Ubiquity US 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: Having landed his debut album Bosq Y Orchestra De Madera on Ubiquity Records back in 2013, Bosq will be returning with his second long player on the Californian label later this year. Take Over is the second 12" laid down as a precursor of what Bosq has up his sleeve and the Boston-based Whisky Baron is certainly on good form. Known for his towering vocal contributions to Fela's Egypt 80, Benin-born / Nigerian-raised singer Kaleta once again lines a Bosq production in lead cut "Take Over", and it might just be their heaviest collaboration yet! The Less Patient edit adds a bit of dancefloor weight to the track. Flip for the dense, delay heavy afrobeat burner "Bounce And Pull Up" which features some devilish horns from Evan Laflamme.

Review: Darondo's "Legs" - a sexually charged chunk of heady Californian funk-soul fusion rich in punchy horns, killer drum breaks and eyes-closed lead vocals - has long been one of those "Holy Grail" records for soul collectors. As a result, original copies of the 1974 "45" change hands for hundreds of pounds apiece, making this Ubiquity release a genuine blessing for those with reduced record buying budgets. The sublime title track resides on the A-side, with the more relaxed, groovy and down-low "Let My People Go" taking pride of place on the flip. In a word: essential.

Review: Manuel Holcolm has said that he was more involved in the creative process on this tune that he was given credit for on the original label. Either way, the tune was first put out in 1969 and is all about war veterans returning home from Vietnam only to find out their lady hadn't waited for them. It's rough and raw, real and emotional as you would expect, despite the fact that it is all imagined feelings as Holcolm himself never actually served javelin started his career almost a decade earlier in 1961 in the Motown Studios.

Review: Kaleta's first full-length collaboration with the Super Yamba Band, 2019's "Medaho", was something of a slept-on treat: a fiendishly psychedelic Afrobeat affair that was every bit as heavy, colourful and vibrant as you'd expect. Here, one of the album's standout tunes gets the remix treatment courtesy of long-serving, party-starting musical fusionist Bosq. The Ubiquity and Soul Clap stalwart delivers vocal and instrumental passes of "Jibiti", both of which make great use of Kaleta's vocals and Super Yamba Band's fuzzy, Fela Kuti-style horn lines. Bosq's groove is closer in feel to Afro-disco than the original album version, though the bassline, organ stabs and vocals are pure Afrobeat gold.

Review: Mistura Pura is an alias for Italian jazz funk artist Federica Grappasonni, who first came to light via the 2018 album Hollywood Spritz on Ubiquity. After a follow-up two years later, finally Grappasonni is back with this classy 7", which we can only assume precedes another long player for Ubiquity soon after. 'Vamo Vive' and 'Ed E' are everything you could wish for from her welcome return, bursting with infectious groove and exquisite musicality. Cop this smoking hot single now and be the first to spread the good word about this stellar artist and her latest sounds.

Review: Mistura Pura has a playful sound that results from the fact the artist behind it, Federica Grappasonni, has spent 25 years as DJ, singer and vinyl collector exploring all different genres, eras and scenes. She brings all that together on this new 45rpm for Ubiquity: 'Mah 'Wah' Funk' is a colourful gem with deep disco drums and plenty of bendy guitars full of psyched out magic. Expressive vocals and boogie bass complete a vibrant and vivid picture. 'Love Is Full Of Colours' is a kaleidoscope of tumbling melodies and twinkling synths with a more far-sighted cosmic feel.

Review: DJ, producer and edits maestro Oswald Moris spent 2020 focused on library music trawling and editing, following a welcome invitation by some friends to spend time at their home studio. Honing his then penchant for ‘70s and ‘80s library music, Oswald and company took this source as a starting point to jam and record their own personal interpretations of the style. ‘Drug Song’ and ‘Heat Haze’ are two choice selections from these sessions, both coming as notable reinterpretations of the saliently infectious numbers by Belgian library musician Janko Nilovic, who set the tone for library music’s crossover with soul with the album Soul Impressions. For library music heads with an ear for the ongoing evolution of the genre, these covers are welcome diversions.

Review: So far spring has been a real wash out here in the UK. As this is typed, the drizzle has been falling non-stop for 12 hours. But as soon as the first few bars of these Flying Mojito Bros Refritos versions of Rudy Norman's 'Bacl to the Streets' play out, our mood is lifted. There is sunshine b the lush keys, warmth in the bass and feel good groove in the gentle rhythms. The original is included and has a more angular and arts feel, while the dub is the most cosmic and rolling of the lot. You can always rely on Ubiquity for some sunny goodness

Review: Japanese gospel-funk-soul outfit Osaka Monaurail are on a determined mission to spread the word of the lord, usually through elaborate and funky orchestral collaborations. This time, on the single 'Do You Really Want To Rescue Me' (the counterpart to another single released at the same time, 'Whole Lot Of Lovin') they once more align themselves with James Brown, who wrote the song in the mid 1960s with Nat Jones and Elsie Mae. Once again, this is a collab with the uniquely expressive Casey Malone, whose unreal vocal talents are lent to the track more as an instrument than just a voice.

Review: Japanese gospel-funk-soul outfit Osaka Monaurail are on a determined mission to spread the word of the lord, usually through elaborate and funky orchestral collaborations. This time, on the single 'Whole Lot Of Lovin', they team up with James Brown collaborator Marva Whitney for a distinctly vocal affair. Straight to the point, hard-driven rhythms and unisonic grooves lend a shocking immediacy to this riveting song.

Review: Osei Korankye hails from Accra, Ghana and is a talented musician known as one of his homeland's last remaining seperewa musiciana. These tracks throw it back to the heyday of the sound in 1970 but were recorded in Brooklyn, NY as well as Accra when Korankye linked up with Super Yamba bandleader and drummer Daniel Yount for a few gigs in New York City in 2017. It was an effortless collaboration that resulted in some super psychedelic funk tunes that are designed for carefree dancing.

Review: Gloria Ann Taylor, the famed soul singer from Ohio, is regarded as having recorded some of the most rare and sought-after singles of the 1970s. It may come as a surprise, then, to hear that Taylor has returned posthumously, this time for a collaborative new single with Estonian psych-funk and soul producer Misha Panfilov. 'Be Worthy' is a gospel-esque tune, with Gloria's incredible vocals and Misha's vintage production coalescing to form a fresh rendition of Taylor's original oeuvre, but with an unusually Balearic flair.

Review: Second time around for Kon's fabulous re-rubs of Twilight's slept-on 1986 disco-boogie gem 'You're In Love', which first dropped on seven-inch almost a decade ago. Vinyl copies of the 45 are hard to come by, so this Ubiquity Records re-issue is most welcome. Kon's takes stick closely to the original - these are multi-track tweaks, rather than revolutionary remixes - while subtly beefing up the groove and highlighting the band's weighty synth bassline. On the A-side you'll find the full vocal take - all sweet vocals, crispy disco drums, colourful synths and clipped, Chic style guitar licks - while the flip-side 'Dub' is a marginally more minimalist, groove-focused affair, with delay-laden vocal snippets and swirling instrumental textures echoing across the sound space.