Funk | Soul 476 Items

The second album of Sault follows their debut "5" which came out just three months prior to this one. Heads all over the world were still in awe of "5", when all of a sudden "7" dropped. Now, by the end of 2020, they are four critically acclaimed albums deep into buiding their own legacy.

WOW…. Dynamite cuts gives you for the first time on 7” two Jazzfunk soul gems from the mega rare hard to find LP by Starcrost 1975 Fable records.

She first emerged as an avant-garde violinist who channeled her playing through loop pedals. Then songwriter, vocal performer, and beatmaker. She's captivated audiences at festivals around the world, touring her trail-blazing EPs Sudan Archives (2017) and Sink (2018). Sudan's many identity coalesces in her debut album, Athena: a psychedelic, magnetic take on modern R&B.

"When I was a little girl, I thought I could rule the world," Sudan Archives announces in the sparse, string-plucked opening bars of Athena, on the strident "Did You Know". Her musicality and sense of self-belief developed as a young child in the church. Born Brittney Parks, but called Sudan from a young age, she moved around Cincinnati, Ohio many times as a child; religion and music were the most stable forces in her life. It was in church that Sudan began learning to play the violin by ear, participating in ensemble performances. "I remember begging my mom to get me a violin," she says. "From there I just never let it go – it felt like I had a purpose."

Growing up with a twin sister, Sudan also learned young that she was the "bad twin". Her stepdad – a one-time music industry executive – tried to turn the two into a pop duo when they were teenagers, but Sudan would miss rehearsals and curfew so frequently that the project was abandoned. Still, the experience was valuable: "My stepdad basically planted this whole idea of artistry as a career," she remembers. Though she left the band behind, Sudan clung onto the idea of pursuing music when she moved to Los Angeles at age 19. While studying and holding down two jobs, she would spend her spare time "fucking around with some beats and making some weird shit", which she released tentatively under the name Sudan Moon – a combination of her childhood nickname and her love of Sailor Moon. The ethereal quality of those early lo-fi, G-funk-inspired beats would eventually make its way into Sudan's current sound.

It was once she discovered ethnomusicology, and learned to incorporate the violin into her beats, that she really unlocked a new level. Cameroonian electronic music pioneer Francis Bebey was an early inspiration: "His music is so simple, and the way he combines strings and electronic music is such a vibe.” From there, she educated herself about other artists and ethnomusicologists, learning about the history of one-string fiddling in Ghana, Sudan, and all over the world, which "blew my mind". Now a fervent crate-digger with ambitions of studying ethnomusicology, she changed her artist name to Sudan Archives.

After she met with Stones Throw A&R and Leaving Records founder Matthewdavid, Peanut Butter Wolf signed her to Stones Throw. Her self-titled debut EP introduced the world to Sudan's fusion of North African-style fiddling, layered R&B harmonies, and pared-back production. Her second EP Sink was a resounding six-track statement that, according to Jenn Pelly at Pitchfork, saw Sudan "level up as a songwriter" — especially true of the bold self-love song "Nont For Sale".

Those EPs, Sudan says, were "like a haiku of what the album is". Athena is "more in your face, more confrontational – and that's also how I've grown as an artist. I used to be a hermit who would make beats in her bedroom, but now I'm working with other writers, producers and instrumentalists, I've learned how to communicate. It feels like I'm almost back in church." At first, it was tough for Sudan to cede any control in her creative process, but as she got stuck into the sessions with producers Wilma Archer (Jessie Ware, Nilufer Yanya), Washed Out, Rodaidh McDonald (The xx, Sampha, King Krule), and Paul White (Danny Brown, Charli XCX), she opened up. The resulting album, whittled down to 12 taut tracks from around 60, is her most ambitious work yet.

On the album's cover, she poses as a Greek goddess sculpted in bronze. Simultaneously at her most powerful — channelling the energy of her princess warrior heroes Xena and Sailor Moon — and her most vulnerable, Sudan challenges the viewer to see what's under the surface. "I'm naked!" she says. "I don't have anything to hide at all, it's all out there."

Famed as one of the tight-knit group of musicians the Funk Brothers, who played on the vast majority of Motown’s 60s records, Jack Ashford was the percussionist and vibes player who augmented that infectious beat so successfully.

After his time at Motown he co-founded Pied Piper Productions with Shelley Haims and when that folded in 1967 started his own Just Productions. The infectious beat continued to propel many of their releases but the main songwriters – Jack, Lorraine Chandler and George Rountree – added great new melodies and well-crafted songs and then a big injection of Motor City funk. They unearthed talented singers like Eddie Parker, Sandra Richardson and the Smith Brothers and even employed Jack’s own voice. Parker’s ‘I’m Gone’ and ‘Love You Baby’ are considered the epitome of ampheta-soul by UK devotees, who have adored the records since the early 70s. The Smith Brothers’ output is all high class and their full take of ‘Things Won’t Be The Same’ (which shares the backing track of Sandra Richardson’s ‘After You Give Your All’) is available for the first time. Similarly the new version of Jack Ashford’s recording ‘I’ll Fly To Your Open Arms’, by the Family Brick, debuts here; it is a masterful slice of sophisticated, uptempo Detroit soul.

Then a new singer in the city, Billy Sha-Rae’s ‘The Story Of My Life’ sees its first vinyl outing and the mysterious Ray Gant & Arabian Knights’ reading of ‘Don’t Leave Me Baby’ is considered the ultimate rendition of this superb song.

Al Gardner knew Jack at Sport/Boss Records and his ‘Sweet Baby’ has been a big collector’s item for decades. Also, from the late 60s comes a terrific uptempo version of ‘I Need Your Love (To Satisfy My Soul)’, originally only known as an acetate by the Stylists; it was later cut at a slower pace by Lee Rogers on Premium Stuff.

The LP is rounded off by Jack’s own take on ‘Let Me Take Care Of Your Heart’, a remarkably fine recording that the Smith Brothers would later cover on a Shield 45.

Despite never achieving major mainstream success in his career, the scope of influence from cult comedian Rudy Ray Moore is palpable and far-reaching. A consummate performer and raconteur, Moore's comedy emphasized raw and explicit story-telling and wisecracking, often told in rhyme, and featuring a backing band; a style of performance that inadvertedly set a blueprint for early hip-hop music. Following in the footsteps of comic legends Redd Foxx and Moms Mabley, his stage presence would inspire the likes of Katt Williams and Snoop Dogg, find widespread underground success among inner cities in the 1970s, and would lead him to collaborate with a wide swath of artists into his later years, from Big Daddy Kane to Insane Clown Posse. His various bits and sketches would even become sampling fodder in tracks by Madlib, A Tribe Called Quest, DJ Shadow, 2 Live Crew, and innumerable others.

Above all else, Rudy Ray Moore's best known and most beloved claim to fame is his tales of the legend of Dolemite the pimp. Derived from various obscene stories he overheard while working in a record store, Moore's most famous routine saw him take on the role of Dolemite, and recount humorous stories and anecdotes which framed the hustler as something of a ghetto folk hero. These anecdotes proved to be incredibly popular in urban clubs and parties, and would later be adapted into the hit 1975 blaxploitation film Dolemite, of which Moore would produce and star.

In celebration of Rudy Ray Moore's extensive works, as well as the upcoming Eddie Murphy-starring Netflix biopic featuring him, Dolemite Records proudly presents this reissue of one of his 1975 release, The Return Of Dolemite. Coming just on the cusp of the feature film's release, Return sees Moore at the top of his game, spinning anecdotal yarns about sexual conquests, hustling stories, and in his own parlance: "F*ckin' up motherf*ckas!"