SOUL RECOMMENDATIONS FEBRUARY 2015

Review: Kent Soul pays tribute to the seminal LA soul imprint Money with four of its most characteristic cuts. "The Man That Said No" was a follow up to Bettye's breakthrough smash "Don't Wait Too Long". The limited success at the time has driven recent sales high, making this 45" appeal to collectors instantly. Dig deeper for Bobby's super-slamming R&B jam "I'll Be A Soldier Boy". Its debut vinyl appearance, this nods effectively at the northern soul anthem "Too Much For You". Further on we experience doo-wop delight with The M&Ms & The Peanuts' debut single "Lil Valley" before fast-forwarding to the early 70s with the lavish soul of Moore's "I'll Just Walk Away". Money talks.... You'd be wise to listen.

Review: Two Larry Banks produced soul gems from the 60s... Kenny Carter's "You'd Better Get Hip Girl" is straight out of the Motown playbook; raw emotions, rich harmonies and superb orchestration it's a ballad of the highest order. "My Life Is No Better" carries the same lamented sentiment but delivers it in a much more uptempo fashion a la Delfonics. Powerful.

Review: Before finding success in the disco/boogie era under the One Way alias, Al Hudson & The Soul Partners produced a string of brilliant soul jams for Atco Records. While these have long been popular amongst soul collectors, they've remained strangely under-celebrated in the dance music world at large. This collection from Expansion attempts to change that by gathering together every track from the seven singles they released for Atco between 1975 and 1976. Featuring a mix of sensual floor fillers, seductive slow jams and grandiose, horn-heavy, Philadelphia International style anthems, The Atco Years is packed with A-grade material, including underground soul anthems "I'm About Loving You" and "When You're Gone".

Review: Despite its' obscurity, Crystal Winds' 1982 album First Flight became something of a must-have for those on the British jazz-funk scene in the early '80s. Given that it was pressed in limited qualities on the Chicago-based private press imprint Crash Ear, copies regularly changed hands for huge sums. Here, BBE give the album its' first legitimate re-issue (bootlegs circulated back in 2003). It remains a superb set - a sinewy, sensual collection of smooth soul, laidback funk and musically intricate jazz-funk that portrays its' creators - local musicians Paul Coleman and Morris Brown - as unheralded titans of early '80s Chicago soul.

Review: In 2013 Nicole Wray's Lady project shook speakers, massaged dancefloors and melted hearts the world over with its authentic soul and surging sentiments. Two years later, Truth & Soul re-amp the power with this collection of instrumentals; from the life-affirming, northern soul stomps, horns and strings of "Hold On" to the epic bluesy swoons of "Karma" to the big band motifs of "Please Don't Do It Again", this collection of instrumentals is a showcase of the attention to detail that went into the entire album's production. Seductive.