Review Corner

Category: Soul/funk

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    Surprise Chef: Education and Recreation

    Surprise Chef are from Melbourne and play funky soul with some nods to jazz. It’s the kind of music you might find in a Tarantino movie, quirky but sharp, and with a real groove. But it usually makes us think of reggae dub plates, those sparse tracks made for other people to add sounds. Surprise…

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    Sam Redmore: Universal Vibrations

    We’re back in the 80s with this; it’s very much of the era when Madonna was big, and so we get walking basslines, Latin percussion, funk, soul and people blowing whistles, the music simply for dancing and not categorising. If you’re a fan of soul / disco from back then, this is for you. It’s…

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    Beautiful People: If 60s Were 90s

    This came out ages ago in 1992. We were never too sure of it at the time, being massive Hendrix fans and unable to see the point of adding dance beats to a genius, but it seems much better all these years on. Perhaps we all need cheering up just now. (Though it did cost…

  • Bacao Rhythm and Steel Band: Expansions

    The Bacao Rhythm and Steel Band is a German funk music ensemble (founded by members of the Mighty Mocambos says Wikipedia). Bandleader Björn Wagner lived in Trinidad and Tobago for a time, where he studied steel drums and had one custom made. He then came up with the idea of covering famous tunes with a…

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    Georgie: At Home

    We like Georgie in the Review Corner. With that name and her appearance, she could be one of those X Factor clones (that type of voice, that mild RnB) but she’s not. She can really sing, needs no Auto-tunes and her rich, soulful voice is at home singing pop, jazz or blues. If you like…

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    My Grito presents … Mas Alto! A Charity Compilation

    This is in a good cause and is a more-than-decent album. The cause: sadly not a local one but still good: the album is raising cash for No Us Without You, a US charity providing food security for undocumented back-of-house staff and their families. “Undocumented hospitality workers are the backbone of the hospitality industry,” says…

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    Nick Faber … presents The Lost Highway Tapes

    It’s always a problem reviewing albums from bands like Biffy Clyro or Foals: you know the sound, you expect the quality, and unless they cover Agadoo badly, you’re not going to be surprised. It might be the pinnacle of musical perfection, but it’s hard to get worked up about. The flipside is that albums from…

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    Denai Moore: Modern Dread

    This is a very nice album for those who like soul, pop, RnB, even trip hop. It’s so good – and this is rare praise – it puts us in mind of Little Dragon’s album of the same name (as the band, not a this). For that album at least they played cool, genre-hopping music…

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    Millicent B James: Moyo, Vol.1 EP

    Releases by local bands always make us nervous; if they’re no good, what do we say? Sadly for everyone else, this new EP from Biddolphian Millicent sets a new benchmark: it’s wonderful. She’s is not a novice: a composer, cellist and vocalist, she regularly sings with the RBC Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra and RBC Jazz…

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    Lack of Afro: I’m Here Now

    Adam Gibbons, aka Lack of Afro, is from Devon, born in Exeter but now living in Ilfracombe. Wikipedia reports that he was given the nickname Lack of Afro while a student, when he DJd and played a lot of funk, presumably looking the opposite of the performers he loves. This new one opens with an…