Category Archives: Reviews

The second release this month from N-Side and one which sees him take a slightly different path. Of course his distinctive poetry delivery is present and correct but the musical accompaniment, largely provided by Ricardo Love journey’s into soul/hip-hop territory. ‘What Comes From The Mouth Of A Fool, ‘Hero, I Know’, ‘Discovery (A Gift Within A Verse)’ and ‘Hidden Scars And Movie Stars’ work particularly well and deserve to receive serious attention from the organic soul fraternity. 

Andy Allen

Recorded in 1980 but not released until 2001, Olivier Peter’s ‘Wings Of Spring’ now gets a welcome repress. Olivier’s sax takes the lead on this consistent set with the title track being one of the standouts. It’s the tracks featuring the captivating vocals of Joan Johnson which really shine though such as the Latin tinged ‘Full Moon’ and the supreme jazz dancer ‘Kekay’ on which Johnson lets rip in scat mode.

Andy Allen

This retrospective of Bobby Matos’ recordings for the Ubiquity/Luv N Haight subsidiary Cubop is a must for any fan of Latin jazz. Much of the material here is aimed directly at the dance floor and whilst you can’t help being drawn in by the intoxicating rhythms it’s the gentler moments which appeal to me the most. His versions of John Coltrane’s ‘Naima’ and Pharoah Sanders’ ‘The Creator Has A Master Plan’ are both outstanding as is his take on Miles’ ‘So What’. If you’ve overlooked Bobby Matos in the past and feel the urge to acquaint yourself with his music, then this album is a great place to start.

Andy Allen

Although recorded in the late 60s this is the first ever release of this album. It came about following DJ Food’s discovery of The Dragons’ ‘Food For My Soul’ on an old surfing movie soundtrack. He eventually tracked down the band to find they had recorded a full album of material which until now had never been issued. ‘BFI’ is very much based in psychedelic rock but with heavy doses of funk and jazz thrown in for good measure. ‘Food For My Soul’ is definitely the strongest cut on show but not to be overlooked are ‘Are You There?’, ‘Sunset Scenery’ and ‘Your Way Too’.

Andy Allen

The third album from Clara Hill, as the title suggests, is a folk orientated affair which although is a pleasant, overall lacks the impact of her previous outings. That’s not to say there aren’t any great tracks here, there are, particularly the duet with Thief, ‘About You’, the Minnie Riperton influenced ‘Wonderful World’ and the Marc Mac produced ‘Everything’. It just would have been nice to have a few more tracks of this standard included.

Andy Allen

The fourth volume in the ‘Secret Love’ series and yet another quality selection of modern tripped-out folk delights. Midlake’s ‘Roscoe (Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve Mix)’, ‘Duet’ by Breaks Co-Op, Roe Beck’s ‘Atlantic’ and ‘The Loved’ from Paul Weller are tracks I was previously unfamiliar with but all instantly hit the spot. Also included is Clara Hill’s ‘About You’ from her new ‘Folkwaves’ album, ‘Down Down’ by Thief, Nostalgia 77’s Little Steps and ‘Twice’ by Yukimi Nagano’s new project Little Dragon.

Andy Allen

Japanese jazz quartet Quasimode follow up their debut ‘Oneself-Likeness’ with another first rate set packed with firing jazz dance material. ‘The Man From Nagpur’, ‘For Self Defense’, ‘Percussion Revolver’ and ‘Dark Beauty’ featuring Mika Arisaka all hit the spot but what makes this album so special is a guest appearance from my favourite female jazz vocalist bar none, Carmen Lundy. She graces the spoken word intro ‘Over The Horrizon’, the immaculate ‘Object In The Mirror’ and a new version of her classic ‘Time Is Love’. Need I say more!

Andy Allen

Following his version of Derrick May’s ‘Strings Of Life’, released a couple of months back on 12", Christian Prommer continues the theme throughout his debut solo album, taking his favourite house tracks and reinterpreting them in a jazz dance style. The aforementioned ‘Strings Of Life’ is included along with great versions of Mr. Fingers’ ‘Can You Feel It’, Master At Work’s ‘Nervous Track’ Isoul8’s ‘Beau Mot Plage’, Ame’s ‘Rej’ and Kraftwerk’s ‘Trans Europa Express.

Andy Allen

This takes salsa away from the dreadful dance classes and back to the streets, raw and edgy. 15 great tracks which include Ozomatli, Spam Allstars, Alex Wilson, Cuban Cowboys, Los Amigos Invisibles and two for special note – Baku and ‘Desde Cuba Hasta Afghanistan’ and Roberto Rodriguez featuring Irving Fields ‘Wolfie’s Corner’ remix. Great compilation.

Graham Radley

Great debut album from this group of Francesca Amati (vocals) Mattia Mercuriali (guitar) Marco Trinchillo (acoustic guitar/drums) and Paolo Gradari (trumpet/guitar/keys) from Ravenna in north eastern Italy. The pointers/influences are Bjork, Aphex Twin and Belle & Sebastien with folk at the core but this is music that evolves beautifully in its own chilled world.

Graham Radley

Wildly good this one, Champeta is the vibrant Afro-Colombian sound from the street’s of Colombia’s Caribbean coast with Congolese soukous, Ghanaian highlife, and Nigerian Afro-beat meeting Latin and exploding in rhythms. The project took 3 years to put together and has Colombian champeta stars Viviano Torres, Luis Towers and Justo Valdez jamming with African legends Dally Kimoko, Diblo Dibala, Sékou Diabaté, Nyboma and Rigo Star.
Afro-Colombian grooves meet Africa and I’d buy it just to hear Diblo & Rigo fingers caressing those guitar strings into life. Highly recommended.

Graham Radley

The Birmingham collective hook up with some of the city’s finest reggae musicians – Moses and Jaffa from the excellent Crucial music plus Conrad Kelly (Steel Pulse/UB40) aka the Mighty Tree who set down a mighty rhythm structure for the GCorp team to weave in their dub magic. You also get a limited edition cookbook with original recipes for classic West Indian food plus original artwork by Ninety. Absolutely ******* brilliant, the queue starts here for Volume 4!

Graham Radley

Excellent live recording, at this jazz festival, from accordionist Richard Galliano which was the first appearance of this new group made up of Alexis Cardenas, Rafaël Mejitas and Philippe Aerts. The concert also features Hamilton De Holanda on mandolin. Very good.

Graham Radley

Film tunes from the vaults of Warner & Atlantic with 21 classic tracks which include ‘Theme From Lawrence Of Arabia (Les Baxter) Batman Theme (The Markettes) A Taste Of Honey (Esther Phillips) Midnight Cowboy (Young-Holt Unlimited) Theme From Mash (Jimmy Smith) Our Mann Flint (Herbie Mann) and 77 Sunset Strip (Warren Baker). A good dose of nostalgia.

Graham Radley

A second album, and a great new singer in Gaelic vocalist Calum Alex MacMillan who joins Angus MacKenzie, Colm O’Rua, Gabe McVarish, James Bremner and Ross Martin who are variously from the Scottish West Highlands, Cape Breton, Ireland and America. Produced by Iain MacDonald who adds flute and whistle on several tracks, plus some excellent guests – Anxo Lorenzo (Galician gaitas, Baroque recorder), Xose Liz de Cea (bouzouki, lute) and The Clachnabrochan Gaelic Choir. Very good.

Graham Radley