Epic Vinilo y CD

Review: The world has long needed more Fiona Apple. An artist with a relatively slim body of work - 'Fetch...' is only her fifth album since debuting in 1999 - nevertheless her impact on music has been significant, spending a quarter century within corridors of the industry itself. Moreover, she represents all that's right about the business' uncompromising eccentricities, although sadly this now serves to remind us of all that's been lost in the sanitised and corporatised 21st Century model. Few who remember her MTV Video Music awards acceptance speech, calling bullshit on an entire industry, will be surprised at this latest work, then. From erogenous piano numbers, to percussion played with the bones of a dog, it's hardly by-numbers, never safe, and always on her own terms. Employing background clatter, worksong rhythms and alternative acoustic rock, the finished article is well worth the wait.

Review: ** REPRESS ALERT ** A couple of all time George Duke greats get the official remastered and reissue treatment here. The American songwriting legend's "I Want You for Myself' from 1979 gets a mighty Tom Moulton rework on the A side - which streamlines the essential groove of the original just nicely. On the flip, the sultry late night mood lighting of "Brazilian Love Affair" is funky, soulful and groovy in all the right amounts - the album of the same name from 1980 was hailed as his most popular. Duke was known primarily for thirty-odd solo albums, as well as his collaborations with other musicians - particularly Frank Zappa.

Review: Here's something to excite those who dig quality 1970s funk, soul and disco: a tidy 7" containing two stone cold classics from the Rod Temperton-helmed, UK-based "international band" Heatwave. Side A boasts one of the standout moments from the group's much-loved 1977 album "Central Heating", seductive, string-laden love song "The Star Of A Story". It's superbly arranged and brilliantly produced, with warm keys, Spanish guitar solos and rich orchestration combining beautifully with the band's slick and smooth vocals. Side B is taken up by 1976 single "Ain't No Half Steppin'", a bolder and more dancefloor-friendly chunk of warm and woozy dancefloor soul.

Review: ** REPRESS ALERT ** Immortalised, slowed down funk from The Isley Brothers, an American R&B/soul group from Cincinnati, Ohio, established in the early 1950s. This 7" houses the much loved and often sampled in the hip hop world, "Footsteps In The Dark" (Parts 1 & 2) and "Between The Sheets". The latter is a silky smooth R&B classic whilst the arguably more well-known "Footsteps In The Dark" is an arrestingly beautiful, hood classic/soul masterpiece. The bassy but laid-back harmonious ballad with delicious percussion and Ronald Isley crooning an uneasy lyric on maintaining "a love that lasted for so long" amid the constant temptation of infidelity, makes it worth the entry price on its own.

Review: Tori Kelly's latest Tori, arrives amidst a tumultuous time as she battles a serious health scare. Despite this, she delivers a collection of r&b-tinged pop tracks that showcase her versatility and musical prowess. The infectious single 'Missin U' sets the tone, followed by the flirtatious 'Cit' featuring Timbaland's ad-libs. Tracks like 'Shelter' and 'unbelievable,' featuring Nigerian superstar Ayra Starr, highlight Kelly's ability to explore different genres seamlessly. While the album leans towards pop, songs like 'Alive Til I Die' and 'Young Gun' offer heartfelt lyrics and collaborations with Jon Bellion that delve into themes of love and loss. A promising new chapter for Kelly.

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.

Review: "I'll never die, because I'm immortal," Ozzy Osbourne makes clear on Patient 9's opening track, 'Immortal'. Far from a throwaway line, in music terms it does often feel like the Prince of Darkness is less a man and more an omnipresent force that has been here since the beginning of time, or at least metal, and will likely somehow still be releasing records when we're rotting the ground like the corpses on an album cover.
Of course, he's not, but in a decade-spanning career, Osbourne has reached heights some can only imagine. At least some of that experience is distilled onto Patient Number 9, an album that is more a celebration of camaraderie and bonds established over time than anything else. Collaborations with some of the all-time guitar-wielding greats (Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and - most pleasingly - fellow Black Sabbath co-founder and all-round legend Tony Iommi) come thick and, in most cases, fast, fenders squealing and rhythm guitars threatening to run away into that cursed night.

Review: What is Record Store Day Black Friday really about if not limited edition picture disc versions of classic albums gone by? Well, they don't come much more classic than this heavy metal nugget from the one and only Black country overlord himself, Ozzy Osbourne. It was the sixth solo studio by the vocalist and came back in 1991, even managing to chart at number 17 on the UK Albums Chart. The biggest tunes on it were 'Mama, I'm Coming Home' and the Grammy-winning track 'I Don't Want to Change the World.' The whole album got critical praise and is said to be one of Ozzy's best.

Review: ** REPRESS ALERT ** Two luscious soul/folk/psychedelic funk crossover jams from American singer-songwriter Shuggie Otis are reissued and remastered 45 years after their first release for Record Store Day 2019. Equal parts groovy, dreamy, organically introspective and futuristic, "Inspiration Information" is the document of a young man who owns his inspired vision completely. We are particularly loving "Aht Uh Mi Hed" on the flip where filtered keyboard sounds blend with effortlessly graceful strings during the middle dream sequence of the track.

Review: ** REPRESS ALERT ** This timeless classic by American singer-songwriter Shuggie Otis is an instantly recognisable masterpiece of soul. 1971's "Strawberry Letter 23" from his album "Freedom Flight" has endured and become a rare groove touchstone. Flecked with elements of psych and breakbeat, it is prescient, and stuffed with neat tics and tricks. Turn to the flip for an added bonus - "Ice Cold Daydream" is a funk bomb full of bouncing organs and squelching wah wah guitars with Shuggie's trademark vocal tones laid over the top.

Review: Given the vastness of his back catalogue, you'd think there would be plenty of re-issue-friendly gold buried in Eddie Palmieri's discography. "Spirit of Love", first released as a single in 1978, certainly ticks a lot of boxes: the spiraling, disco-era chunk of boogaloo/jazz-funk fusion remains popular on specialist dancefloors - especially jazz-dance ones - and original copies frequently change hands online for well over 50 quid. Like the original 7", this edition of the singles also comes backed with the sweaty Brazilian style jazz brilliance of "Lucumi, Macumba, Voodoo", which also happens to be the title track of the LP that "Spirit of Love" was plucked from.

Review: Give Way has all the hallmarks of a collector's item. Originally intended to be given away for free with copies of Pear Jam's 1998 documentary, Single Video Theory, neither label nor band cleared the promotion and so it all went down the drain, with 50,000 copies destroyed a day before the flick hit in one of those How Much Money Did They Have? kind of moments.
25 years on and fans can finally see what they've been missing out on. The record itself is a snapshot of a date at Melbourne Park in Australia, a stop off on the Yield Tour, cutting down the original 25 track show to a shorter playlist, ensuring it can fit on the release. In terms of standards, this gives a strong nod to a peak period in the legacy of this US grunge rock behemoth, and should appease even the most demanding fans.

Review: While she will forever be associated with wedding reception favourite "Car Wash", Californian combo Rose Royce made some staggeringly good but lesser celebrated disco cuts in the late '70s and early '80s. "Still In Love" and "Best Love", both of which were featured on 1982 album "Stronger Than Ever", fit into this category. A-side "Still In Love" is undoubtedly one of the band's most anthem-like cuts, with powerful female vocals rising above a hybrid disco-boogie groove and sumptuous orchestration. "Best Love", meanwhile, is a synth-powered boogie master class rich in passionate-emotion-rich vocals and the kind of tasty electronic backing track that recalls contemporaneous releases from labels such as Solar System and Prelude.