funk/soul rewind
A Buyers Guide to Matt Berry on Acid Jazz
Although primarily known as an actor, comedy performer, and voice over artist, in recent years Matt Berry has received an increasing amount of attention for his music. Since 2005 Berry has released five albums, which although utterly charming, can also verge on the uncategorisable. Late 60s psychedelic folk seems to have been a significant influence, …
Not Forgotten: Parliament – Mothership Connection
Simply put, Mothership Connection is the album which proved that you could do the ostentatiousness of prog rock and still make the listener want to get up and dance. It’s a headspinningly brilliant throw down from funk to every middle-class prog rocker with aspirations to be taken seriously. Sure, prog rock often showed musicianship, but …
Reissue: Ashford & Simpson – I Wanna Be Selfish
Everyone loves stone classic Ain’t No Mountain High Enough but it was just one of the many hits penned by songwriting guns for hire Ashford & Simpson, But like many top class songwriters who provide the guide tracks as they demo their hits they decided to go for it themselves and their second album saw …
Not Forgotten: Aretha Franklin – Spirit in the Dark
Something of an overlooked gem among the albums Aretha Franklin recorded during her creative peak, Spirit in the Dark is an album that is overshadowed by albums that are considerably lighter in tone. This gradual swing towards a more serious vibe was well timed, as Franklin had worked hard to establish herself as a commercial …
Not Forgotten: Aretha Franklin – Aretha Now
I have no wish to put the cat among the pigeons, but I have to confess that I marginally prefer Aretha Now above the more widely celebrated I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You. As great as Aretha Franklin’s debut for Atlantic is, Aretha Now boasts a measure more lightness of touch …
Not Forgotten – Bill Withers – Live at Carnegie Hall
Sometimes, no matter how great a songwriter or performer an act is, things just never work out in the studio, and it takes a live album to truly reveal their greatness and go on to become their trademark release. Now let’s get one thing straight, Bill Withers is not without great studio albums, intact he …
Not Forgotten: Aretha Franklin – I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
From a modern perspective, it’s staggering to look back at the career of Aretha Franklin and realised that at the point in her career in 1967, when I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You was released, it was in fact her eleventh full length album since 1961. Franklin had already recorded ten …