HARTLEY AND WOLFE - BESPOKE FUTURE
Coming
in a long line of esteemed ground breaking British soul artists from Loose
Ends, Soul2Soul, Spacek, Omar, to Amy Winehouse, Hartley & Wolfe grab the
baton in creating something quite unique, different and new. Not quite R’n’B or
neo soul, not quite American ‘urban’ or electronica .... perhaps more working
man’s soul in sound but yet ticks a lot of musical boxes at the same time.
Think Isley Brothers meets Rick James in terms of vocal delivery. Raspy deep
felt, weathered classic soul with a big voice meets intergalactic pimped out
grooves with bass-lines that would make Lee Scratch Perry’s Upsetters proud! This is
music that definitely gives a nod to the old school but this is not a retro
throwback workout nor is it the work of soul novices. Just like a fine wine
fermenting its flavors over time Greg & Vadim have been hard at work with
Nightmares On Wax, Utah Saints, Featurecast, Horace Andy, Prince, Stevie
Wonder, Fat Freddys Drop, amongst others in preparation of this moment. In an
era where so many vocalists seem to be dumbing down their sound and content,
Hartley&Wolfe is quite the opposite. “Bespoke Future” is an album about
life rejection, love failure, political misendeavors and also most importantly
it’s fun, catchy and quite possibly may brew up a storm on a dance floor near
you soon. Quite simply an accomplished, musical Scud Missile of pure enjoyment. ~ bbemusic.com
IPA - BUBBLE
A
brilliant bubble of sounds from IPA – much more searing than you'd guess from
the album's title – served up here in a sharp brace of trumpet, tenor, and
vibes! The group's overflowing with that modernist Moserobie label energy we
love so much – tight in construction, but still able to really stretch out
freely with individual voices throughout – really wonderful sounds from Magnus
Broo on trumpet, Mattias Stahl on vibes, Atle Nymo on tenor, Ingebrigt Haker
Flaten on bass, and Hakon Mjaset Johansen on drums! The vibes are especially
great – stark in sound, but surprisingly soulful too – and ringing out with a
power that's hard to deny – on titles that include "Dolphy", "If
A Waltz", "Bubble", "Boomerang", "Ting", and
"Kanshibari". ~ Dusty Groove
KINGS & QUEENS
A very
hip, very cool project from the Nostalgia 77 side of the universe – an offshoot
project by various members of that group, done in a style that's a lot more
funky than usual! The tracks have either male or female vocals – both very
soulful singers – and the instrumentation has this cool laidback approach to
funk that's somewhere in the El Michels' camp, but which is sometimes a bit
more upbeat too! The whole thing's nicely stripped-down – not one of those funk
efforts that's always trying way too hard – and titles include
"Firefly", "I'm Looking", "Chicken",
"If", "Pig", "When I Get Home", and
"Wishin". (Very limited vinyl pressing – with bonus download
too!) ~ Dusty Groove
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