Dear friends everywhere

Please enjoy this free funkie cookie mix, a recipe of crunchy funk and solid soul sounds made from golden, tasty grooves. All you have to do is download, listen and get dancing to bake it to perfection. Om nom nom nom!

See artwork for track listing.

Enjoy!

Philster

Download here (right click to save) 192kb/s 85.3mb

HOT track from L.A. based Breakestra’s equally hot album Dusk Till Dawn. Funky!!

Get ready for an extra groove-some Funkalicious party. This month, DJs Philster & Popcorn are joined by Randa Khamis, performing a live vocal set of songs from her funky, funky album “Randa & The Soul Kingdom”, available now on Freestyle Records. Hailing from Perth, Australia, Randa has supported the likes of Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, the Bamboos and Speedometer and with her latest release, delivers an infectious dose of 21st Century funk & soul that will have you up and dancing in an instant.

http://www.myspace.com/randaandthesoulkingdom

Randa & The Soul Kingdom at Freestyle Records

Friday 6th August
9pm-3am
The White Horse
94, Brixton Hill
Brixton SW2 1QN
FREE

www.whitehorsebrixton.com

How to get there

As big fans of Mr Lee Fields, we are so pleased to hear of his return to the London stage. Ok so it was only February that he was last here but it was some eight years prior to that that he last made an appearance over here. Well known for a slew of deep funk singles and a killer album from the late seventies, the North Carolina born-and-raised soul singer enjoyed a career revival in the late nineties when Philip Lehman and Gabriel Roth at Desco Records tracked him down and recorded a new album, “Let’s Get A Groove On”, much to the delight of enthusiasts. A second, equally heavy album, “Problems” later appeared on Soul Fire Records and Fields has been recording sporadically ever since.

Over a period of three years, Truth & Soul Records, fronted by Leon Michels and Jeff Silverman recorded a handful of new singles with Lee that took him in a new direction. Finally garnering enough material for an entire album “My World” in 2009, it actually sounds like a suite of songs designed to flow into each other and not a collection of sporadic recordings spanning three years. With an overall summery vibe that certainly benefits from its roots in the Brooklyn music scene, the new record is sometimes straight-talking grit but mostly shows the sweeter soul side of Mr. Fields. The result is arguably the finest Lee Fields album ever and high praise goes to Michels, Silverman and the musicians involved for crafting such a beautiful, modern take on soul.

So don’t miss this show then, as this might well be your only chance to hear Lee perform these songs live.

Lee Fields & The Expressions
Friday 16th July 2010
7pm-10pm
£18.50 in Advance

Scala
275 Pentonville Road
London N1 9NL
020 7833 2022

http://www.scala-london.co.uk/scala/event.php?id=1377

Funkalicious are next back in Brixton for a whole lotta hip-shaking on Friday 2nd July. Timeless classic funk & soul next to the freshest of today’s international funk soul scene served up by DJs Philster & Popcorn.

Friday 2nd July
9pm-3am
The White Horse
94, Brixton Hill
Brixton SW2 1QN
FREE

www.whitehorsebrixton.com

How to get there

To all our dear friends in the NYC area,

On Sunday 13th June, Funkalicious’ own DJ Philster will be guesting with DJ Jesse Mann at Williamsburg favourite night spot Bembe for a full-on night of the finest funky grooves.

There will also be two live sets from Brooklyn’s Out Of Pockets, playing funk, afrobeat & soul with back to back dance floor tunes in between and until 4am. Jesse Mann and Philster have both spun with the late DJ Reverend Soul on both sides of the pond and so we wanted to get together and spin in tribute to our dearly departed and beloved soul sister. Hope to see you there!

Body Music
Sunday 13th June
9pm-4am
Bembe
81 South 6th Street
Corner of Berry
Williamsburg
Brooklyn NYC
FREE ENTRY!

myspace.com/oopsfunk

bodymusicnyc.com

In loving memory of Solange Alison Raulston (DJ Reverend Soul) 1976-2009

Hey folks, don’t miss this! On Friday 11th June the latest G-Spot Events funk & soul extravaganza will be blowing the lid off the Jazz Cafe. Here’s what’s in store:

Corrina Greyson 9pm
Corrina’s inimitable voice and stage presence have earned her the reputation of one of the UK’s best female soul and funk artists. She has recorded and toured with The James Taylor Quartet, Lefties Soul Connection and The New Mastersounds to name but a few.

Tonight she’ll be performing brand new material from her upcoming album with her own dynamic band.
www.myspace.com/corrinagreysonrecordings

Sven Hammond Soul 7:45pm
Inspired by Sven Figee’s heroes, Jimmy McGriff, Smith & Hendrix, this Hammond fueled outfit combines heavy 60s and 70s grooves and incendiary, rockin’ B3 with razor-sharp riffs and stunning, bluesy guitar solos.
www.myspace.com/svenfigee

DJ Ian Wright 7pm
Ian is simply one of the most respected and influential DJs and collectors in the funk arena.

DJ Guy Hennigan 7pm
Northern soul legend… ’nuff said!

Fri 11th June
Jazz Cafe
19:00-22:30
(+after party -2:00 TBA)

Tickets £14 adv available here

Step up! The Funkalicious bus will next roll into town on Friday 4th June, packed with superheavy funk and soul, it will be stopping at the White Horse in Brixton for unloading. The funky drivers, DJs Philster & Popcorn will share the heavy tunes collected from the four corners of the world and delivered express to your ears and for your dance floor delight. So come on down, you don’t need a ticket, its free, free, free.

Friday 4th June
9pm-3am
The White Horse
94, Brixton Hill
Brixton SW2 1QN
FREE

www.whitehorsebrixton.com

How to get there

Long time Milwaukee area performer Black Wolf has been trying to make waves in the music industry since the early 1970s – perhaps his biggest claim to fame until this point was recording a couple of tracks at Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom studios as part of the group The Essentials. In 2004, Black Wolf befriended Andy Noble when the two met at Andy’s Milwaukee record shop, Lotus Land. The two shared their passion and considerable knowledge for soul, funk and classic R&B and decided to form Kings Go Forth, a ten piece who have gained a significant reputation in and around Milwaukee for the quality of their live shows, a quality which shows on their debut album, following a handful of 45 releases.

The band play a rich percussive sound that’s authentic in its sound and production. A fiery break on the opening track One Day sets a standard which is perhaps never equalled elsewhere on the album but when the second track fires up, the super tight I don’t Love You No More, any complaints are shelved, then we are transported to a more Northern Soul sound with You’re The One, and the anthemic Fight With Love and dreamy High On Your Love. There’s even a remix by legendary producer Tom Moulton who phoned to ask if he could do it. Its hard to describe the exact quality of Black Wolf’s vocal style but if I can put a compliment his way, at times he reminds me of Jackie Wilson. Anyway you don’t have to take my word for it as you can listen to the entire album yourself right here http://luakabop.com/kings_go_forth/

Well worth a mention is the fantastic cover art by none other than “Imaginary Soul Superstar” Mingering Mike, who deserves an article of his own on this site, which I promise will be forthcoming. This is the first time Mike has created cover art for a record that actually exists!

As a huge fan of Sly Stone, I was delighted to get my ears around this new compilation, which on listen proved to have Sly’s unmistakeable stamp all over it. A musical prodigy, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer and celebrity disc jockey in the San Francisco Bay Area, Sly went on to huge international fame after appearing at Woodstock Festival in 1969, a series of hit records (many of which have become classics) and international acclaim followed as the Family Stone: a mixed sex, multiracial, colourful and dynamically presented collective came to represent the psychedelic direction many soul acts had moved into as well as the, then emerging funk movement that would ultimately spread its indelible influence into soul, jazz and blues alike.

This compilation, extensively researched by Alec Palao and with extensive liner notes, interviews and pictures shows Sly’s diversity and versatility, yet the style is predominantly funky soul. Material ranges from collaborations: the Rolling Stones-a-like Beau Brummels; tracks Sly made with his good friend Billy Preston; to stable acts, Sly’s sister Vet’s group aptly named Little Sister and Joe Hicks who was signed to Sly’s Stone Flower label; brother Freddie’s pre Family Stone band, Freddie & The Stone Souls who prompted Sly to suggest Freddie bring the best of that band with the best musicians Sly knew to form the Family Stone; to demos and early versions of songs that would later appear on Family Stone albums.

Stand-outs for me are “Dance A La Musique” by the “French Fries” (not confirmed but quite obviously the Family Stone), a fuzzy cover of “Dance To The Music” with a French twist for fun, it shows how great a good piece of fuzzy, psychedelic soul can be; the Family Stone’s early version of Otis Redding’s “I Can’t Turn You Loose”, for me even better than the versions they later did; plus earlier versions of other Family Stone tracks, particularly “I Ain’t Got Nobody (For Real) and “Take My Advice”, this compilation is a fascinating insight into the forging of the Family Stone itself, and the way Sly’s stamp on his production work was so unmistakably his sound, you can pick him out easily even when he’s in the background playing one of the instruments. So with that in mind, this is perhaps more interesting to those who know Sly’s material well and I would encourage people to check out key Sly albums first, particularly Dance To The Music, Stand, There’s A Riot Goin’ On, Fresh and Small Talk. If however you already know and like his music, I’m sure you will find this as big a delight as I did.

The legendary Betty Davis rides into town again

She counted Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone and Dolly Dagger amongst her friends and introduced her husband, Miles Davis, to Jimi and Sly, greatly influencing his electric period. Yet she is most respected for her own output of raw, raunchy and uncompromised take on funk rock. Having released three albums in the 70′s, a fourth previously unreleased album has now also been issued by Light In The Attic. Since her last recordings in 1979, her whereabouts and private life have been somewhat shrouded in mystery, so I was surprised to learn Jesse Thorn, of web radio The Sound Of Young America, tracked her down last year and managed to get her to agree to do an interview, her first in 30 years. Betty, now into her 60s is perhaps not the best interviewee but it is great to hear something, anything from her – and as the interview is peppered with some of her great tunes, this should hopefully be of interest either way if you’ve heard of her or not.

The Sound of Young America

Original post on The Sound Of Young America

Take a look at the cool new video for the Dap-King’s I Learned The Hard Way. The band are currently stranded in the UK following their sell-out appearance at Koko last week due to the volcanic ash cloud coming from Iceland. Fingers crossed that they can get home very soon. However, congratulations are also in order as the album of the same title made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 15!! Where’s Casey Kasem when you need him to announce that one? We salute you.

The video also features appearances by Mr Lee Fields and Mr Charles Bradley.

Hey everybody

Make a date on Friday 7th May, Funkalicious is going to be getting funky, funky, funky once again – we have lots of brand new modern funk to go along with plenty of vintage soul + funk classics. All we have to do is remember to play them! All you have to do is come on down and dance, dance, dance.

Friday 7th May
9pm-3am
The White Horse
94, Brixton Hill
Brixton SW2 1QN
FREE

www.whitehorsebrixton.com

How to get there

For over a decade now, Brooklyn songwriter, producer, musician, and label owner Gabriel Roth and a solid family of like-minded musicians have spearheaded the return of true funk and soul music as it was in it’s heyday in the late sixties and early seventies. The label Roth set up with Neal Sugarman, Daptone Records, from the ashes of Desco Records, has become the most influential and highly regarded on the soul and funk scene today. Its family has outgrown the label’s ability to get the work done, creating a scene of associated labels and acts that slowly feed the hunger of its expectant fans.

Ultimately what the group strive for is to produce soul music with genuine passion, authenticity and warmth and I’m glad to say “I Learned The Hard Way” is all of these things. Daptone’s “House Of Soul” studio has become somewhat of a legendary place amongst those wishing to achieve a genuine sound (the already classic album photo shows the band in the building’s back yard). Like Motown’s Hitsville U.S.A., Stax’s McLemore Avenue Studio, Willie Mitchell”s Royal Sound, or the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio before it, what is evident in the recordings in all of these places is a tangible atmosphere as important a player as the musicians. With its vintage equipment, floating recording room and living areas to relax and create in, the House Of Soul seems to have taken on a mantle worthy of legend and its character is evident in the sound of the recording.

There is plenty of detail here as each track is lushly layered with strings, backing vocals, hand-claps or chimes. Characteristic horn arrangements sit on solid bass, neatly plucked guitar, syncopated drums and the orchestration touches lift the music behind Sharon Jones’ commanding vocals, now sitting comfortably in her distinctive style, with her “hmmms” between words, her “ooh yeahs” and her sheer range, ability and power. Displaying its edges perhaps most in the track “Money” there is some wild roughness to Jones’ singing that many of today’s producers would mistakenly smooth out. Other stand-outs, “Better Things”, “The Reason” and “She Ain’t A Child No More” show the benefits of execution from a band that know when to show restraint and control, rather than to push their skill under your nose, each member seeming to understand they are a piece of the puzzle.

Much like the great soul records many of us used to thumb through as children in our parents’ record collections, this is the real deal, classic sound of great soul music the way it should be done. Whilst many wish to attach a “retro” label, this to me is very much the sound of “now” – if only more people could take note and strive to produce records of this standard. I Learned The Hard Way will be very much at home sitting in the prized collection of any music lover.

http://www.daptonerecords.com

Daptone's House Of Soul in Brooklyn

Recording on 8 track Ampex tape

House Of Soul recording booths