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Gaz - Sing Sing - 09-Jun-09 09:09 AM
The 12" version of "Sing Sing" is a widely-loved, bumpin' funky disco classic -- it lacks the full-on orchestral treatment typical of many Salsoul releases, and instead focuses on the straight-up funk of the horns, popping bass, guitar & keys. The arrangement sweeps gracefully all the way up from the feel-good chorus right back down into some monstrous percussive breaks, much-loved by old-school hip-hop DJ's.

The kicker is, translation to the 7" format reviewed here didn't go so well. Those familiar with the 12" will probably spot some pretty jarring edits where bridge sections got removed, which certainly disturbs the cheery groove of the full version.

The flip smacks of the "disco-fy anything that moves" approach prevalent to the era. The famous Salsoul Orchestra are instrumentally on great form -- some of the rapid-fire bass & funk-guitar work is very impressive, the strings sigh and heave as expected, there's bongo-tastic Latin tinged percussive breaks, but all said and done it's still a pretty cheesy take on the well-known film theme. But if you got a sense of humour, it's all good fun!

Master Genius - The Album - 17-May-09 11:28 AM
Usually I wouldn't bother with reviewing a really bad record, unless it is comedically bad. This doesn't fall into the "comedically bad" category, as listening to it is like having a tooth pulled.

Obviously born from the commerical success of original 80's electro on the continent, this is badly-engineered and just plain slapped-together cut'n'paste Dutch pop electro -- either re-making or sampling famous phrases and melodies from "Keep on Running", "Blue Monday", "Fame", "Living on Video", Edwin Starr's "War", a horribly re-played take on "Superfreak", a variety of 80's euro pop trash, scratching samples (not actual scratching), Woody Woodpecker, the usual plethora of cliched 80's electro vocal samples which pop in and out seemingly at random.

It's entirely possible I am a music facist and am just not getting the "fun" nature of the arrangements. But it's put together really badly. This is literally and figuratively a thousand miles away from Steinski & Latin Rascals territory. Despite the absolutely-sequenced rigid 4/4 and complete absence of funk or rhythm, the arrangement seems incapable of following any structure and breaks happen at unexpected moments, earlier segments pop back in at random for a random amount of bars -- it's just chaos, and not in a good way.

It's padded out with some weak bonus beat-type tracks and effects that I cannot see any self-respecting battle DJ using.

To top it off, Side 2 follows exactly the same format as Side 1, re-using many of the same elements (even drum patterns), but even poppier. Egads.

Dellenger* & King Tubby And Aggrovator, The* / Delroy Wilson - Jah Jah Dub / Don't Look Back - 10-May-09 10:06 AM
The A side is a beautiful & simple roots tune, entreating the listener not to give up, keep on trying, you will make it on your own etc. A gorgeous, joyful riddim track pumps up the feel-good factor, radiating big smiles & JA sunshine right out the vinyl.

If that wasn't enough for you, the B-side is a killer Dillinger DJ track (possibly my favourite Dillinger track) featuring King Tubby dubbing out a Lee Perry riddim I wish I could name... cavernous bass, uplifting guitar licks, monsterous!

"It's dreadlock dub! It's a jah jah dub!"

Chi-Lites, The - I'm Not A Gambler / The Devil Is Doing His Work - 01-May-09 05:32 AM
"I'm Not A Gambler" is a pretty typical Chi-Lites "boy meets girl" slow number; a beautiful, lush arragement (maybe over-blown) with extensive brass throughout, falsetto vocals paired with soaring strings for the chorous, nothing terrifically exciting here (but a nice little break for the sample heads).

"The Devil Is Doing His Work" is the killer -- down-low funky Moog bass underpins a chugging funky groove workout which dominates the track. The sparse vocals for this section ("The Devil Is Doing His Work, y'all / 24 hours a day, yeah") leave plenty of room for the uplifting horn riff and trumpet improvisations. This is interspersed with what feels like a chorous, powerful horns lifting the listener up from the groove into "When you hear heaven calling / Tell me what you gonna do?". Magical.

Swan Lake - In The Name Of Love / The Dream - 14-Oct-03 02:37 PM
Two of the greatest Todd Terry tracks ever, on one 12", all edits by the man himself. Latin drum programming, massive samples, which still rocks crowds. A massive influence on the early 90's London rave/hardcore sound.

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