Thursday, February 09, 2017

NEW RELEASES: THE M-TET – LONG PLAY; WORLD SOUL COLLECTIVE VOL. 5 (VARIOUS ARTISTS); SACHA VEE – LUMINOUS

THE M-TET – LONG PLAY

A stripped-down approach to old school funk – one that shows that you don't even need horns or a singer to keep things strongly soulful – just a few key instruments finding their grooves, and serving up great solos in the process! The group's a quartet – with Hammond, guitar, electric bass, and drums – all in a raw, chunky, rhythm-heavy mode that's somewhere between the best 60s work by The Meters and Booker T & The MGs – and recorded with just the right studio touches to keep things nice and sharp! There's nothing too modern about this record at all – and in fact, the whole thing also almost takes us back to the earliest days of Sugarman Three on Desco – which is about as fine a funk reference as we can give. Titles include "Flux 88", "All Drums Up", "The Tease", "The Beggar", "Bikes", "Sam The Butcher", "He Ain't The Right Type Of Fella", and "Sal's U Save".  ~ Dusty Groove

WORLD SOUL COLLECTIVE VOL. 5 (VARIOUS ARTISTS)

A killer collection of contemporary soul – put together by a Japanese label that's building a great reputation for digging out the coolest corners of the global underground! The set definitely earns the "world" in its title, as the singers here aren't just from the US scene – and together, the cuts really expand our understanding of the greatness going on around the globe these days – the kind of bubbling-under soul titles that never get any radio play – some of which were also only issued in a digital format, until this CD. Titles include "Nu" by Idesia, "Fizzy Lemonade" by Debra Debs, "Where I Come From" by Carolyn Malachi, "Trigger" by Sacha Vee, "Friends" by The Love Experiment with JSwiss, "Awake" by Nao Yoshioka, "Back To Love" by Gordon Chambers with Lalah Hathaway, "Crashing Down" by Marie Dahlstrom, "Someone To Love" by Gabriel Tajeu, "Reach Out" by Mad Satta, "Let The Music Play" by Collective Peace, "Too Long In The Sun" by Sola Rosa with Olivier Daysoul, "All The Time" by Tahirah Memory with Jarrod Lawson, and "Leave Love" by Brandon Williams with Alex Isley.  ~ Dusty Groove

SACHA VEE – LUMINOUS

A really fresh album from this Australian soul singer – a set that's quite contemporary in the production and presentation of the music – with a very different vibe than some of the other Aussie soul divas we've been hearing in recent years! Sacha Vee has this great way of inflecting her vocals along with the album's beats and keyboards – which themselves have a bit of an icy edge, which seems reflected in the lyrics sometimes – although overall, the whole thing's got a warm glow that really builds nicely as things move on! Titles include "I'm No Joke", "Stonecold", "Light Of Day", "Ging", "Leave Me All Your Love", "Music Child", "Trigger", "Monday", and "Sail Away". Japanese pressing includes three bonus tracks too!  ~ Dusty Groove


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