There seems to be a lot of these types of recordings around at the moment
coming from Disco Pool and BeachGroove 'labels'. They seem to sample or cover classic, mainly 70s/80s, tunes. A couple of others posted include a
version of Donny Hathaway's "The Ghetto" by Funk Yourself and Leon Haywood's "I'm Out To Catch" by Block Street Sound.
This is obviously a re-imagining of "You Can't Hide Love" originally
recorded by Creative Source in 1973. EWF covered it in 1975 and are
currently doing the rounds with their own 'reimagined' version featuring Lucky
Daye as "You Want My Love".
This version by The MILF sounds like it could have been lifted straight off a 70s
Blaxploitation movie soundtrack! It's actually very well produced! As for who The MILF are, I would imagine it's just a fabricated name for a group of producers?
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A new six track EP "Adult Conversations" by BJ Kemp released 27 Sep 2021. It's by no means an 'instant' one but one that
has grown on me after a few listens. I 'believe' that he has been a
background vocalist for many years as I've seen a video of him performing
with Raphael Saadiq in 2012 and he appeared on Saadiq's fourth album "Stone Rollin'".
"Magic Lady" is the obvious standout but I also like "Come To Me"
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A new release from Soul Intention (run by Phil Dick) is this re-recording
of a 1981 single by Detroit band T.F.O. Apparently T.F.O. stands for The
Floaters Orchestra as they were the backing band for The Floaters who in
turn were formed by two former members of The Detroit Emeralds James
Mitchell and Marvin Willis. It follows the label's recent success with the
'lost' GarciaWalker&Durrell album "Praying For The Rain" and the 12"
release of several remixes of the Beloyd cover by them.
Both sides of T.F.O.s 1981 release on Venture were re-recorded in Detroit late 2020 by
original band members led by drummer Ronnie Nelson, vocalist Esther Todd
and Greg Mathis along with Detroit 'legends' (in rare soul circles) Spyder
Turner, Pat Lewis, Carolyn Crawford, Willie Kendrick.
As far as I am aware T.F.O. released just three singles between 1979 and
1986. Their first consisted of two boogie/funk tracks "All The Way" / "I
Come Here To Party" which sound a little ahead of their time for 1979,
originally released on Three G's Productions before being picked up by
Venture. Then came "Happy Family" / "Let Love Come Right On In" in 1981 again on Venture. Their final single in 1986 was the only
release on Rivertown (which looks like it may have been a subsidiary of
Wheelsville and was produced by Edwin Starr's (aka Charles Hatcher) cousin
Will Hatcher who owned the company) which had one of those horrendous mid
80s synthesised tracks on the top side ("Friend Of Mine") but a pleasant
ballad on the flip "There Goes My Heart".
I'm not sure whether I caught a 'dodgy' promo copy or not but the
mastering on "Let's Come Right On In" in particular needs re-addressing as
it sounds like it was recorded in a public toilet! Sorry guys but it's the truth! If
it came to me on a 45 in this 'quality' it would be going straight back! A
'rip' of the original version is included below for comparison.
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Kem's album "Love Always Wins" was in my end of year selections as one of the
best albums of 2020. On 24 Sep 2021 an extended 'Deluxe' version was released with an
additional two tracks, which is hardly sufficient for you to rush out
and buy it in my view as both 'new' tracks are simply remixes of "Lie To Me" (released as a single in July) and "Not Before You".
But, as I didn't post the full album last year (as it was pre-Spotify
embedding days), I think the album is well worthy of re-posting. If you missed it first time around then give it a listen and even if you didn't, remind yourself of just how good it is!
Re-visiting what I wrote about the album last year I note that three
tracks also featured amongst the best singles of the year. It was very
pleasant listening again to "Lonely" (featuring Brian Culbertson on keyboards) in particular, but also the title track duet with Erica Campbell. The new mix of "Not Before You", which features Eric Hudson, I feel is an upgrade to the original version.
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Arrion Jerod is a singer/songwriter from Atlanta, GA, who
emerged in 2018. He self-released a debut five track EP "A Few Wild Nights" on 20 Sep 2021. He also wrote all songs, one with Dematkus
Hudson.
It's a nice EP all through for lovers of soulful R&B with the two
standouts, for me, being "Say Sorry" and "Body" and I'm warming more and more to the deeper cut "Dahlonega".
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Alex Puddu's new single "Call Me" has him doing what he does best nu disco/retro whatever you want to call it. This has that late 70s / early 80s feel and features the vocals of Simone Miller.
Maybe it's just me but I'm sure I detect hints of intro to The Shapeshifters recent 'hit' "Finally Ready" around 1:33? (who, themselves, may well have 'borrowed' it from elsewhere?)
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Back in June (25th) Mike De'cole released "Nights Like This" along with
"Saturday" on 7" vinyl only. The 'main' side has just been released
digitally (24 Sep 2021).
Check out the
previous post
from more info and his previous EP "Simply Wonderful" and debut album "So
It Was Written".
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