mark. 'The Way U Love Me' , 'Given Me Joy', ''Am I Crazy' ' This Thing Called Love' and the more percussive 'Reach Out Love', Beneath The Cresent Moon' are all great soulful house dancers. There's also a couple of good covers of Teddy's 'I Don't Love You Anymore' and Womack's 'Put Something Down On It' and a soulful mid tempo 'The Promise'.

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JEFF RAMSEY –MY BEST CD £12.95
Quality independent soul album with really good soulful vocals. 'Just let Me Love You' and Anything' are nice upper mid tempo dancers, 'Be Careful' is more uptempo. The mid tempo tracks 'Give it My Best' 'I Know What You Want', 'I Want You More' and Fly So High' are good to groove to and Now That I've Found You' is a really nice beat ballad. Good contemporary album with an old school feel to it.

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VARIOUS ARTISTS – DAPTONE GOLD CD £13.95
21 track set that picks out some of the great musical moments from the Daptone label.  The mix of funk and Soul harks back to the sound of the late 60’s and early 70’s.  There are several tracks from Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings including the infectious ‘How Long do I Have To Wait’ and the JB inspired ‘Got A Thing On My Mind’.  Try also Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens’ Soul drenched ‘What Have You Done’.  Contributions from The Budos Band, Binky Griptite, Sugarman & Co and Charles Bradley make this one superb compilation

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GEORGIA ANNE MULDROW – EARLY CD £15.95
This album was sung, written, recorded and produced by Georgia Anne Muldrow as a 17 year old by herself!  There is a rawness and edgy quality to the music., mixing many influences like Roy Ayers, Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu.   Tracks like ‘Sunset’ and ‘Keep It Real combine a Hip Hop vibe with Soul.. If you liked SIlhoeutte Brown’s album from around the same time this could be for you.

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MARY J BLIGE – STRONGER WITH EACH TEAR CD £14.95
Mary J makes a more straight ahead R&B approach for much of the album. 'I feel Good' is a strong R&b soul upper mid tempo , 'I Am' a imd tempo plodder and 'Hood Love' ft Try Songz a nice R&b ballad.
The killer tracks though are the soul beat ballads 'In The Morning' and the slower Raphael Saadiq produced 'I Can See Colour' on which she excels and shows that with the right material is a really good soul singer.

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