Be With レコード& CD

Review: Despite her 'Working Men's Club" roots, British variety entertainer Marti Caine actually made some surprisingly good records during her lifetime. 1981 album "Point of View" is arguably the best of the lot. Caine's soft-touch (and emotional vocals) take centre stage, though it's the rather left-of-centre musical mixture below - think rock-infused cosmic disco ("Love The Way You Love Me"), trippy dub disco ("Snowbird City"), shirts-off disco ("Can I Speak To The World Please") and a string of cuts that could arguably be described as Balearic - that makes the album an essential listen.

Review: Ian Carr and the Nucleus crew were real favourites of US hip hop master Madlib. He valued their dark, brooding, menacing beats and spooky soundtracks and this album is a perfect example of that adsorbing broodiness. It came on Vertigo in 1973 and was in part funded by the Arts Council of Great Britain. It started off life as a live show and then with an expanded cast become an album recording with help from vocalist Norma Winstone. Be With have remastered the whole record from original tapes and the sleeve has also been restored to its full original glory.

Review: Some tempos are pivotal to certain genres and 140 is one of those when it comes to dubstep. For that reason it is the title of this fine on going All Stars series from DUPLOC. Volume four is another masterful one with all niches explored starting with the low-end wobble of Mob Killa's 'Hattori' which is a brilliantly moody and late night saunter through a desolate urban landscape. Oudjat's 'Losing Control' is just as menacing and dark, and Ego Death pairs to back further to lush echoing hits and warped synths that hang in the air on 'Run It.' The flip side offers three more sparse but impactful cuts of hefty 140 bass brilliance.

Review: Sounding as braggadocious now as it did in 1995, DJ Quik's 'Safe+Sound' head the producer level up to the deserved title of composer, this being a 17-track monster of an album showing off Quik's golden P-funk sound. Since the original vinyl record never got a picture sleeve, Be With Records have recreated the original's silver sticker and plain black jacket, and have added the CD version's hidden bonus track, 'Tanqueray', to the LP.

Review: While it's a bit of a surprise to see Be With Records, a dusty-fingered imprint better known for soul, disco and Balearic beats, reissuing DJ Quik's fourth album, Rhythm-Al-Ism, in some ways it makes a lot of sense. For starters, the double LP, which first hit stores in 1998, is a masterpiece: a gloriously kaleidoscopic fusion of golden era hip-hop, boom-bap, R&B, swing, jazz and G-funk stacked to the rafters with killer samples and on-point flows from the now veteran DJ/producer. The album was not quite the commercial success first time round that it should have been, but it deserves to be as lauded as earlier albums from the likes of De La Soul, EPMD and a Tribe Called Quest. In a word: essential!

Review: Tommy Guerrero is a constantly insightful figure in the downtempo scene. In fact, everything about the man protrudes good vibes and a chilled, leaned-back sort of mood. As an important side note, he was one of the original skateboarders back in the 1980's, running wheelies and exporting the culture to mainland Europe, along with his connection to lounge music. Soul Food Taqueria is a 2003 album, originally out through the mighty Mo Wax, and now reissued finely on Be With. We love everything about this album, form its positive TOV, to the artwork and its seamless blend of hip-hop and ambient, a cocktail that still tastes more than fresh as of 2017. TO be honest, this is foundational gear, and it wouldn't be unfair to say that this sound has not progressed a whole lot since albums like these first dropped in the UK. Essential.

Review: Willie Hutch was just 25 years old when he recorded his debut album, Soul Portrait. While he would go on to greater commercial success later in his career, Hutch's first stab at soul success sold relatively poorly on its initial release. Ever since, the album has been in demand with collectors, so this licensed reissue is more than welcome. Sitting somewhere between the horn-heavy soul of Stax, punchy '60s funk and the Motor City stomp of Motown, the 11 featured songs put Hutch's evocative, passionate vocals and heart-felt lyrics at the centre of the action. The result is a classic soul album that has more than stood the test of time.

Review: The always excellent Be With turn their attention to Samuel Jonathon Johnson and his fantastic 1978 album "My Music", which was the only full length he put out. The smooth vibe you get from the cover art alone says a lot about the music the man recorded: steamy, downtempo soul, romantic disco and lots of strong laden gems to warm you and a loved one through. The well known "What The World Needs Now Is Love" is a slow motion soul soother, while "Sweet Love" is pure positivity and "You" brings gorgeous orchestral disco funk fusions that brim with vitality. His own libidinous spoken word vocals add loveable sleaze to "Just Us" and makes for one of many highlights.

Review: Be With are busy reissuing a number of Nucleus albums and Alleycat sure is one of their best. It is packed with stone cold rhythms as well as having a red hot sleeve. The band put it out in 197 and it was their last for the Vertigo label, all meticulously produced by Jon Hiseman. It's as good as any of their work with its funk fusions of prog, jazz and rock all ageing brilliantly well. There are big riff-laden tunes, cop-funk chases and more lush and laidback pieces that will have you deep in the groove. It has all been remastered from original tapes so sounds as good as ever.

Review: Headed up by the revered trumpeter and visionary composer Ian Carr, Nucleus have penned many a seminal album and Elastic Rock certainly is one of them. It was a real milestone for the jazz-rock fusion scene and marked a stunning debut in 1970 that has been hard to find ever since. Saxophonist Brian Smith, guitarist Chris Spedding - who wouold later go on to produce the Sex Pistols' first recordings - drummer John Marshall, bassist Jeff Clyne and sax, oboe and pianist Karl Jenkins all brought energy and invention in equal measure on this one with cuts like the title track offer lovely electric blues, '1916' featuring heavy drums and melancholic horns and 'Striation' being more serene. Be With have remastered this reissue from the original tapes.

Review: First released on Vertigo in 1975, the growling basslines and irresistible rolling grooves of Nucleus emerge in full force for Snakehips Etcetera - an infectiously energetic record that sounds as though it has barely aged a day. Opening onto the unctuous grooves of 'Rat's Bag', where a jubilant trumpet solo takes centre stage, this track instantly takes us into the heart of Nucleus' entirely distinctive terrain. On the B-side, the title track emerges at a slower pace and with synthesised elements moving to the fore - this is a release that perfectly demonstrates how electronics and instrumentation can be combined to reach new heights. With original copies of this release proving virtually impossible to score, we're thankful Be With have gifted the world with a much-needed re-release.

Review: Parisian library label Tele Music was the first to put out Guy Pedersen's magnificent album Maxi Music back in 1972. It's one that jazz-funk and psyche-rock lovers have long since had great admiration for, not least the oh-so epic final cut - a 13-minute masterpiece designed to blow minds that goes by the name of 'Kermesse Non Heroique'. Even before you get there, this album has plenty of otherworldly delights to enjoy as it manoeuvres from intense highs to more mellow lows via plenty of rough and smooth rides along the way. A truly hypnotic listen rich in worldly and timeless references.

Review: The first fruits of Be With Records' recently announced partnership with Tele Music is a reissue of one of the legendary library music label's most far-sighted and sought-after releases: Tonio Rubio's 1972 collection 'Rhythms'. Offering the best in deep disco-breaks, laidback Blaxploitation funk and killer groove-based instrumentals, the album now comes accompanied by extensive new liner notes from Rubio and many of the crate-digging DJs who have been inspired by the album. Highlights include - but are in no way limited to - the wonderfully cosmic and otherworldly 'Dead Slow', the low-slung delights of 'Bass In Action' parts one and two, and the Pierre Henry-esque brilliance of 'Latin Leitmotiv'.

Review: Surprisingly, Arthur Russell's first posthumous collection of music, 1993's Another Thought, has never before been released on vinyl. With this gatefold double-album, Be With Records has finally set the record straight. It's well worth picking up, not least because the set, which was initially put together after raiding the legendary cellist-turned-producer's archive of unreleased recordings, is little less than superb. Full of hard-to-pigeonhole songs in Russell's unique style - effects-laden blends of cello, acoustic guitar, emotive vocals, twangy double bass and so on - Another Thought contains some of Russell's most refined and emotional recordings, including such classics as 'How We Walk on the Moon' and 'In The Light of a Miracle'.

Review: .Lewis Taylor has always roamed fairly creatively freely with his music. He emerged at first releasing psychedelic music in the 80s under the name Sheriff Jack, then as Lewis Taylor in 1996 he offered a self-titled long player debut that explored the neo-soul sound of the day. He put out plenty of albums after that, an even played bass with Gnarls Barkley. Much of his work is being reissued right now including Lewis II which mixes up soul and breaks, funk and beats, with plenty of percussive grooves and expressive vocals that fans of James Lidell will love.

Review: Lewis Taylor self-released self-titled 1996 album is often spoken of as his masterpiece. It remains a modern classic more than a quarter of a century later as it stylishly and effortlessly mixes up neo-soul, pop and laid back funk. Original copies are incredibly hard to find let alone affordable so this is another timely reissue form Be With. The music has shades of every from Price to Gaye to Hendrix. It can be intimate and vulnerable as well as bold and empowering and is always hugely sensitively charged at all times. Highlights include the likes of the swinging, sombre funk of 'Whoever' and bittersweet feels of 'Betterlove.'

Review: Not to be confused with Klaus WeiB, the East Germany-born handball hero of the Summer Olympics 1972, although born in the same era, this Klaus Weiss is in fact the man who started out as a jazz drummer before expanding his remit to other instruments and genres, winding up pretty prolific in the world of movie and TV scores. As can be heard here.

While not directly linked to, taken from, or inspired by screen work, Open Space underscores (ahem) many of the same totems. It's un-rushed, yet tracks are relatively brief, not much more than interludes. Each feels similar to the next, but they clearly invoke very different emotional responses. Somewhere between synth-laden fantasy soundtracks of yore, and medieval court music, it's like going into the future only to realise civilisation has gone backwards while retaining some of its tech prowess.