The Family Daptone - "Hey Brother (Do Unto Others)" (3:52)
Soul Fugue - "The 100 Knights Orchestra" (4:58)
Review: Soul and funk heads won't want to miss this very special seven-inch from the Daptone Records crew, and not just because it's the label's 100th "45". The A-side features an all-star '60s soul cover of the Frightnrs rock-steady cut featuring vocal contributions from Saun and Starr, James Hunter, Lee Fields, Naomi Shelton, Duke Amayo, the Frightnrs and two legends who are no longer with us: Charles Bradley and Sharon Jones. It's a one-off that won't be repeated for obvious reasons, but more importantly it's very, very good. Over on the flip main man Bosco Mann takes charge, conducting and producing "two opposing armies" of woodwind and horn players from the label's expansive musical roster. As you'd expect, it's something of an epic.
Menahan Street Band - "How Did I Get Here?" (2:40)
Review: The superbly classy Daptone label comes on strong with another perfect formed 7" of retro soul. This time, the label's in house crew Menahan Street Band provide their famously authentic grooves, with big horns, rolling licks and drawn out leads on 'How Did I Get Here?' which on the a-side has vocals from LaRose Jackson. Soaring high and filled with rich soul, it's another timeless tune. On the flip is the instrumental. It's a story telling tune with some cosmic synth work and nice old school tambourines for an old/new fusion that gets you movin'.
Review: Daptone recently released a killer collection of archival cover versions by in-house band the Dap-Kings and their sadly departed lead singer Sharon Jones. One of the headline attractions on that set, the band's righteous, call-to-arms soul version of Woody Guthrie's folk anthem 'This Land Is Our Land', is also featured on this must-have reissue of a "45" that first dropped in 2004. It's superb, but even better is A-side 'What If We All Stopped Paying Taxes?', a floor-friendly conscious soul/funk crossover written and recorded at the height of the second Gulf War with Iraq. As usual, Jones' impeccable lead vocal is supported brilliantly by the band's fiery instrumentation and Bosco Mann's fuzzy, sixties-style production.
Review: The Budos Band are the quintessence of Staten Island Soul. Since the release of the 2005 debut, their exciting new afro-influenced take on the instrumental music has been captivating listeners across the globe. "The Budos Band II" is an amazing release on Daptone.
Review: Female vocalist Sharon Jones continues to fly the flag for raw femme funk with her fifth album for US label Daptone, ably assisted by the labels in-house band - The Dap Kings. The new record is a collection of rare tracks and B-Sides going back as far as 2002. The only new track appears to be the Motown-esque "New Shoes", which, like the rest of the album, could be mistaken as a lost soul classic.
Going The Distance (From The Motion Picture "rocky")
Review: Big repress alert! This is the much-loved debut album from the Menahan Street Band, which is a talented collaboration of musicians including the great Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, El Michels Affair, Antibalas and the Budos Band. Led by producer Thomas Brenneck (who has worked before with Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Budos Band and also Amy Winehouse), the record was recorded in the bedroom of his Menahan Street apartment in Bushwick, Brooklyn. It is a soulful, instrumental exploration that showcases the immense talent of the group and draws on all of their diverse influences to create a unique and captivating sound that pushes the boundaries of instrumental music into sumptuous and soulful worlds.
Review: These days, there are countless bands authentically recreating the fuzzy sounds of 1960s and '70s Black American soul and funk. That wasn't the case when the Poets of Rhythm released their first records in the 1990s. Their attempts to create a new (old) funk sound arguably peaked with 2001's Discern/Define, the German combo's second and final full-length. Here reissued on wax for the first time since with a slightly expanded track list, the album remains a classic collection of funk-some gems that digs deep for inspiration. Yes, there are nods to James Brown, Stax Records and the Meters, but also dusty reggae-soul, Blaxploitation soundtracks and obscure Latino funk. In a word: essential.
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