Funk | Soul 212 Items

After two hip-hop albums (Got To Get Down in 2016 and Impact in 2017), the unpredictable Afro Latin Vintage Orchestra comes back to its fundamentals with a new instrumental album: MORPHEUS which repositions the band in the spirit of their previous spatial, almost cosmic albums Last Odyssey (2012) and Pulsion (2015), both released on Ubiquity Records and acclaimed by spiritual and fusion jazz lovers, library music fans, as well as rare grooves diggers (ALVO’s first 4 vinyl albums now being out of stock).
Each new ALVO new release is a millesimal which evolved and learned from its predecessors. Masta Conga, who’s still leading the herd, has for main purpose to explore the musical space-time, gaining ground on never before revealed tracks, followed by his now faithful team of atypical and farseeing musicians.
Compared to Miles Davis and his On The Corner by Wax Poetics, the band dives again in this “realm of psychedelia and beyond”, in particular with the contribution of Indian musicians. Twirling around violins, superimposed patchy keyboards and effects, just as if their conductor wasn’t already sufficiently influenced by Pierre Boulez and others such as Hiroshi Murakami…
The result is however more uncluttered and loaded with multiple vibes than its predecessor Pulsion, which already carried the ceremonial characteristics of cult movie soundtracks. Tracks “Moksha”, “Air” and “Morpheus” are the perfect demonstration, and far beyond their names. Simple grooves, lunar, but terribly efficient, emphasized by a mix that puts focus on these fiddly contributions of ethnic instruments, on percussions and horns on a drip of delay, reverbs and other space-echoes.
On the other side, the very rhythmic “Descarga Uno”, “Descarga Dos” and “Super Dopamine” show that the Parisian crew hasn’t lost its good habit to look around latin, ternary, and syncopated rhythms, in the ALVO only style!
A new millésime, a Grand Cru maybe, but for sure to taste and appreciate in all weathers including space ones.

When first I got to know that I was going to create the score for this short, I was pretty excited about the idea behind the film, and especially the story of the character Jens, who suffers from schizophrenia.I started inventing sounds to depict the character’s visions and hallucinations and I knew right away that I was going for a style more experimental than the two previous scores, Eastern Army and Mosaic, both written during the same year. The working process of the soundtrack for Hell is Other People (Helvede er de Andre) has perhaps been the most creative I have ever done. I just started recording sounds, effects and handmade percussion with no idea as to where I was heading, only the sense that I was going somewhere else, somewhere I had never been before. Somewhere where I felt very comfortable. All of the sounds are performed and recorded at night in my home studio Easy Beat Evil Bite and I used everything I could at home, everything I could get my hands on: wine glasses, chimes, shakers, African percussion instruments, angel harp, tambourine, sitar, hand drumming on a paper box or on naked skin, cymbals, synthesizer, effect pedals, the Rhodes, the piano and a lot of reverse recording from my old Revox tape recorder as well as electric and acoustic guitars. The title song “Every Missing Beat of Your Heart” and ”Falling Papers from a Staircase” are both very calm and reflecting tunes, characterized by a dreaming acoustic guitar arpeggio and a persuasive hypnotized tempo from an old metronome. On the track ”Metal Me” is a lot of psycho-blues; the strumming of an acoustic Yamaha is evident on three monotone chords and the 'sloppy' beat makes everything sound so heavy. I love the production of the song ”At the Clinic” where I chose to do a swing beat playing on the glasses to generate a more defined sound, like something you just can’t get rid of; like an annoying sound , and together with electric guitar playing in surf mood I really did something cool and easy there… I pictured the boy Jens walking up and down the corridors at the hospital and having trouble thinking clearly, or maybe seeing what other people couldn’t see. I think that all in all, I was most inspired by the sound of the 50’s in the making of this album; the warmth of the tremolo of in ”My Room” and the dark and psychotic mood of “Perspective” and ”Second Moon”. From time to time there is a touch of emptiness, death, agony and the feeling of loneliness behind those moments in tunes such as ”One of Us”, “No More Dead Flies” and ”She Suicide”. The second part of ”Every Missing Beat of Your Heart” I wrote on an acoustic guitar in Berlin during a short vacation. I remember having written the chords and the lyrics for the melody in half an hour and was very happy with the result. Signe Isager, who recently sang live with the band Alex Puddu and The Butterfly Collectors, sings in this song with me and I thought it would be a good choice to go with the end credits. For the making of the songs on this album I have been searching for the clinical, cold aesthetics of the rooms and corridors of a hospital and the warm sound of the sea from a house on the beach and I do believe this is what inspired me. It has been a great experience working on this album and the production, from the very start to the very end of the process, and being able to give what I felt was right for this picture at this moment.

The music on this record is inspired by and composed for The Golden Age of Danish Pornography - a collection of vintage hardcore short films from the early seventies, directed by Danish porn pioneer Freddy Weiss.

The two songs included in this 7-inch, “Spooky” and “Hurt So Bad”, directly come Andrea Balducci debut album “Bloom” (Schema Records, 2012, SC 459): two evergreen standards modernized and rearranged in a smooth, refined groovy soul key; a voice ins pired by crooners such as Frank Sinatra, Jamie Cullum and Michael Bublé, over music played by an exceptional team of musicians. These are songs that speak to the heart.

The Norman Connors produced Aquarian Dream first appeared in 1976 with their debut album on Buddah, featuring the extremely popular 'Phoenix' along with the club dancer 'East 6th Street'.
Both tracks were only released previously on 12" in the UK and quickly became a huge collector's item with the release averaging £50 on Discogs some 38 years later.
Fully remastered on limited edition 180 gram heavyweight vinyl, officially reissued for the first time since its original release.
A much loved & timeless disco track sampled many times in the house music community.

In demand 7 inch sees a limited edition in translucent yellow vinyl. Regarding the album: "This has not been off the decks since I first got it and have been hammering it to death on the show. One of the Essential albums of 2011. Perfect in every sense and totally irresistable" Craig Charles (bbc 6Music) Two cover versions taken from the essential album Gitano Real. I Believe in Miracles is an overwhelming take on the Jackson Sisters classic in a rumba funk fashion. Party stomper!! And on the other side, a longer trip departing from McFadden and Whitehead's seminal Ain't Non Stoping Us Now and touching the revered latin disco version of Charanga 76, only to end up as a fabulous clap-driven rumba stormer. Two very necessary sun-soaked tunes for any self-respecting dj on neat black vinyl. And yes, it's a limited edition!

Türküola’s new vinyl release of Kayalarınoğlu 2023 is based on Barış Manço & Kurtalan Ekspres’ 1975 album “2023”. On the other hand you can hear tracks like “Estergon Kalesi”, “Ben Bilirim Ben Bilirim” as well. “Estergon Kalesi” was the latest single released before the 2023 LP and “Ben Bilirim” was the A side of the single which contained single version “2023” at the flipside. In addition to these additional tracks you can hear the unedited version of “Kolbastı” first time on vinyl.
2023 was Manço’s most experimental album which contained a lot of electronic sounds of analogue synthesizers and also early drum machines. The track “Kayaların Oğlu-2023” has a touch of early electronic music of its age just like Jean Michael Jarre and Chezlaw Niemen. “Ben Bilirim” is a power funky song while the band’s experiments in Baykoca Destanı drives us to concept albums of pogressive rock groups such as Genesis, Yes, Renaissance etc. You can hear moody Anatolian Rock ballads in “Uzun İnce Bir Yoldayım” and “Yol Verin ağalar Beyler”. In both tracks you can hear a powerful rhythm section formed of two drummers and one percussionist.
The cover art also reflects the esthetic approach of Türküola during 1970s and 1980s. After the accurate reissues of 2023 by different companies, Türküola gives a new path to interpret the album once again but this time in a new vision.

Back around the early 1970's Bell Telephunk was formed around the New Jersey area. Some members moved to Clevleand Ohio where the group performed in these early days at bars and clubs. The band disbanded early on and the name lie dormant for a few years. Around 1975/76 Michael Calhoun and a few others decided to rejuvenate the name again. They played often at the Kinsman grill located in Kinsman road Cleveland where they cut their teeth! They ventured into the studio just once to record a series of 6 songs. We are now pleased to bring them to light the newly formed Kinsman Record label. Once you hear these you will fall in love instantly with Ron Thatch's amazing vocals skills. This is crossover ghetto soul of the highest order...

Limited edition for Record Store Day 2017!

Blanck Mass Is The Debut Self Titled Release From Ben Power Of Fuck Buttons. First Released In 2011 To Critical Acclaim, This Expansive Album Is A Collection Of Tracks Loosely Themed Around Cerebral Hypoxia And The Beautiful Complexity Of The Natural World, Featuring Ten Songs Which Were Written, Recorded And Self-Produced At Ben Power's Home In London. Unlike Much Of His Recent Work This Album Has An Aquatic Ambient Quality And Guides The Listener On A Deeply Hypnotic Interstellar Journey.In 2011, Benjamin John Power (Fuck Buttons) Released His First Solo Album As Blanck Mass On Rock Action Records. The Vinyl Went Out Of Print Shortly Thereafter And Has Been Largely Unavailable Ever Since. Now, Nine Years Later, Sacred Bones Records Is Honored To Put It Back In Print, As A Clear Vinyl Deluxe Double Lp Housed In Gatefold Sleeve And Limited To 1000 Copies. As Blanck Mass, Benjamin John Power Takes The Anthemic Melodies And Heroic Doses Of Noise He Pioneered With Fuck Buttons In Directions That Are Sometimes More Immediate But Always Thought-Provoking. He Introduced The Project With The Amorphous Drones Of 2011's Self-Titled Album.This Ambient, Droning Electronic Music He Recorded In His Apartment Became The Project's Self-Titled Debut Album, Which Mogwai's Rock Action Label Issued In 2011. More Abstract, Yet Often More Accessible Than His Work With Fuck Buttons, Blanck Mass Received Favorable Reviews As Well As Comparisons To Brian Eno And Ghost Box's Roster Of Artists. "Sundowner," A Track From The Album, Was Used During The 2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony, Along With "Olympians" From Fuck Buttons' Album Tarot Sport.

As humans, we are aware of our inner beast and should therefore be able to control it. We understand our hard-wired primal urges and why they exist in an evolutional sense. We understand the relationship between mind and body. Highly evolved and intelligent, we should be able to recognize these genetic hangovers and control them as a means to act positively and move forward as a compassionate species. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Recent global eve...

Reissue of these sampled to death classics! Should be in every decent collection…

All new Bobby Womack LP. Produced by Damon Albarn and Richard Russell!

Limited edition of 1,000 copies! Features remixes by highlyacclaimed artists such as ELUVIUM, DNTEL, MICE PARADE, HERSPACE HOLIDAY, MANUAL, and more! For Fans of BJÖRK, SIGUR RÖS, MUM, THE POSTAL SERVICEFollowing the release of ,Verdugo Hills" - the second album from CAROLINE, the Japanese electronic-pop songstress and MICE PARADE alum - a slew of her peers graciously answered our calls for remixes and reinterpretations of every song from the acclaimed album. Not surprisingly, the results are more successful and less ephemeral than most remix albums - a testament not only to the ingenuity of the various remixers on deck, but also CAROLINE's weightless, angelic vocals which transcend even the most jarring sonic manipulations. Along with CAROLINE's bandmates in MICE PARADE, remixers include: ELUVIUM, MANUAL, DNTEL, DEAD WAITER, LUMIA, HER SPACE HOL...

Limited edition for Record Store Day 2012!

Curtis Harding's new album Face Your Fear is out October 27 on Anti-. New York Magazine already named the forthcoming album one of their most anticipated fall releases lauding Harding’s “scorching voice” while Clash UK hails recent new track “On and On” as “a blistering slice of dancefloor soul that recalls prime Curtis Mayfield and late 60s Motown.” The new album follows 2014’s Soul Power, on which Rolling Stone called Harding an “artist you need to know.”
Harding fuels his psychedelic sound with the essence of Soul but isn’t bound by it. Instead, the 12 songs on the new album convey an eclectic blend of genres leaping from the many musical lives he has lived from following his evangelical Gospel-singing mother on tour as a child in Michigan to rapping in Atlanta, forming a garage band with The Black Lips’ Cole Alexander to singing back-up for Cee Lo Green. Through these experiences he fully embraces life’s darkest intricacies conjuring dynamic, addictive melodies.
Face Your Fear features production by Harding, Sam Cohen, and Danger Mouse and was recorded in New York at Danger Mouse’s 30th Century Studio.

Here's a fine 7-inch by the Danish soul/r&b band, rooted in Copenhagen's garage rock underground. 'Soul Sound System' was mixed by Gabe Roth, co-founder of Daptone Records.

Finally available on single LP format! All 5 parts of Dam-Funks magnum opus!

Finally available on single LP format! All 5 parts of Dam-Funks magnum opus!

Finally available on single LP format! All 5 parts of Dam-Funks magnum opus!

This legendary floor-filling Philly Northern Soul all time classic is now available on a nice reissue 45-single.

Yet another highly in-demand 12" from the Philadelphia International stable and an artist whose records never go out of date! This is a killer double-sided beauty with the frenetic and jazzy "Life On Mars" from his debut 1976 album on the top-side and the mellow all-time classic and soul boy anthem "The Sweetest Pain" from 1979 on the flip.
Two very different sides of a great artist, both of which show the level of diversity that he was capable of producing. The last legitimate release of this was back 1999 and a Mint copy will currently set you back circa £50, if you can ever find one.
Fully remastered on limited edition 180 gram heavyweight vinyl.

Soopastole is back with anaother pair of amazing jazz-funk-reworks!

Limited edition reissue of 500 on deluxe red vinyl!

Essential pick! These buddy's "Baby" was recently covered by Hype Williams on their "Ebony" album, and both tunes are hella fresh!

Pacific Northwest isolation mixed with wide-eyed ambition, a strong sense of family and the gift of music proved to be quite the combination for teenage brothers Donnie and Joe Emerson. Originally released in 1979, Dreamin’ Wild is the sonic vision of the talented Emerson boys, recorded in a family built home studio in rural Washington State. Situated in the unlikely blink-and-you-missed-it town of Fruitland and far removed from the late 1970s punk movement and the larger disco boom, Donnie and Joe tilled their own musical soil, channeling bedroom pop jams, raw funk, and yacht rock.

Spurred on their high school’s music program, Donnie and Joe received a further push from their lifelong farmer father, who drew up a contract stating that he’d support his sons lofty ambitions with their very own recording studio as long as they focused on original material, sage advice for a man with zero experience in the music business. After taking out a second mortgage to help cover costs, Don Sr. also built his children a 300-capacity concert hall (dubbed Camp Jammin’) replete with ticket booth, stage, and fully functioning snack bar. The only problem was that the projected audience never quite materialized, despite a prime time TV profile entitled “The Rock And Roll Farmers” from nearby Spokane, Washington. Even the Emerson brother’s school pals were nonplussed at their privately pressed long player; hand distributed to local music stores, but not as far as Seattle, five hours away from their rural home. Somewhat rejected by the muted response, but never surrendering, both Donnie and Joe continued down a musical path and are still active as performers today.

After a strong debut in 2016, Durand Jones & The Indications are
hitting the road this spring with a new 45 from their debut LP. The
lead album cut, “Make A Change” is powerful message soul at its
fnest! Never more powerful and never more relevant! Meanwhile,
the B-side is a cookin’ lowrider soul jam featuring the sweet falsetto
of drummer Aaron Frazer. A two-sided burner.

Mysterious release, but amazing release, two versions of Michael Jackson's classics,
with a vintage funky jazzy feeling.

It is fitting to have Eddie & Ernie on both sides of a Deep Soul single as they were original label founder Dave Godin’s ultimate Deep Soul act. Both tracks were recorded in the late 60s but first came out on our Eddie And Ernie CD in 2002. It is a tribute to their excellent quality that we release them on this vinyl series now.

Side A's cover of "Tearz" is as much an homage to the Wendy Rene sample as it is to the Wu-Tang Clan track. The song starts as a glazed over cover of "after laughter, comes tears" with Shannon Wise of The Shacks singing Wendy Rene's timeless mantra. Halfway through, the mood dramatically shifts and the drums and organ that drive the original RZA sample take over. A dubbed out Lee Fields taps in like only he can, and the song spirals into outer space.Side B finds EMA dipping into the deeper side of the Wu catalog with Raekwon's "Verbal Intercourse." Mixing the grimy, gritty production aesthetic of the original with elements of dubbed out reggae, El Michels Affair once again pushes the definition of a "cover" and truly makes it a tune of their own.

Hayley does it again with two more previously unreleased tracks from the late, great Emanuel Laskey. "...Hall of fame" and "Different kind of different" were recorded in Los Angeles in 1978 with two of his long time friends, Marvin Gaye and Mel Bolton. Written and produced by the trio, the single features an uptempo song squarely aimed at the dancefloor paired with the more mellow "Different kind of different" - both clearly showcase Emanuel's great voice.

As one of the most enigmatic figures of the 1970s Italian soundtrack and library music network Emma De Angelis and her short recording career provides thirsty fans of speedball psychedelic rock and drum heavy instrumental funk with a tight discography rivalling many of the long-standing bastions of the otherwise male-orientated business.
Born in Rocca di Papa, near Rome, into a flourishing musical environment, Emma was the younger sister of future award winning composers Guido and Maurizio De Angelis, a duo who, under names like Oliver Onions and Dream Bags, would write chart-topping lyrical theme tunes for a wide range of Italian crime, Giallo and Spaghetti Western films featured alongside full scores by Ennio Morricone and the Magnetic System composers (Bixio Frizzi Tempera).
With encouragement from her brothers, Emma, who would also write music under the pseudonym of Juniper, would record a tight clutch of solo-penned material and seldom credited studio contributions to Guido And Maurizio’s film commissions, such as the score for Giuliano Carnimeo’s ‘Simone e Matteo: Un gioco da ragazzi’ (aka ‘Convoy Buddies’). While simultaneously pursuing a career as an illustrator and set designer the De Angelis family contacts would lead Emma to the offices of Romano Di Bari, whose up-and-coming Flirt label was finding success providing custom-built mood music for use in TV and film. Alongside important composers like Alessandro Alessandroni, Gerardo Iacoucci and A. R. Luciani, the young Emma Di Angelis would record a small number of tracks for a compilation called ‘Underground Mood’ (credited in the small print to E De Angelis - not to be confused with Italian singer Edoardo De Angelis). It is from this rare LP that the record you are now holding is compiled. Within the Flirt family of labels Emma De Angelis would also share schedules with other important female composers such as Daniela Casa and Giulia ‘Kema’ De Mutiis - both of whom have appeared on dedicated Finders Keepers releases.
The tracks on this record provide us with a rare glimpse into Emma De Angelis’ short musical career before she became a full time visual artist. With an unknown personnel or studio date it is easy to speculate a potential family jam in Piero Umiliani’s Sound Workshop studio in 1972. One only has to take a listen to Guido And Maurizio’s instrumental theme ‘Gangster Story’ from Enzo G. Castellari’s 1973 thriller ‘High Crime’ (which later appeared on Tarantino’s ‘Death Proof’ soundtrack) or the trippy title theme to Paolo Poeti’s kinky 1976 drama Inhibition to spot the family resemblance.

The 7" comes with a free Funky Chimes 45rpm adapter.

Mastered for vinyl from the original master tapes. Recorded around 1972, these tracks were a result of Band Manager Robert Hosea Williams who had the foresight to preserve the master tapes from those early sessions and these masterful tracks were released on a 2011 Numero LP. Permission was given for Soul Direction to Master these two tracks from the original master tapes

Previously unreleased gem from FINAL DECISIONS out of Detroit's Fast Track studios. 'I don't feel no pain' is presented in both Short and Long versions. Produced by Leonard Jones.'

The 7" comes with a free Funky Chimes 45rpm adapter.