VARIOUS ARTISTS:
Soul Power
(Dome Records)
This set is for all those who have worn out their copy of the Soul Togetherness compilation off Expansion Records. Soul Power is all about classic soul music with a verse, a chorus and lyrics that tells the old story of a broken heart or the happiness in a newly found love.
Our friends at Dome Records has compiled the album with exquisite taste and concentrated on the real gems and not the obvious selection of contemporary soul stars. Imagine making a selection of your favorite soul singers and compile it on a CD-R - this is such a record, only thing is that the people at Dome has a few gems that are even better than the best tunes most of us have stacked in the box.
The set opens with Charlie Wilson's electric Would You Mind - Timbaland funk, continues with Darwin Hobbs' angelic dance floor stormer Everyday.
We also get the superb smoker Friend of Mine from the New York soul unit Cooly's Hot Box.
San Francisco vocalist Ledisi contributes with Take Time, taken from her debut album Soulsinger off the LeSun Music imprint. Soulsinger is lyrically ambitious, musically rich and designed to be used as a reply to anyone who says there are no soulful singers and no meaningful songs anymore. Songs about child abuse Poppa Used To Love Me and wife-battering Coffee give the album strong feminist credentials and are as disturbing as they need to be to avoid awkwardness
The top notch UK soul singer Beverlei Brown's Best Friend is included. This groover is produced by Full Crew's Michael Daley and lifted from her debut album Next To You.
Most songs on display here are from the last year or so, with one notable exception in the outstanding and quite rare Mica Paris - Bobby Womack duet I Wish I'd Never Met You from 1991. Mica Paris' own albums are also well worth to investigate for the discerning soul head.
In short, there are no duds here, just quality soul power all the way. Highly recommended!
BEVERLEI BROWN:
Next To You
(Dome Records)
Beverlei Brown, the UK singer who hit the charts in 1996 with the club floorfiller On and On released her debut album Next To You in Japan in March 2001. The album will be released in Europe in a couple of months time and will include tracks not on this pressing.
The album opens with Ivan Matias's R&B anthem Somebody Knows How You Feel. Da Full Crew Boys come with a velvet smooth production on the mid-beat Love You Yes and on the funky and percussive laden swayer Dedicate. Cool stuff! The sassy and slow Best Friend is perfect for late night slow dancing.
Other standout tracks are the slow Unhappily Ever After, the Disco Mix of Gonna Get Over You and the The Finest Soul mix of On And On. A superb soul album!
ROMINA JOHNSON:
Superbad
(Cutting Edge)
In 1998 Romina Johnson's Movin’ Too Fast was remixed by two relatively unknown DJs from the underground garage scene: the Artful Dodger. Their remix circulated the clubs for almost
two years achieving reasonable success there and on pirate radio. Things started to take off
when the garage and 2-step scene broke into the mainstream in 1999 and the Artful Dodger remix hit the charts.
Romina Johnson's new album opens with a soulful mix of Movin' Too Fast. There are a couple of other killer tracks on the album: the relentless drama of Out Of My Life, the massive soul and string laden mid-pace ballad Never Do with nice guitar licks and funky horn stabs. Equally cool is the superb acoustic 2-step ballad Let's Give. Never Gonna Give You Up is a cinematic experience with swaying strings, wah wah guitars and rounded off with a huge dash of disco in the drum programming. The set ends with both the Asylum Mix and Zed Bias Dub of Ms Johnsons latest single Into You.
Superbad with a jazzy b-line, keys and blues guitar is a standout cut for me. The original mix of Movin Too Fast is sassy enough for jazz. This is rather poppy set and I recommend it whole heartedly.
SAUNDRA WILLIAMS:
Bless The Day
(Groov-A-Toon)
Bless The Day was recorded in 1999 and two years later it surfaces in Europe. What kept it? Supported by a small band and guitarist Ron Pacaud New York poet and singer Saundra Williams has come up with an album of solid soul dancers and a couple of boss ballads squeezed in between the poems. Most notably song is the timeless groover With Or Without You. This CD should be investigated.
