The Cactus Channel - Wooden Boy (2013)

It’s soul music, baby, but not as we know it. The backbeat and the handclaps are still there and the horns still sound. The bass bumps, the organ screams and the guitars still twang, but the singer has left the room. Everything is shades of blue. This is soul music for the after hours. For the solitary dancers and the lonely hearts. The soundtrack to solitary headlights on a midnight highway. What to call it? Who cares! Can you dance to it? Just try not to. No one’s telling you to throw your hands up in the air, but no one would be surprised if you did. It’s dark here, so you can do your own thing.

Wooden Boy  was recorded by The Cactus Channel — a ten-piece band from Melbourne, Australia — all born in the 90s and raised on the internet.

The Pepper Pots - We Must Fight (2013)

The Pepper Pots will release their new record "We Must Fight" on the back of 10 years and 6 albums, world tours that have taken in the United States, Japan, the UK, France, Russia and Germany and collaborations with some of the most important artists in the recent history of Soul music (Binky Griptite, Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed) as well as the past (the Impressions, Maxine Brown). These 10 years have seen the band's approach to Old School Soul mature into this, their best album so far, representing a leap forward for both the songs and the sound of the group.

Hartley & Wolfe - Bespoke Future (2013)

Coming in a long line of esteemed ground breaking British soul artists from Loose Ends, Soul2Soul, Spacek, Omar, to Amy Winehouse, Hartley & Wolfe grab the baton in creating something quite unique, different and new. Not quite R’n’B or neo soul, not quite American ‘urban’ or electronica .... perhaps more working man’s soul in sound but yet ticks a lot of musical boxes at the same time. Think Isley Brothers meets Rick James in terms of vocal delivery. Raspy deep felt, weathered classic soul with a big voice meets intergalactic pimped out grooves with bass-lines that would make Lee Scratch Perry’s Upsetters proud!

Alessandro Scala Quartet - Viaggio Stellare (2013)

 

The new album by Alessandro Scala connects itself to the fertile and alluring scene of contemporary Hard-Bop that is constantly proving its quality with solid results, especially in Italy. This work is a perfect balance of traditional  influences and contemporary inspirations, an intense and fruitful study that leads to a new, rich and articulate way of expression. Through his original compositions and the intense dialogue with trumpeter Fabrizio Bosso and trombonist Roberto Rossi, Alessandro consciously builds a sparse and sometimes lyrical language, enhanced by the rhythm section provided by Nico Menci, Paolo Ghetti and Stefano Paolini. The result is vivid and bright. Another valuable piece has been added our considerable Jazz history.

- Paolo Fresu

The Bamboos - Fever In The Road (2013)

Australian soul music innovators TheBamboos return with their genre-defying new album, ‘Fever In The Road’, released 8th November on Pacific Theatre through Inertia, with a national tour starting on 29th November.

Band leader Lance Ferguson once again enlisted John Castle (Washington, Josh Pyke, Gossling, Pez and Kate Miller-Heidke) to co-produce ‘Fever In The Road’, the band’s sixth record and first on Ferguson’s own label. This repeats the same winning combination that worked on the band’s breakthrough 2012 album ‘Medicine Man’, which garnered them three ARIA Award nominations (Best Independent Release, Best Urban Album & Best Live Act), and saw the single “I Got Burned” feat. Tim Rogers reach #54 in Triple J’s Hottest 100.

Submotion Orchestra - 1968 ep (2013)

With two incredibly successful albums under their belt Submotion Orchestra bring their latest five track EP to UK independent Circus Records. The seven-piece group that formed in 2009 have forged a large loyal fan base with their blend of Electronica, Jazz, Dub and Soul, music that has been described as ‘stunning’ by The Guardian and ‘seductive’ by The Times.

Following a chance meeting in London with Circus co-founder Flux Pavilion who declared his love for the band, SubMo promptly signed to the label reaffirming the notion that Circus have always sought to release only the highest quality music, regardless of genre. Flux Pavilion says "to release Submo on Circus is amazing, I’ve always been a big fan of their music.”

 

Funky Mama - Funky Mama ep (2013)

After exploding onto the scene in September with single "Ottobre: fuga dalla stazione centrale",which caught the attention of stations worldwide with airplay that went from Radio Helsinki to Sydney's much respected 2SER or John Warr's cult radio show "Afrobase" on Juice fm Brighton, new Italian afro-funk outfit Funky Mama is now ready to reveal it's debut self-titled EP out on limited edition vinyl + CD and digital download. "Funky Mama EP" contains 4 original instrumental tracks of explosive afrobeat-inspired grooves served with the typical warmth and rawness that characterizes Southern Italy, where the band members are all originally from.

Clara Hill - Walk The Distance (2013)

After a four-year break from recording, Clara Hill returns with "Walk The Distance", which takes her back to her early youth. The unselfconscious sound experiments that have always accompanied her are met here with new inspirations, leading to an album that sounds intimate and incredibly familiar, yet otherworldly.

As a young girl, an East German Triola, a Bulgarian plastic guitar and a small plastic piano formed the basis of her musical world. Throughout her youth, Clara Hill was influenced by music, but her focus was on sound experiments rather than the quest for the perfect composition. The plucking of the strings on her first piano or the melancholic sounds of the bells of a grandfather clock today reawaken formative memories.

VA - Jukebox Jam vol. 2 (2013)

The original Jukebox Jam Blues & Rhythm Revue compilation album was released in September 2011, a collection which brought together the dynamic and varied R&B sounds of Liam Large's London based club night and reissue label. With an action-packed, all-killer set, it quickly became an instant classic, a comp of vintage sounds which truly stood out in an ever-saturated market.

Two years on, and the second volume of Jukebox Jam is unleashed, another collection of 23 obscure masterpieces from mid-century America. Perhaps even more ambitious than Vol 1, the follow-up broadens the scope of investigation by digging both deeper back into the 1940s - with a couple of jazzy blues numbers, and further into the 1960s - with gritty rock and roll and early Detroit soul both featuring prominently.

Smoove - First Class (2013)

Smoove is the archetypal B Boy made good. Despite his huge international success with Smoove & Turrell and his ability to craft jazz, soul, latin, hip hop and funk into world beating dancefloor killers – he can still be found every weekend he’s not playing live jumping on a plane or a train to go and DJ in Germany , Russia , Italy, Ibiza or just down to Manchester, Bristol or London wherever his diary tells him he has to go..

Wherever it is, his incredible skills behind the decks mean that he gets asked back and the breadth of the music seamlessly joined by his turntablist skills jumps from disco to funk, jazz to soul, hip hop to house and back again.

The Fontanelles - Horns of Freedom (2013)

The Fontanelles are the newest signings to First Word Records. Originally formed to be the onstage band for the London run of Fela! The Musical, the band’s natural chemistry was such that they instinctively continued performing together when the show ended. They took the energy of the stage show and started working on original material, adding reggae, ethio-jazzand ska influences to the afrobeat source. The Fontanelles sound is truly their own, with their incandescent live shows a focal point for their unique energy as a band.

Teotima - Counting the Ways (2013)

Counting The Ways is the debut album from Teotima, a 14 piece spiritual jazz ensemble from London. Guitarist-composer Greg Sanders started Teotima; taking powerful, elegant but deceptively complex grooves of West Africa, Cuba and Brazil and adding the sensibility of classic American soul and funk he brought together a loose collective of musicians in 2011 to workshop ideas.

As an intrinsically live project, all the individual band members were key to the project and their improvisation is a central part of the album. Recorded as-live at London's Fishmarket Studios under the watchful eye of engineer Ben 'Nostalgia 77' Lamdin, the record achieves a synchronicity that only this kind of old-fashioned approach can produce.

Fox Capture Plan - Trinity (2013)

FOX CAPTURE PLAN - A killer debut from an ultra-cool trio – a group that features members of Jabberloop and Immigrant's Bossa Band – and who work here in a core Japanese club jazz style that's somewhere between the work of Quasimode and Indigo Jam Unit – but a lot more stripped-down than both! Most tracks just feature live drums, piano, and acoustic bass – working at a pace that's highly rhythmic, and very hard-driving – yet with a freedom and lyrical grace that's way more jazz than club! Ryo Kishimoto's piano lines are filled with fire, but still stick strongly to the groove – creating these elliptical patterns that are really wonderful, and completely hypnotic all the way through. 

Caroline Lacaze - En Route (2013)

'En Route' is the stunning debut album of young soulful French chanteuse Caroline Lacaze. It tells her story as a musical roadtrip.

The 'swinging mademoiselle' released a string of successful 45s on renowned labels such as Mocambo, Tramp Records and Legère Recordings, appeared on the Mighty Mocambos' album "The Future is Here" and became a regular feature of the group on the subsequent tour throughout Europe - including support shows for Lee Fields (in Amsterdam's Paradiso and London's Islington Assembly Hall) and a radio live performance at the BBC6 Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show.

Bahama Soul Club - The Cuban Tapes (2013)

Darker, deeper a bit more mystic than what you probably expected from The Bahama Soul Club. Alluring Tiki blended through Jazz with Afro-Cuban rhythms and instrumentation, environmental sounds and lush romatic themes and not without a twinkled eye for the Exotica genre.
„Sure everything is based on Bahama Soul-ish kind of established and reknown rhythm and sound, but this time we spotted more on the composition with more harmonies and a soft spot on fine melodies. If you try to visualize a splendid Jazzband in a cuban night club in the mid 60s. Then you probably got it.“

VA - The Craig Charles Funk&Soul Club 2 (2013)

Yes - it's back! The boom bappest, fattest and funkiest collection of sounds made for soul searching sore ears -The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club returns!

Since the release of Volume 1 in 2012, Craig has barely had a chance to change his socks, presenting his massively popular radio show on BBC 6 Music and having been on an almost constant DJ tour - dragging his Trunk Of Funk far and wide to play for increasingly large audiences, including kicking off the Glastonbury Festival with a four-hour set, causing all manner of musical mayhem at WOMAD 2013, tearing the roof off the Soundwave festival in Croatia - as well as hosting his regular club nights at Manchester's Band On The Wall - with block rocking live shows from names like US funk legend Lee Fields, Spain's Sweet Vandals and Australia's toughest raw funk collective Deep Street Soul amongst many others.

Mirror To The Soul (2012)

  Mirror To The Soul from Soul Jazz Records on Vimeo.

Mirror to the Soul is a new 2-hour documentary film about the Caribbean, which is made up entirely of footage from British Pathénewsreels (short news pieces of two or three minutes in length) thatwere filmed during the period 1922-1970. The film presents many aspects of Caribbean life – from bananaplantations to Voodoo ceremonies, Calypsonians to revolutionaries.

As well as an insight into aspects of West Indian life, the film alsoallows us to see how a private British film company presented a constructed Caribbean identity to the outside world. Consequently the film tells us as much about British society and its own identity and values – especially in regard to attitudes towards its then colonies – as it does those of the Caribbean itself.