Hi guys, how are we ?Well here, things are pretty strange and tense ... I don't know if it's this financial crisis or people get irritated for nothing but pressure seems to be the word in display now ... But whenever time get like this, great sounds appear and dazzle our world ... It's like these two acid jazz pearls that I've found in my CD shelf ...
As we know acid jazz is a sub-genre to the main R&B genre and we know that it is very hard to like it unless we have a taste for different kinds of groove and a flavour for exposed hard tempoed bass playing ... But for these 2 records I'm going to recommend you, no need for that kind of expertise ... You just need to have good taste in your dancing habits ... Both are extremly nice produced sounds with twists of the 70's, arabic/latin/caribbean music and gospel singing ... Both are pioneers in the genre, mixing every influence they get and every nationality found in their respective band formations ... For the first record, I recommend the espectacular "Brooklyn Funk Essentials" and their 2008's " Watcha Playin' " record ... Problably one of their finest recordings in their career, " Watcha Playin' " shows a different and amazing range of solutions for an excellent dance night ... From a typical jamaican reggae to an amazing hard tempoed arabic riff based groove, BFE dazzle you with their precise rythym section and amazing singing ... Pay attention to 3 excelent songs on the CD : "Dance-free Night", an excellent 80's based groove with psychodelical guitar riffs ; "My Jamaican Girl", a really good reggae based groove with a different approach to the ragga-steady style, and last but not least, "The Day Before Adidi", the best song on the record mixing arabic percussion and horns added to an almost rap/gospel singing, pure entretainment ...
For the second record, I recommend the also espectacular "Brand New Heavies" and their 2006's "Get It Over" CD ... This british quartet show in this record how to make a perfect progression while passing through this 12-tracked album ... Perfect laid back jams with punctual guitar and horn solos ... N'Dea Davenport, the lead singer, amazes us with her voice and her precise singing ... 3 songs to pay attention in this record: "We've Got", a smooth, cool and precise groove with hints of soul searching from N'Dea's singing ; "Sex God", a perfect and sophisticated groove evoking sexuality and sensuality, and last, but again not least, "All Fired Up", excelent fast tempo bass based soul song which every R&B band should inspire themselves in it ... "Gots-to-have" CDs in your personal collections ...
These are my tips of the week and a breath of fresh air in a almost rock'n'roll blog ...
Cheers and get it on, lads ...
