Michigan’s Third Coast Kings’ self-titled, debut album is being prepared to drop on 12th March and it looks like it’s going to be a rather heavy affair going by what we’ve already heard. This new single is further testament to that as we are told of “Spicy Brown”, perhaps descended from Pam Grier, or perhaps Black Dynamite’s next leading lady. Either way she sure has a funky ode.

www.recordkicks.com

“One band, one room, one take” promises the write-up that accompanies this video on Vimeo. The Third Coast Kings from Detroit Michigan recorded this live slab of pounding funk at GBS detroit. And if this is anything to go by, their self-titled debut album which is set to be released in the coming Spring, should be one to look out for.

http://www.recordkicks.com/

Third Coast Kings from gbs detroit on Vimeo.

In line with the high quality we’ve come to expect from Truth & Soul Productions, this superior slice of haunting reggae soul features the vocal talents of Liam Bailey, who visited Truth & Soul in NYC to record with Jeff Silverman and Leon Michels with a view to subsequently securing a deal with a major. As a result, Bailey, who is from Nottingham, signed with Polydor but recorded a slew of tracks with T&S who are planning to release a series of 45s featuring Bailey.

truthandsoulrecords.com

Just ahead of their forthcoming album release in October on Record Kicks, Bournemouth funk & soul combo the Baker Brothers unleash this heavily syncopated, melodic chunk of groove – and a cool Super 8 style video too. Doesn’t London look like its just a little model…

www.recordkicks.com

Check this bunch out, this just makes me really happy! Our good friend, Paul Clifford Strutter Brown literally stumbled across these guys by chance when visiting Australia. These kids can really cut it!! I love the infectious passion and energy they put in to the performance and with an album due out shortly, it is great to see young talent showing everyone else how its done.

http://www.myspace.com/thecactuschannel

This video is really quite special to us at Funkalicious, not only does it have a beautiful summer vibe that’s set to provide the backdrop for our summer (if the weather behaves) – but because it was created by Matthias Laeis and myself (Funkalicious Philster!). Shot in North London during a single day and evening, we had a lot of fun whilst making a video that we are very proud to shout “we did that”.

The song “Somewhere Finally” is the first single from the forthcoming album “All The People” by the Fantastics! and is one of three tracks on the album with vocals superbly handled by the wonderful Sulene Fleming. The video also coincides with the release of the single, so grab your copy here and pick a sunny moment to sit back and listen…

www.freestylerecords.co.uk

Shooting the video in North London

Our favourite Japanese funk band, Osaka Monaurail have teamed-up with Australian chanteuse Shirley Davis, for this great cover of Richard “Groove” Holmes “No Trouble On The Mountain”. The track appears on Japanese compilation “Return Of Jazz Funk”, and is slated as a forthcoming 45 and digital release on Unique Records. It features a tight backing, as we have come to expect from Osaka Monaurail, with some very nice bluesy guitar and a terrific vocal from Shirley. Very nice work.

www.osakamonaurail.com
www.unique-rec.com

Here’s another hotly anticipated forthcoming release. Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears are a melting pot of funk, soul, garage rock and blues and their new album “Scandalous” is set to drop on 15/03/11. Going on their excellent first album “Tell ‘Em Like It Is” (2009), this is set to build on their highly explosive mix of grooves. This taster features a snippet of the first single “Booty City”. Cool, cool, cool.

www.blackjoelewis.com

The Excitements are a new act from Barcelona with a hard hitting rough R&B sound. And excitement is indeed the word. Think Ike & Tina, think Sugar Pie DeSanto, think Etta James and you’ll have some idea of the raw edged sound coming from this outfit. With tight backing by the Excitements band, Mozambique born Koko Jean Davis proves she is a bold soul sister with the raw vocals laid down on this here taster for their forthcoming album on Penniman Records.

Read the full review here