THE MODULATIONS Vinyl & CDs

Review: The Modulations released their album It's Rough Out Here in 1975, not only impressing both industry and laity with the singles 'Rough Out Here and 'I Can't Fight Your Love', but also spurring the considerable career of a funk quartet whose merit outdoes their reputation alone. The Modulations recorded extensively with MFSB, the house band of the famed record label Philadelphia International; these sessions yielded this album, one considered a gem of 1970s soul music. Exemplary of the long, wistful titles of the Philly funk era and beyond, the titular roughness of the record is also nonetheless embedded in a sea of audible Romance; the Modulations' hard knocks don't exclude the necessity of letting emotion in, with 'Head On Collision With Heartbreak' being an indelible example of this sense of being swept up in one's own emotions in the face of heartbreak, away from the perseverance aesthetics of "gritty" realism one might expect from a title like this.

Review: ** REPRESS ALERT ** Here's an official remastered reissue of "Rough Out Here" by East Coast sweet soul vocal group The Modulations for Record Store Day 2019. The sound is large with a sweet Philly mix of moods on this 7" which features arrangements by the legendary Vince Montana. Philly instruments: sitar, keyboards, drums, strings and horns courtesy of Don Renaldo and MFSB come to the fore, resulting in A side "Rough Out Here", a hard hitting funky soul stepper and B side "I Can't Fight Your Love" which oozes the Philly sound.