Is there a better song for today than James Brown’s classic?
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Finland’s Timmion Records has released Chicano-soul rocker Jonny Benavidez who provides a radio-friendly (for 1965) soul cut that sounds so authentic that it takes you back at least two generations, which seems to be a specialty for the record label.
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My friends, mark your calendars for June 30, 2023. This is the date that Italian DJ/bandleader/impresario and all-around man of good taste Nicola Conte releases his latest album under the banner of Far Out Recordings, who have never let me down on a single release all these years. As Nicola’s music spreads to all corners of the globe, rather than having me describe it to you, let us start with who’s on this platter: Zara Mcfarlane – Lead Vocals On Arise/life Forces/freedom & Progress Bridgette Amofah – Lead Vocals On Dance Of Love & Peace/soul Of The People/flying Circles Myles…
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It’s safe to say that 1976 Nigeria was a somewhat different world from today’s. The Edo-Delta region must have been a rather swinging place if this reissue of Felix Labarty’s classic, Girls For Sale, is any indication. The music is lush, perhaps a little tinny, disco mixed with reggae vibes and lyrics filled with a combination of braggadocio and grieving over lost loves. No, not love, but loves. He was quite a player in his day. An essential for those who want their Afrobeat to come in a different flavor.
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I have to say that I know next to nothing about vaporwave and the history of the scene. Most of what I’ve heard is, to put it mildly, awful. However, Groove Paradise, a Spanish artist, left me with a more positive view of the genre. The music sounds like something you would hear on 1980’s mainstream radio, with AOR, funk and soul influences, only underwater. I was a teenager during the 80’s, so hearing the music left me with a very pleasant sense of nostalgia. If this is truly representative of vaporwave, then then album is done well.
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We have here a slab of R&B and modern soul courtesy of Akshin Alizadeh, the wunderkind originally from Azerbaijan who records for Cold Busted Records out of Oregon. It’s strangely radio-friendly, but the funk is pleasant on this single
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The Finns are noted for not only being great musicians, but are masters at cultural adaptation. They make tango even more melancholy than their Argentine friends do, and now, I guess I have to admit that they’re more than holding their own in soul and R&B if this latest album by guitarist Bobby Oroza is anything to go by. The sounds are pure, sweet, deep soul with production that would make Smokey Robinson and many a Motown band smile. Damn near perfect, this one.
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This is some beautiful soul from the Pacific Northwest. The Cinnamon Soulettes were, apparently, from Seattle and recorded this private single sometime during the 1970s, but according to the Bandcamp site, “Unfortunately, most information the estate had was lost in a flood and none of the collectors and music historians from the PNW area we contacted, nor the University of Washington State who inherited a large part of (producer Kearney) Barton’s tape collection knew anything about the band or its mysterious songwriter “L. Leavy.”” With luck, L. Leavy will be found and properly compensated.
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Somalia’s Dur-Dur Band have released fresh material, so if you’re interested in Somali music, Afrobeat, funk or soul, you might want to pick this up quickly. From the band’s Bandcamp site: “The Berlin Session travels far beyond the gems collected from dusty cassettes. It is a bridge between the sorrow of all that has been and the delight of a magic which survived, a shining pearl rescued alive from the Atlantean fate of forever drowning in the Indian Ocean.”
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The Sextones are a neo-soul band out of Reno, Nevada who are signed to the Italian label Record Kicks. The sound is a nice blend of 60’s garage rock blended with elements of Motown soul, especially if you are into the music of Smokey Robinson & The Miracles.