Juno Recommends Soul October 2021

Review: Since emerging in 2019, Inflo's socially conscious, politically charged Sault collective has delivered a string of inspired, impossible-to-pigeonhole albums that thoughtfully reflect on what it is to be black and British in the 21st century. Nine, the crew's latest set (and first of 2021) is every bit as incendiary, versatile and impactful as its predecessors, with the 10 collected tracks touching on everything from drowsy R&B, spoken word, classic soul and post-punk rock, to UK bass mutations, gospel, jazz-funk, Charles Stepney style excursions and hazy downtempo beats. Mixing live instrumentation and electronics with a wealth of spoken, sung and rapped vocals, Nine is a genuinely stunning, thought-provoking album full of razor-sharp lyrics and brilliantly executed musical movements.

Review: Black Cash & Theo AKA Thelonious Beats are two of the most accomplished edit masters on the Galaxy Sound Co label. Here they come back with another pair of vital nuggets, firstly with 'Not So Easy (To Be Free).' It's a bumping afro-funk gem with a majestic lead horn and plenty of uplifting chords. On the flip of the limited 7" is a remastered edit of soul gem 'Our Lives Are Shaped.' It's lead by a lung busting female vocal with sultry backing singers, plenty of noodling funk bass and colourful vibraphone work up top. A tasty pair of tunes for sure.

Review: Cliff Nobles's northern soul gem 'My Love Is Getting Stronger' is a vital part of the cannon that gets a welcome reissue here by the good folk at Matasuna. It is an empowering tune with some hugely impressive drumming, plenty of big horns and a big bongo bridge that builds the vibe. ON the flip side is an equally essential but rather different tune, 'The Bold.' It is a funky, jazz tinged workout with cosmic chords and more exceptional stick work. Both tracks were initially released in 1966 on Atlantic Records but have since become hard to source. Do not sleep.

Review: Athens Of The North has never been shy in putting out music. The label is always working on a wealth of different projects it seems and this month drops a couple of very tasty - as per usual - 7"s. Rivage was a leading band in the 70s modern soul scene and one long loved by the Athens label head. He put out a first-ever reissue of their Sit-in On It LP last year and now serves up some of the singles from it, namely the flute-led joy of 'Strung Out On Your Love' and 'All My Love For You,' a comforting soul tune with swirling grooves and classic falsetto vocals. Lovely stuff.

Review: This new 7" from Jimmy Mack is a delightful piece of sunny soul. The Wisconsin man's a€iPop Goes The Weasela€™ was originally released in 1983 and has become an incredibly hard to find tune, and expensive when you do. The original sets off on an airy groove, with gentle flute leads, trilling chords and the effortless vocal melting your heart. On the flip side is an edit from a friend of the label, Bristol's Admin, who is one of the hottest edit talents in the game right now. His version is cleaned up a little but is sympathetic to the original with plenty of feel good grooves.

Review: "Smoke" is a soul vocal group from Kansas City though soul music was not so popular at that time. The band had Larry Brown who was also a member of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes & Melvin Manning who is the younger brother of Marva Whitney.This album was originally released 1976 and P-VINE released this album 24 years ago as LP and that edition has had it's second hand value rise dramatically in the last few years. Presented again and reissued for sweet soul lovers all over the world as a limited edition LP with OBI strip.The outstanding slow ballad "I'm So Lonely" proves this LP is not only rare, but also has perfect quality!

Review: Izipho Soul and Rena Scott have had a long and fruitful relationship that continues with this new 7". It offers up two new takes on a classic tune from Scott which tells of 'the inevitable frustrations of a long distance love affair.' The original is a big soul number with plenty of golden synths and mid-tempo 80s drums that hark back to the heyday of r&b. On the flip is The Nigel Lowis mix of 'You're So Far Away' which strips away some of the noise and makes the track a deeper, smoother, more seductive soul jam with a rather familiar baseline.

Review: The Soul Monsters imprint has dipped into the back catalogue of premier Motown legends and chosen two killer covers of songs first made famous by other artists on the iconic soul label's roster. On the A-side you'll find their storming version of Stevie Wonder hit 'Uptight (Everything's All Right)', a take that's just as stomping and horn-heavy as the more familiar original, with the added bonus of smoother soul vocals from the ladies and first time on 7 inch vinyl. Turn to the flip for their interpretation of Barrett Strong hit 'Money (That's What I Want)', a more fuzzy and sax-laden affair of a song that was famously also covered by the Beatles on With The Beatles.

Review: Chuck Edwards (real surname Edwins) is the man behind his family band The Edwards Generation. He formed it after moving his family to the San Francisco Bay area, where they all lived in a motel to start with. By the time of the mid-70s, they had started realising and even put out a full length as well as appearing on TV. Here, Cordial serves up two of their best on a tidy 7". 'Get Up, Get Up' is the funk fuelled and soul-drenched opener with nice lo-fi production and deep drums. 'Get Out On The Dancefloor' is another lo-fi beauty with stomping kicks married to big horn stabs and a characterful vocal.

Review: Dave Welding's Soul Junction label is back with another limited edition 45rpm that keeps up the fine run of recent form. These two gems are the work of the late great Willie Williams, a blind singer from Chicago who was discovered performing in the Windy City's local clubs. He was signed to ABC records in 1966 and put out only a couple of other well received singles. 'Give It All I Got' is a beautiful piece with raw drum work and lush vocal backing harmonies next to a gentle piano line. It is stirring stuff while the flips-side 'Do You Understand' is more upbeat with its funky riffs, more great backing vocals and a rolling beat that locks you in.

Review: Jordan Rakei is a real poster boy for the current neo-soul scene. New Zealand-born, Australia-raised artist is hugely popular here in his adopted homeland of the UK, not least because of how much great music he puts out at a regular rate. This is his fourth album in five years - third on Ninja Tune - and he's also turned out a lush entry into the Late Night Tales series. His soulful tones remain a delight on these tracks, which feature elements of dub, house, and dub as well as his aching vocals and fine songwriting. The mood is the most vulnerable yet as a result of things he learnt about himself during therapy over the last two years. Dive in deep.