Wednesday, 18 May 2022

Alex Fanjul [2022] - Superfly / Dance Into My Song / The Cheater [Self Released]


Alex Fanjul (Alejandro Fanjul Garcia) is a guitarist, composer, producer from Gijón, Spain. He began playing guitar when he was very young and later played bass for a band called Thebas. When the group disbanded two years later he left music returning to it in 2007 playing with several bands which were all short-lived. 

He decided to start a new project at the start of the Covid pandemic (March 2020) essentially  for enjoyment and love of music drafting in friends to share and help who have included: Ivan Cueto (bass), Jose A. Doval (keyboards), Charly Blanco (keyboards), Alba Barcia (Voice), Javier de Coupaud (bass), Julio Gilsanz (guitar), Lía Marcos (Voice), Carlos Borji (Cajon) , Jhonny Menendez (Keyboards), Gareth Hollis (Lyrics), Mikel Nyhus (Vocals), Henning Danpel (Keyboards), Pablo Canto (Drums), Damiano Della Torre (Keys), BassBarcelona  (Bass) and many others.

He is now ready to share some of his recordings with the world and has unleashed a batch of three dance oriented singles, "Supafly" released on 6 Apr and "The Cheater" and "Dance Into My Song" on 3 May 2022.

The best of the batch, for me, is "Superfly" (not the Curtis Mayfield song) led by Marcus Nyhus which reminds me of a big modern soul tune by 100% Pure Poison "You Keep Coming Back".

"The Cheater" is a cool jazz guitar instrumental (presumably played by Alex himself, whilst "Dance Into My Song", unsurprisingly, is a dance tune led by a female vocalist Alba Garcia/Lia Marcos.

The theme through "The Cheater" in particular is a George Bensonish jazz guitar from Alex Fanjul.

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Details
Rating: 8.4
Explicit: N
Genre/Style: New Soul / Jazz
Format: Single
Media: Digital
Label: Self Released
Cat No: None
Date: 03/05/2022
Key/BPM: 5A/107 / 8B/120 / 12B/122
Price: £1

Dames Brown Feat. Andrés & Amp Fiddler [2022] - What Would I Do? (Louie Vega & Josh Milan Mixes) [Defected]


If you cast your mind back to last November, you may recall a funky little number from Dames Brown "What Would I Do?" which is another I thought would/should have been received better than it was. On Friday (13 May 2022) a set of four new mixes (vocal and dub long and short versions so only two really!) by Louie Vega and Josh Milan were unleashed.

To be brutally honest I don't feel they retain the raw essence of the original as they seem to have taken away the funky edge and it sounds like it's also been sped up a notch or two (6 BPMs to be exact) and smoothed it into more of a disco tune (which I guess was the purpose) but you can listen and make up your own mind.

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Jump to 4:30 for "What Would I Do?"
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Details
Rating: 8
Explicit: N
Genre/Style: Nu Funk / Nu Disco / Remixes
Format: Single
Media: Digital
Label: Defected
Cat No: None
Date: 13/05/2022
Key/BPM: 11B/125
Price: £2.49

Mark Ronson Feat. Lucky Daye [2022] - Too Much [Columbia]


Lucky Daye collaborates with British born, NYC based, producer Mark Ronson for a new single "Too Much" which was released last Friday (13 May 2022). 

I don't know about you but, I find Lucky Daye can be a bit hit 'n miss veering to the R&B side but he's featured on the blog a few times. His last appearance was last Aug on the remake of EWF's "Can't Hide Love" retitled as "You Want My Love", which I thought would/should have done better than it did. He also appeared with a Spotify only cover of Marvin's "Mercy Mercy Me" in May 2021.

The new single has a retro, soft funk, feel with a phat bassline and the inevitable Ronson sprinkling of commerciality which will no doubt set the dancefloor alight. DJ alert, it has one of those sudden, drop dead, endings specifically designed to catch you napping!

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Details
Rating: 7.9
Explicit: N
Genre/Style: New Soul
Format: Single
Media: Digital
Label: Columbia
Cat No: None
Date: 13/05/2022
Key/BPM: 5A/110
Price: £1

Ley Vara [2022] - Touch [Self Released]


Another one of those strange  'lo-fi' intros, so I'd suggest cueing the new single "Touch" (released on 10 May 2020) from Ley Vara at around 40 seconds!

Ley Vara (Hayley Goreski) is from Kitchener, Ontario who has been actively recording since 2019 and "Touch" will be her thirteenth single to date.

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Details
Rating: 8
Explicit: Y
Genre/Style: Neo Soul / Blue-Eyed
Format: Single
Media: Digital
Label: Self Released
Cat No: None
Date: 10/05/2022
Key/BPM: 2A/90
Price: £1

Anthony David & Algebra Blessett [2022] - Heaven [Dome]


A new single due out on Friday (20 May 2022) from Anthony David & Algebra Blessett is a stripped and laid back, acoustic, version of a song recorded by BeBe & CeCe Winans in 1988 titled "Heaven" which is barely recognisable to the original, for good or bad you can decide. However, if you like it more uptempo, there is an afro-beat, "Amapiano Mix" on Traxsource also due of Friday.

The couple from Altanta, GA, had a hit together with "4 Evermore" in 2011.

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Click icons below for further information or to connect with the artist. 

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Details
Rating: 7.8
Explicit: N
Genre/Style: New Soul
Format: Single
Media: Digital
Label: Dome
Cat No: None
Date: 20/05/2022
Key/BPM: N/A / 4B/109
Price: £1 / £3 approx.