NEW RELEASES - HARTLEY AND WOLFE, IPA, KINGS & QUEENS

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