OOH I LOVE
IT - THE SOULFUL SOUNDS OF SALSOUL (VARIOUS ARTISTS)
A great
focus on the most soulful sounds of the Salsoul Records label – the great work
by vocalists who often made the company's work even more powerful than its
grooves – even though Salsoul was a real powerhouse during the disco
generation! Yet, like Philly International and a few other key east coast
companies, they really knew how to bring forward older styles of soul singing
to the new generation – and although their rhythms and instrumentation were
always impeccable, Salsoul's music also drew a lot from their singers as well.
The 2CD set is overflowing with gems – and titles include "My Way" by
Loleatta Holloway, "Tired Of Being Your Fool" by Love Committee,
"Time Will Tell" by Eddie Holman, "Janice (Bobby DJ Guttadaro
12" mix)" by Skip Mahoney, "I Can't Turn You Loose (Walter
Gibbons 12" mix)" by Anthony White, "I Just Can't Give You
Up" by Floyd Smith, "Chained To Your Love" by Moment Of Truth,
"Into The Milky Way (Bobby DJ Guttadaro 12" mix)" by Jimmy Briscoe
& The Beavers, "As Long As You Love Me (Walter Gibbons 12"
mix)" by True Example, and "When Your X Wants You Back" by
Surface. ~ Dusty Groove
YOU ARE
THE STAR – THE SOULFUL SOUNDS OF WEST END (VARIOUS ARTISTS)
A
double-length collection of gems from the legendary West End label – and a
package, as you might guess from the title, that focuses on some of the more
soulful sounds of the New York disco imprint! West End was home to some key
artists in the underground at the time – the kinds of singers and musicians who
were never going to go for the direction of mainstream disco, and instead
stayed in the hippest territory of the clubs and the streets – effortlessly
mixing in bits of funk, club, electro, and deeper soul styles of the time. This
21 track package has almost all those great bits firmly in place – and includes
a number of West End cuts we haven't seen on other reissues – titles that
include "Don't I Ever Cross Your Mind Sometime" by Barbara Mason,
"Make It Feel Like" by LJ Waters, "Kind Of Life" by North
End, "Rescue Me" by Sybil, "Hard Times" by Al McCall,
"You Are The Star" by Jakki, "Mary Hartman Mary Hartman" by
Sounds Of Inner City, "Can't You Feel It" by Michele, "People
Come Dance (Tom Savarese 12" mix)" by Ednah Holt & Starluv,
"Spirit Of Sunshine" by Chuck Davis Orchestra, "I Was Born This
Way (Tom Moulton mix)" by Carl Bean, "Doin The Best That I Can (Water
Gibbons 12" special new mix)" by Bettye Lavette, "We Can Work It
Out" by Taana Gardner, "Give Your Body Up To The Music (Larry Levan
12" mix)" by Billy Nichols, "I Get Lifted (this mix)" by
Sweet Life, and "Hey Everybody" by People's Choice. ~ Dusty Groove
ALEX PUDDU - SOULTIGER
The best
work yet from Alex Puddu – the musician who explored the world of 70s porno on
previous records for Schema, and who steps out here with an even more classic
groove! The great Joe Bataan is in the group on vocals – adding in this old
school New York element that really makes the album strong – that
heartbreaking, soulful quality that we've always loved in Joe's singing – which
takes things to a richer territory than we've ever heard from Puddu! Many cuts
are still instrumental – but even these have this great funky feel – one that
warms up the best 70s elements on Fender Rhodes, vibes, wah wah guitar, and
reeds – with slight Latin or Brazilian inflections in the rhythms at times. The
whole thing feels like some lost underground soul set from Spanish Harlem – and
titles include "High Times In NYC", "Soultiger", "The
Mover", "50,000 Women Can't Be Wrong", "Drum is My
Drug", "Hot Pepper", and "I Want You". ~ Dusty Groove
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