This one was revisited recently for an Underground Kingz song (RIP Pimp C).  Real pretty tune.

Society Of Soul was a group made up of Atlanta super-producers Organized Noize - you know, the guys responsible for hits by Outkast, The Goodie Mob, TLC and many more - featuring the vocals of Espraronza “Roni” Griffin and the spoken word poetry of Big Rube (another Outkast-affiliated Atlanta dude).

I dug up my old cassette of this album and was playing it as I tooled around town running errands, bending corners and doing thangs. I jammed this hard back when it came out and feel it still holds up to this day. Beautiful soul music that exhibits some influence of the 90s but sounds timeless when you get down to it.

Taking you back to 1995, the sun was shining and sh*t was right on time. Enjoy this beautiful Sunday…

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Edit: I just read about the assassination of George Tiller this morning. May he Rest In Power. We must stop this madness.

This is a nice LP I got in stock a few months back and miraculously got back in recently. Initially I thought this was perhaps the famous highlife trumpeteer St. Augustine, issuing an LP under a pseudonym? No, it didn’t make sense, and my friend Uchenna over at With Comb & Razor confirmed my suspicions. In fact, none of us seem to know who Olisa is (side note: the Comb & Razor blog is fantastic, and indispensible if you are interested in Nigerian music).

And so, sadly, I have not much information to provide for this record. Olisa allegedly played saxophone under Cardinal Rex Lawson and Chief Osita Osadebe; beyond that, not much more is known, just one more late 70s release on the prolific Eastern Nigerian Homzy label. The cover is tough as nails, and the notes on the back describe an “era when most Nigerian musicians are either going reggae or influenced by their foreign counterparts”, For his part, Olisa intends to be “among the loyal few” “who stick to their roots and refuse to succumb to foreign influence.”

The sound is at turns jubilant yet mellow, a gear or two down from the more thumping dance band sound that was popular. Each side contains one Highlife and one “Native Blues”. With the exception of the title tune, the pace is almost lethargic; perfect for a nice day spent watching life go by. Hypnotic guitars, muted trumpets, a perfectly placed horn section (not too brassy or overbearing) all contribute to a really wonderful listen.

No Body Knows Tomorrow really stood out among the first crop of Nigerian records I received and holds up after many repeated plays.

Enjoy!

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Yes people, it’s 85 degrees in New York City today! I blinked and Spring was gone, maybe we’ll get another taste but today sure is feeling like summer. Lennox Avenue is on fire, literally and figuratively. Things are a little more mellow downtown right now; I blame it on the a-a-alcohol like Jamie Foxx and them. Summer always brings me back, so let’s do a little reminiscing…

Here’s a little record I had lurking in my box for a while; never thought anyone cared much about it until recently when it made a few modern soul/boogie want lists. The group is the Studants, the record label is York (that’s the infamous Dr. York’s record label). The year is 1987 and the style is New Edition. The song absolutely rules, and reminds me so much of That Sound. It’s been putting a hell of a smile on my face of late, almost enough to forget about the potential for ill when you consider a group of young guys affiliated with York, who is now behind bars for over 100 counts of child molestation.

“Takes A Little Time” reminds me of The Big City during my childhood, in the 1980s - flashing lights and killer grooves; seedy vibes, but nonstop excitement. The song is full of raw desire… not for sex per se, but for fun. How awesome. Despite revealing in the 2nd verse that they’ve been around the block before, so to speak, the group’s lead-up into the hook is just perfectly innocent teenage love: “let’s go have some fun… let me be the one… takes a little time, to do our thing.” And dig the syncopated clock ticking. Unlike most Dr. York records, the backing track on this one is really strong. One of the better 80s soul records I’ve come across in a while!

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Here is a beautiful jazz LP that just passed through the shop.

Mystic Beauty was released on the tiny Los Angeles-based H.M.E. imprint, the H and the M of which stood for its owner Harry Mitchell. The label released a few latin- and soul-flavored jazz releases, including a record or two by the Harold Johnson Sextet (thanks to Office Naps for the tip).

EDIT Reggie Andrews nowadays teaches music in the Los Angeles school district - he’s instructed plenty of greats, from Patrice Rushen to The Pharcyde - and was also in the 70s/80s disco-funk outfit Dazz. Also he’s got some school band material out there that’s worth seeking out. Great to hear he’s still living in music. Here’s an interesting interview with the man himself on NPR (not related to his old records, per se).

This album is deep, latin-influenced, primarily acoustic jazz. Influences range from the cerebral to the soulful, but it defies any one-dimensional tag like “spiritual jazz” or “soul jazz” or “jazz funk”. Sure it’s from L.A. but it doesn’t sound particularly “west coast”. It’s a beautiful session all around, really something special, very much worth every dollar of it’s high price tag. Enjoy - Jonny

Download HERE

In preparation for a new afro-disco party (separate from the already-running, already-famous Brooklyn afro-funk party, Voodoo Funk) our boy Frank, pka DJ Soulpusher, formerly of parties like NYC’s classic Vampyros Lesbos and Germany’s Soul Explosion, has put together a new, killer mix full of obscure, rare, unknown, and simply amazing disco bangers.

Peep it out below. Try to name a cut or two! We’re not telling….

It’s pouring rain today, and this tune came on.  I first picked up a copy of the Same Song LP back in oh, 2000 or so and this song was my favorite. I used to listen to it over and over again, riding home on the train to a grimy apartment, grimy clothes on my back, looking like hell and feeling worse, and this was one of those kind of “light at the end of the tunnel” things. Kept my head up in dark times. Enjoy, and have a great weekend.

A nice, rural listen on this snow day… makes me pine for Spring.

From The Acid Archives:
Here’s a terrific private press rarity [ed: not a private press] that’s completely fallen under the radar. It’s way better than multi-hundred-dollar singer-songwriter/folk-rock/soft pop rarities like Richard Soutar or Mick Stevens and the entire brigade of albums inaccurately compared to Michael Angelo. Like all of those records, there’s scant amount of fuzz guitar or trippiness here. But there’s some excellent lead guitar, occasional use of hippie instruments like conga and flute, a bit of moog, unusual chord progressions and thoughtful, intelligent songwriting to go along with the requisite vocal harmonies and acoustic guitars. It’s also much less wimpy than your average CSN-influenced private press album. The highlights are “…and dream,” which has some great lead guitar, and “Eye to eye,” which rocks out (and, admittedly, veers a tad toward prog). The rest of the album is quite good too. Neat album cover; you’d think that alone would have attracted attention to it. Snap it up quick before it gets discovered and the price balloons. About 1500 copies were pressed. [AM]

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This goes out to my homie Drez, who’s holding it down on the west coast and documenting so much of this lowrider culture.

The thing that gets me about this song is, it’s so broad - it can speak to you no matter what you’re “about”. I played this for a gay friend the other day and he got goosebumps. Of course, the songwriter (Tommy Chong!) was referring to his racial make-up as he was dating, according to him, mainly black girls at the time. But it’s an enduring classic that holds as much specific meaning for me as it did for so many back in the 60s and 70s when it was first a hit.

Enjoy…

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http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/goodrecordsnyc

New African LPs hitting the shop NOW.

New eBay list up Monday.

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