R&B Lite of the day- Marcus Canty

I'm starting to like this, in places the vocal reminds me of Kem type track, but those big fat bass notes seem a bit Keith Washington.... pretty good  though.

Mar - Our Attempt

One of my favourite vocalists is back ! 

Soundcloud of the day Tamika Love Jones

A three track teaser has been clouded to promote the up coming new EP by the talented starlet Tamika Love Jones. It's a varied and interesting mix which indicates that this young Lady is in line for greater things. It's a recognition overdue.


My pick is the rather lovely Paradise.

Oddisee - Hustle Off

Brand new on Bandcamp a nice "Mello" compilation....

Anthony Charles Williams II

The term musical hero is much overused, but with over 30 CD's in 12 years Anthony Charles Williams II comes as close as many. I love this Guy- his talent stands out like a mountain.

Bandcamp of the day-Chris Turner

Gotta show Chris some love.

More Randomness - 1977 and all that

I was born in 1958 so frankly I've seen some shit in my time. Recently I saw a discussion taking place about the merits of new music as opposed to old music. It seems there was a "golden age" an age where somehow a high point was reached which will never be improved upon. "Music today all sounds the same" is the cry, these days it just hasn't got it. Of course I think this is a pretty flawed argument because there is no best of anything. People though are passionate to protect their values (and vested interests). As part of the argument a long list of classic singles was listed, as if throwing down the gauntlet to those of us interested enough to try and top the list with newer material. The list was mindbogglingly average. The last single posted was the ever grey "Brick House". My first reaction was that this 1977 release was typical of just how miserable 1977 was in terms of music. Brick House isn't even as good as the 1975 single "Slippery when Wet". Thinking it through at least Brick House had some balls compared to the insipid Disco around at the time. Nostalgia is a powerful thing, it's also easy to cash in on. Back in 1977 owing music meant just that, you had to pay for it and your taste was defined by your cash flow. Many of the people still in love with that music were DJ's at the time, who converted gig money to black plastic. Often the process of buying records was dominated by record shop workers, they told you what to buy based on stock,and this is a world away from shopping sat down alone at a monitor, so perhaps we have lost something.


We have also gained. Here is Brick House

Here is Malik Pendleton, it's a similar sort of thing with a 30 year gap (it is in fact the same subject matter, 36-24-36= Figure 8). You might argue that Figure 8 reflects the changes over the years, the use of the F Word and the Bada Bing culture, while it pays a homage to the spirit of"Brick House". Music perhaps hasn't changed much at all....Figure 8 wasn't a classic single because it wasn't released. It is however out on the Web. That has to be a good thing.

Random- when dropping out of love- was dropping into it.....

Thanks to Stevie and Shumaker I've recently been getting nostalgic for 2007 and all that. I was hungry back then trying to match downloads of R&B to "Modern Soul". The litmus test was more often than not Prestwitch and EMS. If I could get a track played at Prestwitch then I'd prance about the floor with a sense of pride, and that dear friends is a feeling long gone. I didn't realise I was one of many, and that my actual contribution was a team effort. Of course I tended to celebrate those tracks which I didn't manage to get played as well, waiting for time to catch me up, and a victory in a game played longer than month to month. Truth is I mow know that I was pretty hopeless and that when it comes to taste, it isn't about what others think.


I recall getting hold of Cheri Dennis "In and out of Love" in  early 2007 (FDH Blog), it's an OK to average CD. The track "Dropping out of Love", however is anything but average. It struck me as near perfect Modern Soul, slowish, sombre, girlie, with that "camp" sensibility you only get once in a Preston Guild. It never got played at Prestwitch but was too good to go unnoticed and thanks to EMS (and other Bloggers) is now a bit of a classic. The samples lifted from Sky's the Limit were in fact born from "My Flame" and "Keep On".


It's still very special....


A month or so ago I noticed that Kirby Maurier had re-visted  "Sky's the Limit" and kept it close. It's a better vocal but somehow doesn't really match our Cheri's masterpiece. Plus it's just too late for Prestwitch now....

Bandcamp of the day...........Marvin-Paul Ambrosius

From the tale end of last year- (thanks to LTF)

Teyana Taylor

Instant Vintage from her new mix tape (thanks to Bernard Walters and Blak Shumaka for the heads up)....


Loving that slo mo.....

Ghetto by The Liquid Crystal Project

Freebie from J Rawls -looking like a good CD : )

Reggie B

Friend of the Blog and always interesting listening Reggie B has a new CD out.... My pick is this track.

R&B Lite of the day- Q Parker

Back in 2007 I coined the term "R&B Lite" to describe the sort of tracks I was downloading from R&B4U, Donshanto and other one tracks sites. Much of what I downloaded was pretty dire but one out of a 100 was OK, well at least it was melodic. Here is a very recent example of my (made up) genre forthcoming from the always trying Q Parker...

Beat Maker of the Day 10​.​Minute​.​Tape by Thelonious Martin

Simples !

Soundcloud of the day One. Le Serveur

Rather exceptional instrumental  from a mixtape brought to my notice by those rather nice people at Laid Back Radio

Later On Tonight by Aviel

Seems like Blind I is back to its best and here is a recent post...

Updates

Sorry the updates are increasingly erratic, I've been pre occupied.


Many thanks to all who visit and especially those who leave a comment, I moderate all comments but I publish 99.9 percent of the time. Special thanks to other Bloggers, to Ill Clinton, Jinga Willis, Dave Grimes, Stevie Street, Chris Crates, Mike Ashley and all who take the trouble and provide inspiration.

Soundcloud of the day- shiula

Evil Needle on the production

Soundcloud of the Day, Northern Soul revival

Check that sample.... 

Soundcloud of the day Crazy*Juicy (dub)

Here we go....