SOUL RECOMMENDATIONS JULY 2015

Review: The holy grail of Hawaiian Funk has landed! Mike Lundy originally recorded his solo LP The Rhythm Of Life in Honolulu in 1980, sharing the same studio with Hawaiian funk legends Lemuria and Aura. Both sides of this 7" are essential: heavy funk breaks on "The Rhythm Of Life" and breezy island sounds on "Tropic Lightning". This is the first time both tracks have ever been available on 7-inch format. Limited to 500 copies worldwide, this marks the first release from Honolulu-based reissue label Aloha Got Soul.

Review: Recently, Athens of the North has spent much time digging through the archives of Henry Stone's Miami-based disco and funk empire, which included a studio, distribution business and a multitude of labels. Here, they issue a couple of alternate versions of tracks by Florida disco-funk mainstay Milton Wright. "The Science That You Keep (First Version)" comes free of the synthesizer lines that were such a feature of the previously released take. As a result, it's an altogether tighter, more groove-based deep disco outing, with Wright's vocal sounding particularly good. Flipside "Po Man (First Version)" is similarly stripped-back, with sweet guitar licks and an undulating bassline wrapping themselves around a hazy disco-funk groove and Wright's decidedly psychedelic vocal.

Review: PPU come through with some more of that late '80s soul, looking to Cool Waters man Napoleon Cherry. Indicative of its time; the post synth boogie and theatrics of the early part of the decade are swapped with a much deeper, more subtle delivery and instrumentation that sat well with the likes of Soul II Soul and Massive Attack. Napoleon underplays his vocals throughout, allowing the synths to truly shine. More shine for your shekels? Flip for the instrumental and look out for a full retrospective of Cherry's work coming on Music From Memory!

Review: One of Wilson Pickett's earlier bands, The Falcons unwittingly laid down a Northern Soul anthem in 1960 with "Good Good Feeling". Stomping drums, big horns and massive harmonies, it's still as sweaty and boisterous as it was 55 years ago. Flip for an interesting 1990 take on one of their most famous cuts "Standing On Guard". Subtle with the synths with full focus on the vocals, however many reincarnations the band has experienced in the 25 years that passed. Good feelings all round.