My selection of the best releases this week (Jan 2022 Wk 02)
In no particular order other than tempo.
Well what a week this has been, almost certainly one of the worst
weeks for good quality new releases, even worse than the festive
period. I am struggling to even choose twelve good enough to feature
in this week's "The Dirty Dozen" so I'm considering not posting "The
Bleeding Edge" this week as it would be scraping the barrel. That's no
slight on the tunes chosen as I think they are all worthy entries even
though the short list this week was extremely short!
There are a couple of good tracks on Don-E's new EP which may have
appeared but the EP is not available on Spotify along with a few
others I could have selected had they been available.
Last week I put my neck on the block suggesting that Lindsey Webster
would almost certainly be the SoulStrutter Selection of the Week this week unless something else very special materialised. I'm afraid for her it
has, in the form of the new single by The Temptations "Calling Your
Name" which has really grown and grown on me with each hearing. I've
been fortunate enough to hear the full album due on 28 Jan and this,
for me, is easily the standout track, but there are a few other good
tracks to look forward to e,g. "Breaking My Back" and "Time For
The People" for starters. You can read a full review of the album over at Bill
Buckley's (a good friend and supporter of the blog)
soulandjazzandfunk
who has rated it 4/5 (that would be an 8/10 here!)
It was a close call and to be honest I was influenced by the fact that
Lindsey Webster is already getting plenty of attention and is this
week's top viewed post and hence #1 on the SoulStrutter Top 30.
Another that gets better with each play is Mamas Gun "Looking For
Moses". Regular listeners to The Dirty Dozen will know that I tend to
focus on the more soulful side of things and not many dance tunes get
much of a look in but there are a couple of uptempo numbers included to make up the dozen. I think STR4TA have done a good job on the remix
on Anushka's "Bad Weather". Bronx Cheer's update on Patrick Adam's
"Ain't No Big Thing" would in other weeks have been in the Covers etc.
dozen as would Davante DeVaughn's cover of "Be Thankful".
2022
2021
NB You must be logged on to Spotify to listen in full
