New Music Releases: The Emotions, Enrico Intra, Alessandro Alessandroni

The Emotions – Blessed: The Emotions Anthology 1969 to 1985

One of the greatest female soul groups of all time – served up here in a career-spanning anthology that finally gets at the full range of their talents! The tracks here start in the trio's early years on Stax Records, move through their sublime 70s hitmaking years at Columbia, with lots of help from Maurice White and Earth Wind & Fire – and also move onto include some rare Motown and Red Label recordings too! The vocals are sublime throughout – that rich style of coming together that the girls first forged in their gospel work, then unleashed to the soul world in work that was far more sophisticated and meaningful than the usual girl trio mode – which could sometimes be a throwaway approach to hide the weakness in each others vocals. 2CD set features a big 24 page booklet of notes – and includes 40 tracks in all – including "I Should Be Dancing", "Smile", "Turn It Out", "Blessed", "Are You Through With My Heart", "Now That I Know", "Changes", "You're The One", "Miss Your Love", "All Night Alright", "The Best Part Of A Love Affair", "Blind Alley", "So I Can Love You", "Flowers", "Baby I'm Through", "From Toys To Boys", "You're The Best", "Don't Ask My Neighbors", "Love Vibes", "We Go Through Changes", "Key To My Heart", "Stealing Love", "How'd I Know That Love Would Slip Away", "Walking The Line", "Special Part", and "Boogie Wonderland". ~ Dusty Groove

Enrico Intra - Soundplanets

One of the most unusual albums we've ever heard from Italian pianist Enrico Intra – and that's saying a lot, given his legacy of creative sounds from the 70s onward! This set has Intra playing piano, but also has all the spacey elements you'd guess from the cover – a very unusual mix of electronic sounds, odd effects, and acoustic piano – the latter of which is sometimes free and very avant, sometimes warmer and more grounded – but always handled with a spirit that's very much Erico's own! There are some moments of very strange percussion – which might well come from the body of the piano itself – and Alex Stangoni provides live electronics on a few of the album's tracks. Titles include "Ghost", "Interstellar", "Kick", "Through The Door", "Hanger", "Time Tai Chi", "Dorfles", and "Vertical". ~ Dusty Groove

Alessandro Alessandroni - Afro Discoteca Reworked EP

Four fantastic tracks from the Afro Discoteca record by sound library genius Alesseandro Alessandroni – all reworked in contemporary versions, yet in a way that never loses the funky charm of the originals! There's a real respect for classic styles going on here – partly because the choice of remixers is so strong, the project features just the right sort of artists to keep things right, while still also adding in their own contributions too – maybe some extra keyboards or subtle electronic elements that never get in the way of the original tribal disco inspiration! Titles include "Afro Voodoo (Bovisa rmx with Calibro 35)", "Afro Darkness (Pad rmx)", "Afro Discoteca (Jolly Mare lifting)", and "Afro Darkness (LUCA quirky version)". ~ Dusty Groove